His Naughty Lessons-Chapter 213: When Life Gives You Lemons

** Tyler **

Tyler was close to fuming into a black puff when he burst out of Eli’s apartment. And now he faced an extra problem — he had no idea where to go.

He would need a hotel, of course. Plus a call to figure out the flight situation. But most urgently, he needed a bar. Something that he didn’t know much about in Davenshire.

It didn’t help that he tended to be as picky about drinks as he was about food, too.

Tyler cursed under his breath. Whatever, he’d have to settle for something quick and easy this time, as long as it was powerful enough to help him handle the hell of a shock. Maybe the restaurant they went to on Wednesday would do, since Harper did mention that she went there regularly with a friend who liked their tequila.

Harper ... The thought of his sister made Tyler groan internally. What a naive and troublesome girl.

He called a cab, and it didn’t take long to cross the channel to get to the restaurant. The place looked busy enough for a Sunday evening, though he paid the crowd no heed as he made his way straight to the bar and took the first open stool.

"Don Julio Añejo, neat." He waved at the bartender, skipping all the small talk. He just wanted a damned drink.

"Oh hey handsome. Aren’t you in a bad mood tonight."

The voice coming from the seat next to him made him realize belatedly that there was someone sitting right there, likely displeased by his attitude. Tyler turned, eyebrow raised, and he was starting to curse inwardly about the whole world wanting to give him a hard time tonight when he was met with a friendly smile.

His next seat neighbor was a young woman around Harper’s age, blonde with a casual bun swept halfway up the top of her head. She raised the snifter in her hand. "Fortunately, a bad night is what tequilas are for, isn’t it? Good choice there by the way — I always roll my eyes at those cheap shots that come with salt and lime."

Tyler’s eyebrow raised some more. Though this time, it was from the surprise that someone else shared his uncommon taste in sipping quality tequila the way it deserved.

"Congrats on finding yourself a friend who’s equally snobby about tequila." The girl on the other side of the blonde — also in her mid-twenties, but carrying a completely different vibe with her electric blue hair and leather mini dress — wrinkled her nose and sipped her margarita. "As far as I’m concerned, I can only say that this place has one of the most boring margaritas known to man."

"And that is why when life gives you lemons, you don’t waste them on ruining a good tequila." The blonde chuckled just as the bartender returned with the Don Julio Añejo. "¡Salud!" She clinked her snifter with the new one that was set down on the table.

Tyler looked at the two identical glasses filled with identically colored liquids. Interesting.

"You come to this place often?" he asked. Not that he was here to chat with anyone tonight, but the rare coincidence made him curious. Maybe this woman was a local frequent and could recommend something better for him to try as well.

"A couple of times every week. A tequila a day keeps the doctor away — or at least dulls the headache." The blonde brought her drink to her lips with a wink. "Care to share what kind of headache brought you here this gloomy evening?"

Now, that was starting to sound suspiciously like ... a smooth pickup line? Even the blue haired girl on the other side seemed to have gotten the hint, pulling out her phone and subtly disengaged herself from the upcoming conversation.

Tyler reached for his drink.

He wasn’t a bar pickup type of guy. All his past experiences on the matter came from being a wingman for assholes like Eli, which he surely wasn’t going to do ever again. On any normal evening, he would’ve simply ignored the woman and kept to his own drink, but today ...

Today, the steaming anger inside him wanted somewhere to vent, and there was an odd sort of appeal to share it with a complete stranger at a bar. They would most likely never see each other again after this, so he didn’t care if she’d judge or brandish the story to someone else he didn’t know.

"One of the most notorious playboys I’ve known in my entire life just hooked up with my sister," he said. That was the most neutral way he could manage to phrase the situation — hey, at least he didn’t call his once-friend a jackass womanizer.

"Hmm, good for her." The blonde nodded. "And then?"

"..." Tyler almost spit out the tequila in his mouth. What the hell was that reaction? Shouldn’t everyone’s natural response be "Oh my God seriously" or "Wow I’m so sorry to hear that"?

"What do you mean good for her?" he asked after narrowly avoiding a choke. "My sister is not the casual fling type of girl. She fell for that asshole’s trap! And she wouldn’t listen to me when I told her to get away from him before it’s too late."

"Oh?" His new acquaintance gave him an interesting look. "Is your sister underage?"

"Ugh ... no?"

"Is she intellectually challenged?"

"... No?"

"Then what’s your prob?" The blonde looked at him like she was disappointed in some delicious drama turning out with a lame reveal. "If she’s an adult capable of her own judgment, why are you so concerned?"

"... Because the guy is a freaking womanizer!" Maybe the use of that word was required to make the situation clear. "She doesn’t know him. Not that side of him. And she’ll only be hurt when she finds out the truth." freeweɓnovel.cѳm

"Ah. That’s what you assume. But women go crazy for Casanovas for a reason, and not all of them are bad." The blonde chuckled again. "Don’t be in such haste to say things that you don’t know are true, handsome."

Wait ... Why did those words sound so impossibly similar to what Harper had said when she kicked him out?