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whipped her head around to face me again. ‘You minx,’ she laughed, ‘Were you checking him out?’
    ‘What-? No!’ I stuttered, ‘Absolutely not!’
    ‘Just go over and talk to him,’ she said, ‘You’re Emma Clarke, it’s not like he’s gonna turn you down.’
    ‘Don’t be stupid,’ I said, ‘That doesn’t matter… Besides, it’s like you said, he won’t even know who I am.’
    ‘Exactly,’ Casey said, ‘I didn’t mean that you’re Emma Clarke, the movie star, or anything. I meant that you’re you. What guy wouldn’t want you? And, true, he won’t know who you are, which is great. You can just go and have a conversation with him without all that stuff…’
    ‘I… No…’ I said, smiling and turning my head away, unable to keep my cheeks from running red with embarrassment.
    ‘Come on,’ Casey said, taking my hand, ‘He’s got a cute friend, anyways, maybe we could figure something out…’
    ‘You really are awful,’ I laughed, finally giving in and letting her drag me over to the two of them.
    ‘Hi,’ Casey said, as we stood side by side before the two guys. They had both been leaning against the bar, talking with each other, and they both turned their heads and looked over at us inquisitively the moment Casey spoke. The one facing away from me was a brawny muscular guy with a clean-shaven face and polite eyes. The other, that is, the one whose eyes I had caught just moments ago... Well, if I hadn’t been able to take my eyes off his back then, I could hardly take them off his face now. He was indeed rugged looking, with stubble covering his jawline, thick and short dark hair, and dark eyes that seemed to look mine as if they were staring out of a window that gave a view for miles. He wasn’t as muscular as his friend, but it was easy to tell that he was toned and lean beneath his lumberjack shirt and worn jeans, which hung off him perfectly.
    But above it all, it was that look that he gave me, as if I was some kind of machine that he was fascinated by…
    ‘Hi,’ the guy’s friend said, ‘What’s up?’
    ‘Well, my friend and I were just having a discussion. She thinks that you’re really hot,’ Casey said, looking over at the guy. If my face hadn’t been red before, it certainly was now. – ‘And I told her that I thought you were cuter,’ she continued, turning to the bigger guy and running a hand over his arm.
    ‘I don’t-… I don’t think that…’ I quickly said, looking at the guy. In front of the camera I could be somebody else… But out here, I had to be me. And I hated that.
    ‘So you don’t think that I’m really hot?’ The guy said, smirking at me.
    ‘What? No, that wasn’t…- I didn’t mean…’ My words trailed off, my heart racing ridiculously, as I looked over at him and then back to the other guy.
    ‘What do we call you two boys, anyway?’ Casey smiled.
    ‘I’m Rory,’ the bigger guy said, ‘And this is Jack. Can we get you two a drink?’
    ‘Sure,’ Casey said, I still trying to scrape up what little pride I had left, ‘I’m Casey, and this is Emma.’
    I visibly cringed at hearing the sound of my name, but my best friend was already turning towards the bigger guy. I knew that she liked bigger, muscular guys – just her type I guess. As she sorted out the drinks with Rory, she looked over at Jack.
    ‘Jack,’ she smiled, ‘Emma wants to talk to you.’
    God, I hated her…
    ‘Is that right?’ Jack said, raising his eyebrows analytically and looking me up and down. I could already tell from the way he spoke that he was smart, but I didn’t know what the heck to do right now.
    Until he told me.
    ‘Come on over here, Emma,’ he said confidently, turning back towards the bar as I stayed where I was, looking over at him. He hadn’t even batted an eye.
    Well, I guess it would be rude not to…
    I took a deep breath and headed over to his side by the bar, Jack standing between me and Casey and Rory, who were already laughing