Faster We Burn

loudly in his direction.
    “Gahhhh, shush, Tressa. He’s going to hear you,” I said, sliding back down in my seat.
    “Chillax, drama queen. He doesn’t even have his hearing aid in. Watch,” she said, shooting me a mischievous grin. “Hey, Mr. Jones, I really want to blow you,” she said loudly.
    She managed to get the attention of about a dozen guys with that one, including Mr. Jones, who whirled around, studying us with his beady black eyes. His grey bushy eyebrows came together in a unibrow that looked like a giant caterpillar on his forehead.
    Brittni snorted again as she shook with laughter. I squirmed uncomfortably on the hard wooden bench, fighting the urge to point at Tressa like we were in kindergarten and had gotten busted for throwing spitballs or something.
    Tressa returned his stare head-on, smiling sardonically until he turned back around.
    “Sheesh, girl, you’re lucky he didn’t take you up your offer,” I said, stifling my own laughter.
    “Hey, you never know what he’s sportin’ in those dusty old overalls.” Tressa winked.
    “Gross,” I shrieked.
    Tressa just shrugged, unconcerned. I couldn’t help admiring her self-assuredness. She didn’t care what people thought about her. She was loud and seriously inappropriate, but hilarious as hell, despite the tight leash her boyfriend tried to keep her on. We’d only been friends for four months, but I had grown quite fond of her in the short period of time. Both she and Brittni had welcomed me into their friendship circle without a second thought. They acted like I belonged. Not because they felt sorry for me or pitied me like everyone else had done for so many years, but because they genuinely seemed to like me. Brittni wasn’t as flamboyant or inappropriate as Tressa, but she had a wickedly dry sense of humor that kept people on their toes. And then there was me. I wasn’t completely sure what I brought to the group, but that’s why I was here. Somewhere over the last five years, I’d forgotten who I really was.
    “Alright, time to stop stalling. Get off your ass and pick up that tall, dark, he-can-have-my-panties-any-day seximist,” Tressa said pointedly, looking at the stranger we’d been eyeing for the last fifteen minutes.
    “Maybe I should do something else on my list,” I said, pulling a rumpled slip of paper out of my bag while desperately trying to ignore the butterflies that had suddenly decided to hang out in my stomach. I gently smoothed out the creases as I contemplated the items scrawled on the paper.
    “You’re kidding, right? This town has a population of like negative ten, and he’s the hottest thing to walk in here in forever. When are you going to have the opportunity to have one night of hot wild sex with a stranger like that again?”
    “That’s my point. Don’t you find it a little weird that we don’t know this guy? This town is pretty much off the beaten path. He could be some mass murder. How do you know he wouldn’t put my head in his freezer or something?”
    “Sweetheart, after a night with him, you’ll want a freezer to cool you off,” Tressa said, eyeing him with open admiration. “Besides, if you don’t make your move, I’m totally claiming him,” she added, adjusting her shirt so the tops of her ample breasts peaked out from the thin camisole she was wearing under her button-up see-through shirt.
    “So, you wouldn’t mind that you don’t know him and that he could very well chop up your body into a million pieces? Not to mention what Jackson would say if he found out,” I said, reminding her of her boyfriend.
    “Wow, seriously, chill, Ash. She’s just trying to give you a spark. Besides, you were a stranger here once too, and you didn’t show your true crazy for a couple days,” Brittni teased. “Now get up there and sex that possible serial killer up.”
    “You two are a riot,” I said, choking down the last of my beer that tasted like elephant piss, or at least what I would assume elephant pee would taste like. “Alright, wish me luck,” I added, finally sliding out of the booth. “If he chops me up into little pieces, neither of you get those boots of mine you want so bad,” I threatened. I made my way up to the counter where the object of our interest was perched. Considering my shaky legs, I wasn’t exactly as subtle as a prowling jungle cat. Tressa was right. Finding a perfect candidate for a one-night stand was slim to none in a town the size of