Her eyes light up in delight. “Do tell.”
“Oh, you’ll find out just as soon as we find Blaise,” I say as we reach the end of the hallway and enter the bar area, a small room covered with small tables and mismatched chairs, and of course a countertop and barstools.
“You know what, Hadley?” She slips her arm through mine and tugs me over toward the counter. “I think you and I are going to be good friends.”
“Perhaps.” I offer her one of my rare, genuine smiles.
The truth is Scarlett seems like the kind of person I could be friends with. I’m just not convinced we’ll be able to remain friends while I’m working for her father. Plus, I’ve never really had a real friend before, besides my sisters. I used to before my dad started making us move every six months or so.
“Hey, Hunter,” Scarlett greets at a man standing behind the counter, filling up shot glasses with tequila. He has short brown hair, tattoos inking his lean arms, a and a scar running over his bottom lip. If I had to guess, I’d put his age at twenty tops, a bit young to be the bartender.
He offers her a nod, his brows furrowing as his gaze lands on me.
“Oh, this is Hadley,” Scarlett explains, gesturing at me. “And Hadley, this is Hunter, the best underage bartender in town.” She smiles at Hunter.
“No, I’m just a waiter. If I was a bartender, that’d be illegal.” He puts his finger to his lips with a teasing glint in his eyes.
“Don’t worry; Hadley’s cool.” She unloops her arm from mine and props her elbows on the cracked wooden counter. “So, who’re the shots for?”
I scan the bar, suddenly aware that all the chairs and tables are empty. Odd. I mean, yeah, it’s the middle of the day, but all the bars my dad hung out at had regulars who would spend all day at the counter spending their paychecks on beers and shots.
“For your brothers actually. And Jay and Sofie.” He collects four of the six shots from off the counter. “Carry the other two, will you?”
“Only if you tell me why you guys are drinking tequila in the middle of the day,” she teases, gathering a shot glass in each hand.
“We’re celebrating,” he explains then licks some spilt tequila off his hand.
“By giving my brothers shots at twelve o’clock in the afternoon?” Her smile is all teasing but a drop of worry resides in her eyes.
“They’re only half shots,” he says. “And it wasn’t my idea. It was Jay’s.”
“Fair enough.” She hands me the shot glasses she just picked up. Then she stands on her tiptoes, leans across the counter, and snatches the half-empty bottle of tequila and two empty shot glasses.
Puzzlement etches across Hunter’s face. “What’re you up to?”
She unscrews the cap off the tequila. “If you guys get to celebrate then so should Hadley and me.” She fills one glass half full of tequila then moves to fill up the other.
“Only put like a couple of drops in mine,” I tell her. “I have to be able to drive back to school in like a half an hour.”
She fills up the glass halfway. “We can always walk.”
Not happening, but I’ll play along and then only have a taste when it comes time to toast or whatever the hell it is they’re doing with the shots. Honestly, I’ve never been much of a drinker, partly because of my dad and partly because I’m a total lightweight.
After Scarlett is done pouring the shots, the three of us heads toward a doorway located behind the counter.
“So, how’d you two meet?” he asks Scarlet as he steps through the doorway.
Scarlett trades an amused look with me. “Well, we were walking down the hallway, our gazes collided, and fireworks just sparked.”
“It was truly magical,” I agree. “Like the stars and moons aligned and brought us together.”
“And we just knew in that moment,” she says.
“That we were going to be together forever,” I finish for her as we step through the doorway and into the small room on the other side.
We bust up laughing while Hunter shakes his head, looking completely fucking lost.
“Well, at least you’re both weirdoes,” he mutters then takes off toward a table tucked in the back corner of the room. A table where Blaise, Rhyland, Jaxon, and Alex are sitting, along with older man and woman.
The man looks around my dad’s age and has dark brown hair and a beard, both of which are greying. The woman’s long hair is all grey, nearly silver in the florescent lighting. The man must be saying something funny since all four of the guys are smiling. And not in a smirking way either. No, this is how the Porterson really look when their cocky, I’m-such-a-badass facades are down.
“You’re such a liar.” Alex grins at the man as he leans back in his chair and crosses his arms. “That didn’t happen.”
The man gasps, appalled. “Are you calling me a liar?”
“What if I was?” Alex challenges with amusement.
The man shrugs. “It’s better if you don’t find out.”
Alex rolls his eyes, but a smile dances at his lips. That smile falters however as his gaze zeroes in on me.
“What’s she doing here?” he sneers, straightening in his seat.
Everyone at the table turns to stare at me.
Awesome.
“She’s actually with me.” Scarlett smirks then grabs my arm and tugs me closer to her.
“Yeah, they locked eyes across the hallway and had a case of insta-love or some shit like that. And now they’re on a date.” Hunter sets the shot glasses down on the table. “Honestly, I’m not really sure what happened. Their recap of how they know each other sounded pretty shady to me.” He winks at Scarlett then flashes a smile at me.
“It wasn’t insta-love,” I correct, ignoring the burn of Blaise’s boring gaze. “Just insta-like,”
“Sorry, my bad.” Hunter lowers into an empty seat beside the older man and Alex.
Perplexity creases across the older man’s face. “Well, I’m a little confused about what insta-love and like are, but I’m glad you’re here,” he tells Scarlett, signaling for her to sit down. “It’s been too long since you’ve come around.”
“Sorry. I’ve been busy.” Scarlett places the shot glasses on the table then seats herself beside the woman, leaving the only chair between Rhyland and Blaise available.
Again, awesome.
Even more awesome, when I hesitate to sit down, Rhyland arches a brow at me, like remember the deal.
I mimic his brow raise and plant my behind in the chair between Blaise and Rhyland.
Rhyland rubs his hand across his mouth to conceal his smile and I roll my eyes. He’s so getting the wrong idea. r />
I lean over and whisper, “I’m not backing out of our deal, dude, so wipe that smirk off your face.”
“Then why’d you hesitate to sit down next to Blaise?” he whispers back teasingly.
“Maybe it was sitting down next to you that was making me hesitate?” I quip, setting the glasses down on the table.
“Why would I make you do that? I’m awesome.” He dazzles me with a charming grin. “In fact, some might say I’m the most awesome of the Porterson brothers.”
I grin. “Hmmm … sounds like maybe you should meet some new people. Because the people you currently know are a bunch of liars.”
The corner of his lips kick up into a cocky smirk. “I think the only liar I know is you, sweetheart. Deep down, you think I’m awesome.”
“Watch it,” I start to warn, but the older woman cuts me off.
“Rhyland Porterson, that’s no way to talk to a young lady,” she reprimands, wagging her finger at him.
Rhyland smashes his lips together forcefully. “You think Hadley’s a lady?”
Blaise and Alex snort a laugh. Even Jaxon’s lips slightly twitch.
“Hey,” I begin to protest but realize they’re right. “Okay, fine. I’m not really a lady and you want to know why?” I smack Blaise and Rhyland on the arm.
“Hey, what was that for?” Blaise rubs his arms, still chuckling. “All I did was laugh.”
“For getting that stupid sweetheart nickname to catch on.” I swat his arm again.
He chuckles, shaking his head and muttering, “So feisty.”
“See what I mean?” Rhyland says to the old woman, rubbing his own arm. “She’s not a lady.”
“A lady can defend herself if she wants to,” the woman replies, narrowing her eyes at Rhyland. “And you better respect her, got it? And all ladies for that matter.”
Rhyland nods. “Yes ma’am.”
“Good.” She grins, collecting a shot glass from off the table. “Now, please, introduce me to this lovely young lady.”