“You might want to walk, it’s a bit crowded,” I tease her. It’s cheesy and the grin Nate has growing on his face tells me he heard it too.
Whatever, she still laughs.
Shaking her head, she brushes past me, and everything inside of me wants to wrap my arm around her waist, pull her in and ask her if she wants to come home with me.
It’s a feeling I’m used to. And so is this chill that sweeps in the moment she walks away.
“Dani, she needs another,” I call out to the bartender the moment Aubree’s gone.
Dani’s quick to place the beer down in front of me even though it’s for Aubree.
“She didn’t even ask who ‘she’ is,” Nate comments.
Reaching over the tabletop, I snag an orange slice Dani forgot, and drop it into Aubree’s glass. “Can’t I be happy with this as it is?” I ask him genuinely.
Before he can answer, Aubree’s right there, watching me place the beer at her seat.
“You looking out for me? Or just trying to get me drunk?” There’s this small smile she gives me sometimes. It’s there now as she lifts the beer to her lips and slips deeper into the booth to give me room to sit if I want to.
“Maybe a little of both,” I joke, questioning if I should sit. If I should push it a little more tonight than I have before.
“Which one would you prefer?” I ask her, feeling this hot nervousness prick along every inch of my skin as she stares up at me.
She smirks back, all flirtatious and never breaking eye contact when she says, “Maybe a little of both?”
AUBREE
Cheryl leans in close, a smirk clearly written on her face. “Just do it, Bree.” She comes even closer to nudge me, her tipsiness making her sway as she adds, “You can’t keep teasing him like this.”
The grin on her face is as wide as it can be as her gaze lifts from me and moves to the topic of the conversation behind me.
My cheeks can’t get any hotter.
“Your drink’s empty.” A deep yet flirtatious man’s voice reaches us from down the bar. Kill me now. Cheryl and I grabbed barstools beside Nate and Jackson when the game went into overtime. Both of them have since moved. It’s like musical chairs in this place.
It took a whole two minutes for the guys to my right to start chatting us up. They weren’t paying attention to the game in the least.
“Let us buy you your next round. What are you ladies drinking?”
He raises his voice to speak over the sounds of the game on the bar’s TVs. The crowd roars in the background. Whistles blow. I don’t care much about the score, but the atmosphere is amped up. The end of the night is getting close.
Cheryl beams at me. “See? If you don’t make your move, somebody else is going to step in. Those guys are hot.”
“Those guys are hot because you’re drunk,” I joke, although I don’t have much room to talk. I, too, am far from sober.
“No, they’re genuinely hot.” Cheryl sneaks a peek over her shoulder, her cheeks turning a bright pink as she takes them in.
The bar is emptying out. Quite a few people reached their limit by the fourth quarter and headed home, but Cheryl’s having a good time. Nate and Anne made it through most of the fourth before they went home to make out with each other.
And Jackson …
Jackson is still here.
I can feel him in the bar. Maybe it’s just because I’m drunk as well, but I am acutely aware he’s still here, even with my back turned. He’s behind me now at the booth I was sitting at only an hour or so ago.
I wonder if he’s watching. If those guys come closer, he’s going to see. The Peanut Bar isn’t that big, and there aren’t many people left. Nerves eat at me as I wonder if he even cares. All I can think about while these guys are flirting with me, is whether or not Jackson can see. What the hell is wrong with me?
With a short sigh, I push my beer away and look back at my good friend. Her teeth are sunken into her bottom lip as she glances their way again.
Cheryl’s right. I should make a move, one way or the other. Three years is a long time to shove my feelings down. Three years is a long time not to go home with a man because of a little crush that’s never going to go anywhere. I should either get up and confess to Jackson that my heart skips a beat every time I see him here, or I should let those guys buy us drinks.
The moment I suck in a breath and peek at Jackson, I turn right back around.