Yup, he’d definitely drank too much alcohol.

Micah was pulled from his half-horny/half-morose thoughts by a hand suddenly coming down on his shoulder.

He tensed, sitting up to see a man looming over the booth. He was nice enough to look at, if a bit forgettable, with tidy brown hair and heavy square-frame glasses perched on his nose. He wore a generic white t-shirt paired with straight jeans. The most striking thing about him was the fact he was sporting a worn maroon cardigan over his shirt – hardly on trend for a Friday night out at a club.

“Can I help you?” Micah asked, not quite drunk enough not to be weirded out that the guy’s hand was still on his shoulder.

Seeming to pick up on his discomfort, the man quickly removed it. “Sorry. I just couldn’t help but notice you seemed a bit down. Sort of a strange place to be depressed. Are you alright?”

“Oh, I’m fine,” Micah assured, feeling a bit guilty for pegging the guy as a creep right off the bat. “Just out with friends who are obnoxiously in love with each other. I mean, I’m happy for them – obviously – it’s just…” he trailed off.

“…hard to find love in your line of work?” the man guessed.

Micah frowned. How had he known he worked for the police? Micah supposed enough of his co-workers were here that someone could have told him. “Um, yeah, I guess. Anyway, third wheeling it with Tessa and Jasper, no matter how much I love them, always makes me want to puke a little.”

The man’s lips quirked. “Are you sure it’s not just the alcohol?” he asked, eyeing Micah’s empty glass.

Micah snorted. “I’m not that drunk.”

“Well, in that case, do you want another?” The man was pulling out his wallet before Micah could respond, flashing crisp hundreds in a way that Micah didn’t quite buy was accidental. “What’s your favorite? Anything you want, I’ll get it for you.”

Annnd Micah was creeped out again.

It wasn’t that he’d offered to buy him a drink. It wasn’t the first time in his life Micah had been propositioned that way – though he never accepted unless he saw the drink being made. (He wasn’t stupid.) It was how earnest the guy seemed.

“I’m good, thanks,” Micah said, hoping the man would take a hint.

The man frowned, looking taken off guard for a moment before his features evened out again. “Oh, well, do you mind if I sit?”

Dammit.

“Uh, sure,” Micah agreed amicably enough – though he stood at the same time. “I’m headed to the restroom, though. Nature calls.” He slipped out of the booth before the guy could respond, wiggling through the crowd in the general direction of the toilets.

The place was pretty packed, but most people were on the dance floor or herded around the bar, so Micah only stumbled into a person or two on the way, accrediting his uncharacteristic clumsiness to a mix between the alcohol and the flashing strobe lights.