Free Burn For Him by Kristan Belle

Don’t be a bitch.” He warned me with a look.
    “Bitch? Me? Never!” I grinned.
    “Hey, Michelle.” Harper smiled as the blonde appeared next to him. “This is my best friend, Carrie.”
    She looked me over, just like they all do. I looked over her right back. It was just what we females did. Checking out the competition. I thought that she looked kind of trashy, with her fake blonde hair extensions and fake boobs on display. Although she smiled at me, there was a look in her eyes that told me that you shouldn’t judge the book by its cover. There was something honest and straightforward in those baby blues of hers.
    Then I had to pause for a moment. I could almost see the thoughts ticking over in her mind. She must have been thinking pretty much the same thing about me. I never usually dressed quite so out-there like I had tonight. Not wanting her to get the wrong impression of me either, I stepped forward and smiled as warmly as I could muster.
    “Hey, I’m Carrie. Good to meet you.”
    She nodded in a shy manner that didn’t quite match her brash appearance. “I’m Michelle.”
    There was something about her that I wasn’t quite sure about on first impressions. But, Harper seemed to like her well enough for now, so the least I could do was to make an effort to try and get to know the girl a bit. So many girls got scared off by the fact that Harper’s best friend was a girl, and I wanted to make sure he had a shot at this one if he liked her.
    “Do you guys want a drink?” I asked them both. Harper seemed to breathe out a huge sigh of relief. He knew that I was protective over him, but I really wasn’t going to try here. Some of the girls Harper me were so obviously with him for the wrong reasons that I went into full-on bitch mode with them. I was trying to rein that in.
    Michelle didn’t seem to be his usual type, but who was I to judge? Especially with what I was wearing. If she wasn’t good enough for him, he would be able to find out in his own time soon enough. And, that’s when I would pummel her.
    “Sure, thanks.” She seemed just as surprised as Harper at my level of friendliness. “I just need to go and tell my friends where I am and then I’ll be back.” She smiled shyly over at Harper as she walked away. The girl looked smitten.
    “As soon as she was out of ear shot, I said, “She seems nice enough.”
    “She is. So retract your claws.” Harper smirked.
    I held up my hands and waved them in his face. “See? No claws. I’m being good.”
    “Good. Make sure that you behave yourself. So, where’s that guy that made you shake so much that you fell down the stairs?” he said as he leant over to give the bartender our drinks order, waving me away when I tried to pay for the drinks.
    I instantly groaned. “You saw that?”
    “Who didn’t?” Harper laughed. “You went flying straight into his arms. It was like something out of a really bad movie.”
    I cringed and lowered my head into my hands. “How embarrassing.” Harper was still laughing loudly at my misfortune and I tried to glare at him, but even I could see the funny side of it. “But, I didn’t fall because of him. My shoe got caught on something. It was just lucky that he was passing by and caught me. I could have really hurt myself otherwise.”
    “Yeah, very lucky.” He replied, not looking overly convinced. There was no point in trying to protest my innocence any furthers so I settled for giving him a friendly but firm punch on the arm.
    “Can I get you that drink now, Carrie?”
    I almost didn’t turn around. I couldn’t. I didn’t want to. But I had to. I couldn’t just leave him standing there and ignore his presence. Plus, Harper’s threat of laughter forced me to turn around. Milligan was standing only inches away from me, so as I turned around, our bodies brushed against one another.
    “I… Uh…” I stammered like a fool.
    “Sure, she’d love a drink.” Harper said loudly, giving me a sly shove