“You want a drink?” Andrew says in a low voice close to my ear. He’s hovering behind me, his chin less than an inch over my shoulder. Nearly skin to skin, just like the pads of his fingers still possessively running over my back, right between my shoulder blades. He’s speaking at a volume barely over the noise, but I hear him over everything.
I look at him and nod.
“You good if I leave you here?”
Before I can answer, Hayley interjects.
“Come on, Andrew,” she calls. Disbelief rings through the mockingly wounded look on her face. “We don’t bite.”
Andrew looks back at me with a grin at the same time I smile at him over my shoulder. “I think I’ll manage.”
Andrew leaves my side, sauntering away, and I catch his backside as he makes his way to the bar. I catch a few women’s gazes shift to him, distracted as he walks by. Their eyes take in his height, then linger over his broad shoulders before landing on his face. Catching the sharp edge of his jawline and perpetually provoking eyes that seem to narrow when he’s in pensive thought and candid when he’s telling me something personal or intimate.
“So, how do you know Andy?”
“Andy?” I repeat. I look at Hayley, my lips downturn in amusement, and I nod, finding this new nickname intriguing.
“Are you his new girlfriend?”
I smile, ducking my head when I feel a flush spread to my cheeks. “Um, no. Nothing like that. We’re…just friends.”
She leans in close, and her elbow bumps against mine. “Sure,” she appeases. She nudges her arm into me, a clear sign she’s calling my bluff. “I won’t tell anyone.” She winks at me before tilting back the glass tumbler in her hand carrying something red-tinged.
“Have you known Andrew long?” I ask. My hands find a lone cocktail napkin, the edge damp from a ring of condensation. I start folding it, twisting the corners and tearing off a small piece. An apparent nervous tic making my hands fidgety with the mention of the foreign and somewhat inexact title.
“A few years,” Hayley says. “Ever since Ro and I started dating. He’s a good guy,” she adds. “First time he’s brought around a girl though.”
That catches my attention. “Really?” The second I utter the question, I realize how desperate I sound. How eager I look to know more about Andrew’s dating life.
Hayley opens her mouth to say more, but she’s cut off when Andrew returns with two drinks in his hands. He has the usual Ketel and soda I drink and an amber-colored bottle for himself. Hayley returns to Ro’s side, playing innocent with her eyes ping-ponging from Andrew to me then back to Andrew.
“Andrew,” Hayley calls. “You should bring Grace to the Coldplay concert in November. She can have Jake’s ticket since he can’t make it.”
Andrew turns to Jake. “You can’t go to Coldplay?” he asks with disapproval.
“It’s my niece’s christening that weekend,” Jake informs him, adding a resigned shrug. “I’ll be in Michigan.”
“Great! It’ll be a double date.” Hayley claps her hands together and grins at us.
Andrew flits his brow up and down. A taunt or some kind of tease, turning this innocent night out into something much more serious.
“So, how about a round of pool?” Jake asks as he slams his empty beer bottle down. “Girls against boys.”
Andrew looks at me. “Ready to have your ass handed to you?”
I face him with narrowed eyes, welcoming his challenge. “Bring. It. On.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Andrew
Grace has been tauntingme all night. Gliding her hand up and down her pool cue while she waits her turn. Bending far over the edge of the pool table as she lines up her cue ball with the solid colors that seem to be dwindling down as the game goes on. Maybe boys versus girls was a bad idea. Who knew Grace and Hayley would be hustling us the whole time. Hayley went as far as asking how to use the pool chalk, feigning ignorance as she ran it over a wayward striped pool ball rolling her way. Before we know it, the girls are giggling over their impending victory.
“Is this why you didn’t play?” Jake hollers at Ro. He’s sitting in the corner, nursing a drink while watching me and Jake get our asses handed to us.
Ro nods. “I made a silent pledge to never play pool against Hayley,” he admits.
“And you couldn’t warn us?” I accuse as Hayley smacks the cue ball into the solid red, knocking it into a corner pocket.
