For musebyquotes | 2.10. Nathaniel LeTonnerre quote
2.10. "For some, pleasure is a fever they can't shake. For others, it's a disease they cannot seem to catch."
- Nathaniel LeTonnerre
Co-written with missparamedic | Simultaneous to THIS and THIS
Josh scratched the back of his head as he surveyed the crowd at the reception. He was exhausted, and he hadn't even had to do anything. Other than chase one rogue groom and try and talk him into marriage. He cleared his throat as he sipped his beer and tried to work out if there were any single ladies here. One hundred guests and he was pretty sure they were either couples, or gay.
A lone brunette caught his attention and he smirked to himself as he sauntered up to her. She was definitely gorgeous. Had killer blue eyes that had him thinking all sorts of things. There was something familiar about them, but he couldn't quite place it. "Buy you a free drink?"
Emma had been trying to blend into the wall behind her. The only people she knew here were Andrew and sort of Evie. She felt out of place and like she didn't belong. True enough, however, everyone was amazingly friendly and chatty. She had met quite a few of Evie's friends, and found them to be a great group of people. It was also really nice to see Andrew relaxing with his girlfriend, even if they were both clearly worried about their baby girl and her untimely bout of chicken pox. Emma knew they would both probably make a polite, but early exit soon enough and then Emma would be down to one person she knew... and even then, she wasn't sure she could classify what she had with Evie as 'knowing' her yet.
She had to double take a little at the voice. She wasn't exactly expecting anyone to speak to her here. She had actually been wondering if she could make a polite and early exit herself. She blinked at his question and then shot him a smirk. "How chivalrous of you," she commented and held up her drink, which was still two thirds full.
"Chivalry being dead is just a rumour. Whoever started it hadn't met me yet." Josh struggled for a moment to think of something else to say. All this wedding stress had just about killed his mojo, and she really didn't look like the kind of girl that would respond to 'fancy a quick shag?'. "So you here for the bride, bride, groom, or groom?"
Emma looked over at the couples and sipped her drink. "Bride and Best Man, opposite sides of the fence. Andrew's my closest friend, Evie's my sister," she told him, trying not to balk when she said that. It still felt weird to say it. Really weird, but in a good way. She glanced at him again, trying to figure out why he had approached her. "What about you? Brit accent, could be the groom, could be other Best Man, could be Aiden's husband," she deduced.
"Do I look gay?" Josh asked, looking down at his shirt and pants. It was the tidiest he had looked in a while. He was still worried about Tara trying to spit polish him. Then the cogs in his brain started to kick in and he stared at her. "Evie's sister? Riley's Evie? As in the now Mrs Browne's sister? Fuck me. No wonder you're gorgeous. Must run in the family. I'm Riley's mate. I am in no way a Best Man. Riley's was Lachlan, our resident Evil Scotsman."
Emma looked at him, smirking in amusement. "No. I didn't realise gay was catching," she commented. "All the time I've spent with Aiden's other half tonight, I could walk away gay." She nodded. "Evie's sister, only we've only just found out the relationship. I can't take any credit for how gorgeous she is. You don't think you're Best Man material, huh?"
"It's not, it's just you said I could be Aiden's husband. There's no mistaking Pat for, well, Pat. Just checking to see if I looked like Pat. If you've spent time with him, then you should know I'm not him. And since you've only known Evie a short while, I'll excuse the fact you don't me. I'm Josh King. Knew Riley from his days in Edinburgh. Was Lachlan's drummer in his band." He offered her his hand, and his best knee-weakening smile. "You can take credit for how gorgeous you are though, love. And no, not really. I'm bachelor party material, but not speeches and tuxes."
Emma laughed and waved her hand. "No, no. I didn't say you could be Aiden's husband. I said you could be linked to Aiden's husband, being English. I was trying to figure out which side of the fence you were supposed to be lingering. I'm pretty sure Pat's husband is one of a kind... in an identical twin type capacity," she told him, still watching him in amusement. "A drummer, huh? Very impressive, Josh King. I have heard about the musical talents in this group. I'll have to see you all play one day. And yes, I heard all about that bachelor party and the groom's little... souvenir."
"Oh yeah, me and Patto go way back. Sorry, blame the lack of sex. I need an orgasm to get my brain working." Josh winced as the words left his mouth and cleared his throat as he looked away. "Fuck, sorry. There are times I need to keep my mouth shut. Even I know that. You still haven't given me your name, love. Planning on keeping it a secret? Hopefully you'll see us play. Campbell's recording an album with Riley's sister... apparently I'm supposed to volunteer myself for drumming duties. Actually haven't had the conversation with him yet. You'll definitely see them play. Plus Luke's got a bar that'll be opening soon here. I'm going to be manager," he added with a grin. "Hey, it got him royally laid. He actually thanked me for it this morning."
Emma raised her eyebrow. "That sounds like an unfortunate condition you have there. How did you ever survive before hitting puberty?" she asked, enjoying teasing him. She couldn't help but wonder if he was working his way up to hitting on her. She made a mental note to ask Evie about this Josh King. "I'm Emma. Planning on screaming it out later?" she threw back, not missing a beat.
She took another drink and licked her lips. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around everyone linked here. I only know two people. It's a little odd. Nice bunch, though. I live in Princeton, so no doubt I'll check the bar out at some point. What got you moving from drummer to bar manager?" She laughed, shaking her head. "What was your role? Holding him down while it got pierced?"
Josh coughed as she mentioned the screaming, nearly choking on his beer. "Never was much of a screamer, but I might just groan it against your skin if you let me." He liked the fact she teased him back, even liked that she seemed to catch him off guard. The girls that just seemed to become putty in his hands were usually far too agreeable and weak. "Pleasure to meet you, Emma."
"Links can be hard to work out. I know I'm still trying to work out the New York contingent. They're not really my people. I'm mostly linked the the Princeton folks." Josh shrugged. "Not many decent bands left to play with on the pub circuit in Edinburgh. Well, the ones that are already have drummers. Lachlan mentioned Luke and the bar, and I figured why not? Something different. Plus I'm back with boys. My role was more like supplying the alcohol to make sure he stayed plastered. I'm a charitible friend."
Emma's eyes were shining as she watched him over the top of her glass. "That's awfully deep confidence in my talents, Mr King."
She gestured with her glass to Andrew across the room. "That's Andrew, or Andy. He's my closest pal and my ex-boss. He's Luke's cousin, which is where the Princeton and New York contingent starts to link. The girl with him is Ali. They're dating and live together, she has a baby girl, but Andrew's not the father. Aiden is Luke's marketer and his friend. I know Luke and Aiden through Andy. As far I can gather, Aiden met Pat at Luke's bar one night when he was there for a Princeton-ite party of some sort. That's where my brain stops working. I don't really know any of the Princeton chapter." She laughed. "I can only imagine how the bachelor party scene went down. Evie said Riley was practically comatose after the whole showing her appreciation of his newest accessory thing. Why do I get the feeling you lot are far from innocent when you're together?"
"Or just knowledge in my own ability, and the fact I like watching a girl react to them," Josh smirked, but he raised his bottle to her and winked. "Having said that, I have complete faith in your abilties, Miss Emma."
He nodded, even though his eyes never really left her face. He already knew what the other guys looked like, so it was just listening to how they linked up. "Pat's Lachlan's best friend. Grew up in Scotland together. Same with Cameron for obvious reasons. The big football star avoiding his brother. Riley came to Scotland for some fancy medical placement thing, and we all corrupted him. Lachlan and Tara first clapped eyes on each other after some bar outing after he moved here. Evie is Tara's best friend. Riley and Evie are also both the godparents to the mini-Kilted One. Ah... Tara and Lachlan work with the blond Aussie doctor. Aiden's best friend is a patient of Riley's. She's pregnant, apparently. Doesn't really look the sort." Josh couldn't help but laugh loudly at her deduction. "What can I say?"
Emma huffed out a laugh. "Maybe I'm a lesbian?" she suggested with a smirk. "How would your 'abilities' fair then, Rhythm King?"
"It makes my head spin. The Mini Kilt, though, I have to admit that little guy won my heart from the get-go. I hope you lot aren't going to corrupt him. Although, the way he was laughing at the woman with the purple feather hat a little while back, I have a feeling his infant brain is already cottoning on to the corruption. It's all one big family. It's nice. I grew up with just my Mum and grandparents around me. Then I moved to New York and was too busy working to actually have a life. I probably need to learn to live a little," she decided, watching the Scot sweep his wife onto the dancefloor while Mini Kilt was happily offloaded to Pat and Aiden. She looked from Josh to Lachlan and then back again with a nod. She sought Tab out and nodded again. "I can see you three performing together. Evie told me Tab was a musician, I can clearly see Lachlan feels the music just from the way he's moving there, and you... if you've played your way around Edinburgh, you must have quite the talent."
"Lesbians still dance, right?" Josh asked as he held out his hand for her, placing the beer bottle on a nearby table. He'd watched her glance slide that way and figured what the hell. Truth was he could actually dance. It wasn't anything amazing, but he could manage. The slow dances were the easy ones in his mind. Plus he got to be close to her. "And my abilities would do just fine. I have been known to convert a lesbian, or two."
Josh smirked. "I don't like to brag... well, actually I do. I have fuckloads of talent and I've been forced to piss it away on shit gigs with shit bands. I needed a change, and I thought I may as well change the entire scenery while I'm at it. Hence the great journey to your fair land. I'm already feeling at home, plus the girls are much prettier."
"Convert, huh? Well, I'll save you the trouble. I'm very straight, just sorely lacking a social life to speak of." Emma took his hand, sliding her glass on the table beside his bottle and letting him lead her out onto the dancefloor. "Of course, I wouldn't be opposed to making out with a girl if the right guy was involved with us."
She put her hands on his waist when they reached the dancefloor and laughed. "Our fair land is pretty nice. I'm new to Princeton, but I love it so far. I don't really have a comment on the girls, but I know all the guys seem to be gay, taken or misanthropes, which really aren't my style. I think you'll like it here, especially if you have some of your posse on hand. The guys there are real sweet."
"I can help you there, love. Having a social life is my speciality. I could've been one of those lifestyle coaches, or whatever. Made sure all those corporate types knew how to let loose the right way. Just like RJ will when he's older. Because, yes, we probably are already corrupting him. Don't forget he's also his mother's son, so he's not going to get so bad as his father."
He smiled at her as he rest his hands on her waist in turn, and started to move slowly to the music. "Ah, I guess I might fall into category three, but don't let that deter you. I've already had the talk about fish dinners and flowers. Also, I do shower. And I own stock. I can't remember what in, but I do own some. Us deviants aren't all bad. So where were you from originally?"
Emma just smirked. "You have a distaste for the human race, do you? See, I got the opposite sense. I think you quite like life and people, you just operate on a different orbit to most. Not that there is anything wrong with that. The way I hear it, our Luke over there was much like you in the past and now look at him. Scared?" she teased. "I was born and bred in Boston. My Mom is a professor at Harvard. Then when I graduated, I came to New York for a job and that's where I was until only a few weeks ago when I moved to Princeton to find Evie."
"I do like life and people, but I'm not... I'm not this," Josh said as he jerked his head towards the two recently wedded couples. "Tara wants to convert me, so I've been trying to avoid her like the plague. I get that dating might be cool, and nice... Just not with the girls from back home. Not the fans at the gigs. You know? I don't know, maybe you don't. I know I probably sound like a tosser, but I'm just trying to be honest. Luke's just lucky. He found a girl that still lets him be him. Same with Yodalan." His eyes fixed with hers and he smirked. "You should show me your New York."
Emma tilted his head. "That's sad. She seems like a really sweet girl. But also kind of mischievous. Do you think maybe she's just trying to wind you up?" she laughed. She gave him a small nudge. "You need to keep an open mind. Not all girls are the same. You don't know what's waiting around the corner. My New York is a real dirty place, Josh. Not for the fainthearted."
"She is... most of the time. Other times I think she's genuinely serious. Other times I just know she's got that married person compulsion to see the rest of the world paired up and happy." His blue eyes looked over her face, and he chuckled. "I'll tell you a secret. If there was really a chick that had me thinking about her every night and day, and just needing to be around her; then I'd be very open-minded. I know not all girls are the same, but I can't even think of the last time a girl gave me cravings. Until now. I don't really slow dance with every girl, you know. I'm hardly fainthearted. My Edinburgh wouldn't be the for the fainthearted either, Emma."
"And there, you hardly know me. Maybe Mrs Scot has a point, hm?" Emma suggested pointedly. Actually, he wasn't too bad a dancer. She couldn't remember the last time she had slow danced with a guy. Her love life was woefully lacking in any fine moments. "I'm a paramedic, just like Andrew is. That's about the extent of my New York. Blood shed, vomit and lots of racing around in rush hour."
"Again, really not that different to my Edinburgh," Josh joked as he laughed. "And if you mention to Tara that she has a point, I'll never hear the end of it. 'Course if you do plan on telling her, I could always kiss you to keep you quiet."
Emma shook her head in amusement. "I don't know her very well. Tonight is the first night we met, but I can't see the evil chick you're making her out to be, so I'm curious as to whether she really is or you're just actually scared you might find someone like she suggests you will. There's talking about it and there is actually pulling it off. I doubt any of the couples here in this room will say it's an easy thing, even if they got their One already." She glanced down at his lips. "Are you trying to get into my pants, King?"
Josh leaned in close and tightened his hands on her hips. "Yeah, I am. Lucky for me you're not actually wearing pants. Formal does have some benefits."
"And what if I'm not into one night stands?" Emma challenged, holding his gaze.
Josh arched an eyebrow. "Then I guess I'll have to keep an open mind where you're concerned."
"Well, if you have a stroke keeping that mind open in the process, I know a very good paramedic," Emma said cheekily, her eyes shining in a way that indicated she was certainly not going to be like the girls he was used to.
Words: 3035 | All muses referred to come from the princeton2nyc verse and used with permission
- Nathaniel LeTonnerre
Co-written with missparamedic | Simultaneous to THIS and THIS
Josh scratched the back of his head as he surveyed the crowd at the reception. He was exhausted, and he hadn't even had to do anything. Other than chase one rogue groom and try and talk him into marriage. He cleared his throat as he sipped his beer and tried to work out if there were any single ladies here. One hundred guests and he was pretty sure they were either couples, or gay.
A lone brunette caught his attention and he smirked to himself as he sauntered up to her. She was definitely gorgeous. Had killer blue eyes that had him thinking all sorts of things. There was something familiar about them, but he couldn't quite place it. "Buy you a free drink?"
Emma had been trying to blend into the wall behind her. The only people she knew here were Andrew and sort of Evie. She felt out of place and like she didn't belong. True enough, however, everyone was amazingly friendly and chatty. She had met quite a few of Evie's friends, and found them to be a great group of people. It was also really nice to see Andrew relaxing with his girlfriend, even if they were both clearly worried about their baby girl and her untimely bout of chicken pox. Emma knew they would both probably make a polite, but early exit soon enough and then Emma would be down to one person she knew... and even then, she wasn't sure she could classify what she had with Evie as 'knowing' her yet.
She had to double take a little at the voice. She wasn't exactly expecting anyone to speak to her here. She had actually been wondering if she could make a polite and early exit herself. She blinked at his question and then shot him a smirk. "How chivalrous of you," she commented and held up her drink, which was still two thirds full.
"Chivalry being dead is just a rumour. Whoever started it hadn't met me yet." Josh struggled for a moment to think of something else to say. All this wedding stress had just about killed his mojo, and she really didn't look like the kind of girl that would respond to 'fancy a quick shag?'. "So you here for the bride, bride, groom, or groom?"
Emma looked over at the couples and sipped her drink. "Bride and Best Man, opposite sides of the fence. Andrew's my closest friend, Evie's my sister," she told him, trying not to balk when she said that. It still felt weird to say it. Really weird, but in a good way. She glanced at him again, trying to figure out why he had approached her. "What about you? Brit accent, could be the groom, could be other Best Man, could be Aiden's husband," she deduced.
"Do I look gay?" Josh asked, looking down at his shirt and pants. It was the tidiest he had looked in a while. He was still worried about Tara trying to spit polish him. Then the cogs in his brain started to kick in and he stared at her. "Evie's sister? Riley's Evie? As in the now Mrs Browne's sister? Fuck me. No wonder you're gorgeous. Must run in the family. I'm Riley's mate. I am in no way a Best Man. Riley's was Lachlan, our resident Evil Scotsman."
Emma looked at him, smirking in amusement. "No. I didn't realise gay was catching," she commented. "All the time I've spent with Aiden's other half tonight, I could walk away gay." She nodded. "Evie's sister, only we've only just found out the relationship. I can't take any credit for how gorgeous she is. You don't think you're Best Man material, huh?"
"It's not, it's just you said I could be Aiden's husband. There's no mistaking Pat for, well, Pat. Just checking to see if I looked like Pat. If you've spent time with him, then you should know I'm not him. And since you've only known Evie a short while, I'll excuse the fact you don't me. I'm Josh King. Knew Riley from his days in Edinburgh. Was Lachlan's drummer in his band." He offered her his hand, and his best knee-weakening smile. "You can take credit for how gorgeous you are though, love. And no, not really. I'm bachelor party material, but not speeches and tuxes."
Emma laughed and waved her hand. "No, no. I didn't say you could be Aiden's husband. I said you could be linked to Aiden's husband, being English. I was trying to figure out which side of the fence you were supposed to be lingering. I'm pretty sure Pat's husband is one of a kind... in an identical twin type capacity," she told him, still watching him in amusement. "A drummer, huh? Very impressive, Josh King. I have heard about the musical talents in this group. I'll have to see you all play one day. And yes, I heard all about that bachelor party and the groom's little... souvenir."
"Oh yeah, me and Patto go way back. Sorry, blame the lack of sex. I need an orgasm to get my brain working." Josh winced as the words left his mouth and cleared his throat as he looked away. "Fuck, sorry. There are times I need to keep my mouth shut. Even I know that. You still haven't given me your name, love. Planning on keeping it a secret? Hopefully you'll see us play. Campbell's recording an album with Riley's sister... apparently I'm supposed to volunteer myself for drumming duties. Actually haven't had the conversation with him yet. You'll definitely see them play. Plus Luke's got a bar that'll be opening soon here. I'm going to be manager," he added with a grin. "Hey, it got him royally laid. He actually thanked me for it this morning."
Emma raised her eyebrow. "That sounds like an unfortunate condition you have there. How did you ever survive before hitting puberty?" she asked, enjoying teasing him. She couldn't help but wonder if he was working his way up to hitting on her. She made a mental note to ask Evie about this Josh King. "I'm Emma. Planning on screaming it out later?" she threw back, not missing a beat.
She took another drink and licked her lips. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around everyone linked here. I only know two people. It's a little odd. Nice bunch, though. I live in Princeton, so no doubt I'll check the bar out at some point. What got you moving from drummer to bar manager?" She laughed, shaking her head. "What was your role? Holding him down while it got pierced?"
Josh coughed as she mentioned the screaming, nearly choking on his beer. "Never was much of a screamer, but I might just groan it against your skin if you let me." He liked the fact she teased him back, even liked that she seemed to catch him off guard. The girls that just seemed to become putty in his hands were usually far too agreeable and weak. "Pleasure to meet you, Emma."
"Links can be hard to work out. I know I'm still trying to work out the New York contingent. They're not really my people. I'm mostly linked the the Princeton folks." Josh shrugged. "Not many decent bands left to play with on the pub circuit in Edinburgh. Well, the ones that are already have drummers. Lachlan mentioned Luke and the bar, and I figured why not? Something different. Plus I'm back with boys. My role was more like supplying the alcohol to make sure he stayed plastered. I'm a charitible friend."
Emma's eyes were shining as she watched him over the top of her glass. "That's awfully deep confidence in my talents, Mr King."
She gestured with her glass to Andrew across the room. "That's Andrew, or Andy. He's my closest pal and my ex-boss. He's Luke's cousin, which is where the Princeton and New York contingent starts to link. The girl with him is Ali. They're dating and live together, she has a baby girl, but Andrew's not the father. Aiden is Luke's marketer and his friend. I know Luke and Aiden through Andy. As far I can gather, Aiden met Pat at Luke's bar one night when he was there for a Princeton-ite party of some sort. That's where my brain stops working. I don't really know any of the Princeton chapter." She laughed. "I can only imagine how the bachelor party scene went down. Evie said Riley was practically comatose after the whole showing her appreciation of his newest accessory thing. Why do I get the feeling you lot are far from innocent when you're together?"
"Or just knowledge in my own ability, and the fact I like watching a girl react to them," Josh smirked, but he raised his bottle to her and winked. "Having said that, I have complete faith in your abilties, Miss Emma."
He nodded, even though his eyes never really left her face. He already knew what the other guys looked like, so it was just listening to how they linked up. "Pat's Lachlan's best friend. Grew up in Scotland together. Same with Cameron for obvious reasons. The big football star avoiding his brother. Riley came to Scotland for some fancy medical placement thing, and we all corrupted him. Lachlan and Tara first clapped eyes on each other after some bar outing after he moved here. Evie is Tara's best friend. Riley and Evie are also both the godparents to the mini-Kilted One. Ah... Tara and Lachlan work with the blond Aussie doctor. Aiden's best friend is a patient of Riley's. She's pregnant, apparently. Doesn't really look the sort." Josh couldn't help but laugh loudly at her deduction. "What can I say?"
Emma huffed out a laugh. "Maybe I'm a lesbian?" she suggested with a smirk. "How would your 'abilities' fair then, Rhythm King?"
"It makes my head spin. The Mini Kilt, though, I have to admit that little guy won my heart from the get-go. I hope you lot aren't going to corrupt him. Although, the way he was laughing at the woman with the purple feather hat a little while back, I have a feeling his infant brain is already cottoning on to the corruption. It's all one big family. It's nice. I grew up with just my Mum and grandparents around me. Then I moved to New York and was too busy working to actually have a life. I probably need to learn to live a little," she decided, watching the Scot sweep his wife onto the dancefloor while Mini Kilt was happily offloaded to Pat and Aiden. She looked from Josh to Lachlan and then back again with a nod. She sought Tab out and nodded again. "I can see you three performing together. Evie told me Tab was a musician, I can clearly see Lachlan feels the music just from the way he's moving there, and you... if you've played your way around Edinburgh, you must have quite the talent."
"Lesbians still dance, right?" Josh asked as he held out his hand for her, placing the beer bottle on a nearby table. He'd watched her glance slide that way and figured what the hell. Truth was he could actually dance. It wasn't anything amazing, but he could manage. The slow dances were the easy ones in his mind. Plus he got to be close to her. "And my abilities would do just fine. I have been known to convert a lesbian, or two."
Josh smirked. "I don't like to brag... well, actually I do. I have fuckloads of talent and I've been forced to piss it away on shit gigs with shit bands. I needed a change, and I thought I may as well change the entire scenery while I'm at it. Hence the great journey to your fair land. I'm already feeling at home, plus the girls are much prettier."
"Convert, huh? Well, I'll save you the trouble. I'm very straight, just sorely lacking a social life to speak of." Emma took his hand, sliding her glass on the table beside his bottle and letting him lead her out onto the dancefloor. "Of course, I wouldn't be opposed to making out with a girl if the right guy was involved with us."
She put her hands on his waist when they reached the dancefloor and laughed. "Our fair land is pretty nice. I'm new to Princeton, but I love it so far. I don't really have a comment on the girls, but I know all the guys seem to be gay, taken or misanthropes, which really aren't my style. I think you'll like it here, especially if you have some of your posse on hand. The guys there are real sweet."
"I can help you there, love. Having a social life is my speciality. I could've been one of those lifestyle coaches, or whatever. Made sure all those corporate types knew how to let loose the right way. Just like RJ will when he's older. Because, yes, we probably are already corrupting him. Don't forget he's also his mother's son, so he's not going to get so bad as his father."
He smiled at her as he rest his hands on her waist in turn, and started to move slowly to the music. "Ah, I guess I might fall into category three, but don't let that deter you. I've already had the talk about fish dinners and flowers. Also, I do shower. And I own stock. I can't remember what in, but I do own some. Us deviants aren't all bad. So where were you from originally?"
Emma just smirked. "You have a distaste for the human race, do you? See, I got the opposite sense. I think you quite like life and people, you just operate on a different orbit to most. Not that there is anything wrong with that. The way I hear it, our Luke over there was much like you in the past and now look at him. Scared?" she teased. "I was born and bred in Boston. My Mom is a professor at Harvard. Then when I graduated, I came to New York for a job and that's where I was until only a few weeks ago when I moved to Princeton to find Evie."
"I do like life and people, but I'm not... I'm not this," Josh said as he jerked his head towards the two recently wedded couples. "Tara wants to convert me, so I've been trying to avoid her like the plague. I get that dating might be cool, and nice... Just not with the girls from back home. Not the fans at the gigs. You know? I don't know, maybe you don't. I know I probably sound like a tosser, but I'm just trying to be honest. Luke's just lucky. He found a girl that still lets him be him. Same with Yodalan." His eyes fixed with hers and he smirked. "You should show me your New York."
Emma tilted his head. "That's sad. She seems like a really sweet girl. But also kind of mischievous. Do you think maybe she's just trying to wind you up?" she laughed. She gave him a small nudge. "You need to keep an open mind. Not all girls are the same. You don't know what's waiting around the corner. My New York is a real dirty place, Josh. Not for the fainthearted."
"She is... most of the time. Other times I think she's genuinely serious. Other times I just know she's got that married person compulsion to see the rest of the world paired up and happy." His blue eyes looked over her face, and he chuckled. "I'll tell you a secret. If there was really a chick that had me thinking about her every night and day, and just needing to be around her; then I'd be very open-minded. I know not all girls are the same, but I can't even think of the last time a girl gave me cravings. Until now. I don't really slow dance with every girl, you know. I'm hardly fainthearted. My Edinburgh wouldn't be the for the fainthearted either, Emma."
"And there, you hardly know me. Maybe Mrs Scot has a point, hm?" Emma suggested pointedly. Actually, he wasn't too bad a dancer. She couldn't remember the last time she had slow danced with a guy. Her love life was woefully lacking in any fine moments. "I'm a paramedic, just like Andrew is. That's about the extent of my New York. Blood shed, vomit and lots of racing around in rush hour."
"Again, really not that different to my Edinburgh," Josh joked as he laughed. "And if you mention to Tara that she has a point, I'll never hear the end of it. 'Course if you do plan on telling her, I could always kiss you to keep you quiet."
Emma shook her head in amusement. "I don't know her very well. Tonight is the first night we met, but I can't see the evil chick you're making her out to be, so I'm curious as to whether she really is or you're just actually scared you might find someone like she suggests you will. There's talking about it and there is actually pulling it off. I doubt any of the couples here in this room will say it's an easy thing, even if they got their One already." She glanced down at his lips. "Are you trying to get into my pants, King?"
Josh leaned in close and tightened his hands on her hips. "Yeah, I am. Lucky for me you're not actually wearing pants. Formal does have some benefits."
"And what if I'm not into one night stands?" Emma challenged, holding his gaze.
Josh arched an eyebrow. "Then I guess I'll have to keep an open mind where you're concerned."
"Well, if you have a stroke keeping that mind open in the process, I know a very good paramedic," Emma said cheekily, her eyes shining in a way that indicated she was certainly not going to be like the girls he was used to.
Words: 3035 | All muses referred to come from the princeton2nyc verse and used with permission