“Care to come with us to Lush? I’m playing wingman for my boy here.” He wraps an arm around my neck and I shake my head.
“I never said we were going.”
He lets me go and nudges my shoulder. “You asked her to meet up!”
“No. You asked her to meet up,” I correct him with a scowl.
“Tomato tomahto. It’s your name and your face. Don’t ghost her. She’s cute.” I go to protest when he beats me to it. “I never said she wasn’t gorgeous or beautiful, I said you didn’t need to tell her that.”
I huff. “Fine. Tell her we’re coming. I’m coming.” I look over to see that Chace is already typing out a message. He hands my phone back to me and I roll my eyes.
Aidan: Be there in twenty. I’m coming with a few friends. I hope you like tequila.
“I don’t even like tequila.” I look up from the message he sent her.
“And that’s a problem in itself. Man the fuck up.”
“The last time I had tequila I woke up forty minutes from my apartment in a sombrero and my underwear.” I grimace at both the memory and the horror of that Uber ride home.
“Ah, Cinco de Mayo 2017, good times.” He nods as he remembers.
I scowl at him, remembering the only reason he wasn’t right next to me where he belonged, when it was his idea to go to a party on the other side of town at 2 AM, was because of course, he had met a girl. “I’m not drinking tequila.”
“Oh, well this is awkward.” The bartender smiles as she sets two shot glasses of a clear liquid in front of me and Chace.
Chace’s eyes light up and he grins. “Oh God, I think I just fell in love. What’s your name again?”
“Taryn. Now drink up, buttercups. If we’re going to Lush, you’re going to want to be drunk. Trust me.” She points between the two glasses as she wipes down the bar around us and heads back to the other side.
“I hate you so much right now.”
“What, because my good looks and charm got us free tequila shots?”
“No, because you’re hell bent on ruining my life.”
“Don’t be so dramatic. Do you want to be stiff and awkward around Bella?”
“No. Well…wait, I’m not stiff or awkward.”
“I am not even going to dignify that with a response,” Chace says before he downs the shot. “Oh, and the good stuff too. It’ll go down like water. Trust me.” He nods at my shot. “Come on, buttercup. Bottoms up.”
“Fuck you.”
“Hey, if I swung that way, I’d totally help ya out. God knows you need it to help pry that stick out of there.”
Taryn leads us towards Lush, and I’ll admit I actually like her. Perhaps if Chace doesn’t fuck things up with her by acting like a complete dick we could be friends or whatever. She gives Chace her fair share of sass and I can tell that he’s enjoying keeping up with her.
“Here we are!” She shimmies as she goes to the front of the line, bypassing the line of people down the block.
“Umm…” I start when Chace gives me a warning look telling me to shut up.
“Hey, Kyle.” Taryn high fives the bouncer and points over her shoulder at us. “I’ve got some D.C. bar virgins. Let me in!”
“I am the furthest thing from a virgin.” Chace wraps a hand around her and tugs on a lock of her hair that she’s long released from the confines of her bun, while growling in her ear. I roll my eyes at his innuendo as Kyle waves us in.
The bar is dark; the only light in the hallway is from my phone as I stare down at Bella’s last message.
Bella: Okay! Let me know when you’re here! *smiley face*