“More drinks?”
Her eyes sparkled as she shook her head. “I wanted to ask if you’re ever going to ask Keira out?”
“Um …” He glanced between the two of them, catching the look of reproach that Keira shot at Mel. “W-what?” he stammered.
Mel sighed dramatically. “You’ve been exchanging flirty looks across a crowded room for long enough, just ask her out already.”
“I … um …” He opened his mouth a few times.
“Oh my god!” Mel laughed. “This is painful. Do you want to go out with her or not?”
“Yeah,” he replied uncertainly while Keira mumbled about how embarrassing Mel was.
“Have you got your phone on you?” Mel asked.
“Yeah.” He unlocked the screen and gave it to her.
“I’ll put Keira’s phone number in here, then you can give her a call sometime and arrange a date. How about that?”
“Sorry,” Keira said, looking more mortified than when she’d been called up to sing. “You can ignore her. She’s had too many cocktails. I should take her home.”
“It’s fine.” He held Keira’s gaze until Mel pushed his phone back into his hand. “Do you want another drink before we call last orders?”
“No, I think it’s time for us to go.” Keira stood and pulled her jacket from the back of the chair.
“Happy birthday again,” he said. “Sorry about karaoke.”
“No need to apologise,” Mel said cheerfully. “Just take her out for dinner one night and she’ll forgive you.”
“Shut up!” Keira shook her head and wished him goodnight before marching Mel to the door.
After watching them go, he looked down at his phone and scrolled to Keira’s name. He felt a tug of desire and wasn’t sure his willpower would be strong enough to resist calling her.
Chapter Two
Pacing his bedroom, Noah knew there was no way he’d sleep until he’d chatted everything through with someone. When his best friend didn’t answer the phone, he called his brother instead, not considering the time until the call connected.
“You know some people sleep at night?” Trystan grumbled good-naturedly.
“I just got home from work. Were you asleep?”
“I was awake,” Trystan said wearily.
“Are you okay?”
“Jenny and I had an argument. She left.”
Noah sank onto the edge of the bed. Apparentlyhisproblem would have to wait. “What happened?”
“She’s not happy with our relationship and the lack of forward motion in our lives.”
That wasn’t anything new; the issue had been building for a while. “She wants to get married and have babies?”
“Yep.”
Noah tried his best to muster sympathy, but he struggled to understand his brother’s reluctance to settle down. “You’re thirty-two. And you and Jenny have been together forever—”
“Ten years,” Trystan interjected.