“Are you desi?” she asks him. When he nods, she takes a glass and starts filling it. “Desi’s drinks are always free at 188. Here you go, cutie.” She passes his drink across the bar and I roll my eyes at the cutie comment. Jim doesn’t need the encouragement. “Are you guys local?”
“Yeah. We’re local. I’m Aiden, and these are my brothers Bobby, Jon, and the desi is Jim.”
“Brothers, as in actually related? Or as in,” she taps her chest in a weird gang symbol, “bruthas?”
Aiden laughs. “Both. Me, Jimmy, and Bobby are brothers from the same mother. Jon has been ourbruthasince forever.”
“Cool, nice to meet you guys. I’m Casey. I don’t have any siblings at all, but mysistahfrom another mister is over there.” She points toward the siren again. This girl just got a hell of a lot more interesting. If those chicks are as close as me and the boys, then I think I’ll be making friends with Casey just to get to know her friend.
“Hey! Bobby, yeah?”
My head whips away from her friend. “Yeah…”
“That chick you’re staring at, that’s Kit. And she’s my best friend. She’s a good girl. Are you trouble?”
I like that she’s protective of her friend. I turn back to face Casey front on and smile my most charming smile. “No ma’am. I’m not trouble.”
“Ma’am? Jesus, I’m not forty! You’re clearly older than us.”
“Sorry, I’ll just call you Tink, then.” I thought my nickname for the tiny spitfire was clever, but when she narrows her eyes to slits, I reconsider. “Or not. Kit expecting any company tonight?”
She watches me warily as customers scream around us to be served. “No… she’s not.” She leans forward onto the bar. “You looking to keep her company, Bobby?”
“Yes m–” I clear my throat. “Yes.”
As soon as I hurriedly correct myself, a huge grin transforms her cute face. I feel like an old dog that just learned a new trick. “Okay well.” She stands from her lean on the bar. “She’s drinking vodka and orange, in case you were wondering.”
Is that approval from the tiny warrior? Fucked if I know, but it feels good, anyway.
The guys chat amongst themselves, they check the room out, check the girls out. They see Kit, but they keep their eyes to themselves. They heard my interest, and we never poach another brother’s girl. Jimmy might joke about it, he might even tease me or the girl, but he’d never actually poach.
I can’t stop my eyes from sweeping past her, back to her, over and over as though she was a magnet, and on the last pass, our eyes lock as we’re both caught staring.
She holds my gaze for a moment, but as the color rises in her cheeks, she catches herself and looks away.
Not as brave as Casey, then.