Although the night was still relatively young, the lounge that Astrid and Annie had picked for Tess’ return to the single world was already starting to get noisy and a little crowded.  Standing at the bar,<a class="link link--external" data-proxy-href="/proxy.php?link=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2Fb7%2F35%2F8c%2Fb7358cf4620cd2716350a30e0c7a1a8b.gif&amp;hash=80f0167424c354ccab819dfe31b39dc2" href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b7/35/8c/b7358cf4620cd2716350a30e0c7a1a8b.gif" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(84, 172, 210)">well formed man</span></a>was just beginning to wonder if he had made a bit of a mistake in letting himself be talked into coming.  James Beckwith was only a few months into his new life in the States, and already he was coming to recognize the differences in what he would have called a pub in the UK, and the far more broad definition the Americans used for the word ‘bar’.<br/><br/>For instance, his night had started at a pub.  It was quite difficult to find a place here that would show a Premier League match, no matter how many giant TVs they had hanging about the place, but after what felt like an exhaustive search James had finally found one, and had proceeded to make himself enough of a regular that when he walked in they knew his drink and his preference to watch.  And that suited him just fine.   After all, his job didn’t exactly correlate to staying up late, so a few pints, a match and home to bed had become a regular routine.  Unfortunately, this did not lead one to an active social life, a fact his friends and colleagues had noticed and commented on, so here he was.<br/><br/>A friday night after another long week, and so James had no excuse not to stay out as he had the whole weekend to recover.  No newcomer to a night out, even if it had been a bit since he had tied one on,. James had gotten himself a good meal and gone few pints in so that when his work friends dragged him out to this...club, he’d be well prepared.  Turning to look around the room to where some of his group were already dancing to ordering shots of liquor, he grinned wryly.  Some of them would be feeling it in the morning.  Noting an area set aside for what appeared to be a divorce party, he reckoned that would be a rowdy section later one.<br/><br/>Not the only one that had noted the little party area the girls had set up, a few other guys had made note, especially because as Annie had said, sometimes women just wanted a rebound after a divorce.   One<a class="link link--external" data-proxy-href="/proxy.php?link=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.mubicdn.net%2Fimages%2Fcast_member%2F35127%2Fcache-305111-1516946617%2Fimage-w856.jpg%3Fsize%3D800x&amp;hash=bc368e26d6d194d7d1f57d5e733f77c0" href="https://images.mubicdn.net/images/cast_member/35127/cache-305111-1516946617/image-w856.jpg?size=800x" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(84, 172, 210)">such guy</span></a>had been casually watching the area, and as Tess settled behind the tables and the other two girls moved off to start dancing he decided to approach.  Once he was sure no one was joining them, he walked over with drink in hand, giving Tess his best and friendliest smile as he drew close.  “So, congratulations I guess?”  He grinned, indicating the divorce decorations and the sash she wore with a wave of his drink.   Extending the other hand, he introduced himself.  “Luke Rodgers.  Hi.”<br/><br/>On the dance floor, the two girls with Tess were attracting some attention as well.  No sooner had Annie and Astrid settled on the floor and started moving to the best than<span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(44, 130, 201)"> </span><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(84, 172, 210)"><a class="link link--external" data-proxy-href="/proxy.php?link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geo.tv%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2Fupdates%2F2021-05-03%2F348510_1989841_updates.jpg&amp;hash=a320ab36ea7ac8fe1cffb60661b95cfa" href="https://www.geo.tv/assets/uploads/updates/2021-05-03/348510_1989841_updates.jpg" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank">a guy</a></span>was working his way over, moving to the rhythm beside them.  “Hello ladies.”  He greeted with a sly smile, working a little closer to Annie as some innate club sense told him Astrid was a harder target.