He was laughing at her, in his own head of course. It was more polite that way. He was arrogant enough to know that she just wanted to be taken seriously. She was absolutely fucking gorgeous, no one could deny that, but was most likely stupid as all hell. She was probably tired of guys only wanting her around as a trophy, so she decided to quit sleeping around. He had used his most charming smiles and lines on her and she had turned him down, but he knew he'd see her again. He wasn't worried about it. After all, she was a girl who was tired of boys only wanting to sleep with her and she came to a bar alone at night.

He ordered another Newcastle from his friend the bartender as he scanned the room. If he took the time to be self-aware and put it into words, he could admit that he always had one eye open for females. He had a girlfriend waiting on him at home and he had absolutely no complaints about her, but he still kept on the lookout. It made him feel good that he could have any girl he wanted in just one conversation. He was never going to act on it, Sure, he got numbers and sent text messages, but it was all just an ego thing. He would always go home to her.

"You don't get that one." Brody said from behind the bar.

"Aw, man," Justin laughed "trust me dude, 'that one' isn't worth it."

"What?! You knew her for three minutes. How can you judge that? Plus, I mean, did you see her? Damn." Brody had been bartending at The Lobby for a year now and he was quite certain she was the most attractive person to ever walk in and out of there.

"Exactly. Girls who look like that don't have souls, man. Let it go." Justin was used to giving Brody advice about women. It's usually the other way around with the bartender giving it's patrons tidbits of wisdom here and there, but Brody was just so damn naive. Justin felt it was his duty to step in. 

"Oh, right. Like you were going to let it go."

Before Justin could reply, Brody was already at the end of the bar taking a drink order from some blonde girls. Brody was right, though. Justin had noticed the girl at the bar for an hour before she had got up to use the restroom.  He took that chance to steal her seat at the bar and talk to Brody. He was an excellent multitasker, so while half of his head was in the sports related conversation with his friend, the other half was how he was going to make this girl fall to her knees when she got back. You see, things like these were really just challenges for him. The prettier the girl, the more the challenge. And this girl, well, she was the prettiest Justin had seen in a very long time. Sitting at the bar he had a flash of his girlfriend, Kennedy, and how she wouldn't appreciate him acting like this, but he just pushed it out of his head. He loved her and he would never actually cheat on her. This was just fun and she couldn't understand that.

When he felt a tap on his shoulder, he knew it was game time. He shot a cocky wink at Brody and spun around slowly. Justin said the line that he had rehearsed in his head and on many girls before her. She didn't try to take her seat back, just mentioned something about paying her tab. His eyes went from lazy and carefree to concerned and confused in a second. As she squeezed between him and the man to his left, he reasoned that she was only playing hard to get because she thought she was on another level. All night long he had watched as guys talked about her, smiled at her, and even went as far as trying to subtly point at her, but none had the courage to actually stand up and talk to her. Since the moment Justin took her seat he was aware that every dude in the room was watching the exchange. Even if he was turned down, he was still going to get high fives from every male, and some females, in this place for having the audacity to try. But Justin didn't get turned down.

He paid close attention to the exchange between she and Brody. He made sure Brody saw him dramatically roll his eyes. Girls like her never had to pay for shit, though he had to admit she did a good job or acting surprised by the free drinks. It was then that he really took notice of her southern accent. It made her sound inarticulate and he licked his lips as he knew he had this one in the bag.

When she turn around from not paying, he had managed to turn his stool in such a way that she was caught between his legs. He said nothing, only stared at her. The misperception is that liars can't look you in the eyes. That's total bullshit as far as Justin was concerned. He would much rather look at her toned legs, but her knew that looking into her eyes was what was going to work. He closed the already small space between them by leaning forward and grabbing his beer off the table. He whispered a very tired and dramatic, "I'll see you around" before retiring back to his seat. He smirked at the thought of a soon to come victory as he allowed his left leg to rest against the back of her jean covered thighs.

She leaned in, just as he had done only moments before, and whispered, "Dear God, I just hope so" before walking away and not looking back. Oh yea, he thought, this girl was stupid as hell.

So he didn't have a victory last night, but it didn't really matter. 

Okay, it did matter. 

It really irked him.

 It shouldn't matter. He went home, made love to his wonderful girlfriend, and woke up with her in his arms. That's what should matter. And it does matter, it really does. It's just that, well, is he losing it? His charm, his mojo, his whatever? If he can't make the moronic but beautiful model type fall for his easiest lines, then what does that mean? Especially when he is the only dude in the bar on her level of attractiveness, and let's face it, that's all bitches like her care about, and she's been drinking, and he still can't land her? Something is wrong. It really punctured his ego.

It was all so textbook on his part. Simple high school level psychology. So much so that it's embarrassing. He has a girlfriend, and while she's not beautiful by everyone's standards, she is unquestionably attractive and she loves him. And he loves her, but he is never satisfied. His own ego is so insatiable that he needs attention from every female in any given room. Instead of being whiney about it, he hones it as a skill and uses his looks to his advantage to get the attention he craves. He does this knowing it's an undesirable character trait, so as to not get caught he act like a cocky asshole. Guys envy him for his game and girls are all not so secretly in love with him.

He does all of this thinking that he is somehow better than the gorgeous girl in the corner of the bar who uses her looks to get free drinks.

How embarrassing.