“Margarita with a Patron chaser,” I replied.
“Oh, that sounds good,” Jasmine said, then leaned against the bar and shouted, “Make that two,” at Shane, who shot a sexy grin at her.
“And what were you looking at?” Jasmine whispered, causing me to panic.
Thinking she’d seen me glaring daggers at Dillon and the brunette, I stuttered, but then she grinned, lifted an eyebrow, and tilted her head toward Shane.
“Oh,” I breathed, relieved. “I was checking out Shane’s ass.”
“How’d you like it?” Shane asked loudly, causing me to blush.
“Turn around,” Jazzy ordered, and when he complied, she announced, “Bite-able.”
“We can schedule a taste test whenever you’d like, beautiful.”
“Gah, he’s such a flirt,” Jasmine said, swinging her head toward me and wrinkling her nose.
“He’s totally into you, you should go for it,” I said, repeating this for probably the zillionth time.
Jasmine shook her head, as usual, and replied, “He’s too much of a player. Plus, he knows how hot he is, and what his accent does to us … I need someone who’s willing to put in a little work. It comes too easy for Shane.”
I sighed, wishing she could see the way he looked at her when she wasn’t paying attention. Then maybe Jasmine would realize that where she was concerned, he might be willing to put in the work.
“Here you go,” Shane said as he placed our drinks in front of us. His tone was still friendly, but I noticed that he was no longer grinning, and I worried that he’d heard what Jasmine said.
He was such a nice guy, I hated for him to have his feelings hurt.
“Thanks, Shane,” I said softly, and his lips lifted a fraction before he walked off to help someone else.
“To us, the hottest singles in Cherry Springs,” Jasmine said, raising her shot glass.
“To us,” I mimicked, then we both downed our shots.
The burn of tequila down my throat reminded me of the burn left by Dillon, so as soon as I slammed my shot glass on the bar, I said, “Another.”
“Really?” Jazzy asked, and when I nodded, said, “Gonna be one of those nights, huh?”
Shane put two more Patron shots in front of us, gave me what looked like a concerned look, which I promptly ignored, and walked away.
“To freedom,” I toasted. “Freedom to be who we want, live the way we want…”
“And, have sex with who we want,” Jasmine added with a laugh, then we kicked back the second shot.
“Another?” I asked, wanting to drown out all the reasons why I couldn’t have sex with who I wanted.
“Nah, let’s take our margaritas by the pool table and break some hearts.”
Thinking that sounded like a fantastic idea, and vowing that starting right then I’d put my feelings for Dillon in the past and move on to someone who actually wanted me, I said, “Let’s do it.”
7
Dillon
I woke up feeling refreshed.
A night of great sex and sleeping in your own bed will do that to you.
Luckily, Karen, the woman whose hotel room I’d gone to the night before, had an early flight, so there was no awkward morning after. Just, thanks for a good time and have a safe flight, then I went home and crashed.