“We’ve met.” The words roll off my tongue before I can stop them, and Nathan widens his eyes at me, his jaw flexing. He looks displeased—almost like he’s irritated I disclosed the information.
Poppy cocks her head. “You have?”
“I mean, kind of. I was buying wine.”
“Wine?” Poppy appears as if she wants to pry, but she takes one look at Nathan’s rigid posture and clicks her tongue, deciding to change the subject.
Seems he’s not so keen to talk about that.
“Well, how about we hit a bar to discuss our plan to change the world?” Bennett suggests, the corner of his lip curling up into a smile.
“Did you not hear a word Renee and Darrell said? I think the last thing they want us to do is go out drinking together,” Nathan grumbles.
“It’s a drink, Nathan, not a foursome. They’re not here, anyway.” Bennett gestures around us. Other groups have dispersed.
“They didn’t specifically say we had to discuss it here.” Poppy smiles, shrugging innocently. “Mae?”
All heads turn to me, and the way Nathan looks at me like he wants me to decline their offer frustrates me. If there’s one thing my friends say is my best quality, it’s doing the exact opposite of what other people want me to do. Especially when they scowl at me the way Nathan currently is.
I hold my head high. “I wouldn’t mind checking out the city.”
Something flickers behind Nathan’s eyes and his jaw ticks.
I continue to smile, daring him to object.
But he doesn’t.
Poppy and I quickly hit the showers, and the boys wait for us outside the stadium. Bennett gives me brief directions to a bar called The Salty Dog, and although I’m concerned my car will fall apart on the journey there, I make it to the parking lot without a hitch.
The bar is a small, rustic-looking place with high beams and a wooden interior. The windows are small and foggy, letting in little light and giving it a sleepy feel. The dim lights overhead illuminate the worn, polished bar top smattered with droplets of beer, making it slightly sticky, and there’s a line of peeling leather stools tucked neatly under it.
A smallHelp Wantedsign sits in the window, but it’s old, tattered, and looks like it’s been there for a while.
“Hey, guys. What’ll ya have?” asks the bartender as she rinses her hands under the faucet behind the bar. She looks fed up already, and it’s only seven-fifteen.
“Hey, Amber.” Bennett smiles. “I’ll take whatever beer you recommend. We’re mid-season, so something light.”
She nods, turning to Poppy and me. “You guys?”
We both order berry ciders.
Amber turns to begin prepping the drinks, causing me to blink since she didn’t ask Nathan what he wanted. But after a few minutes, she places a tall glass in front of him, making me tilt my head in curiosity. “Here’s your water, Nathan.”
“Thanks.” He grips the glass with his thick fingers and moves to a table in the far corner, sitting with a huff.
He moves with corded muscles, uptight and highly strung, and my eyes skate over his toned back, berating myself for looking at him in such a way. It pisses me off that he’s blessed with the face of an angel but has the personality of The Hulk.
It smells like old people in here, and not the rose-scented perfume kind of old, but the musty old book kind of smell. It’s not unpleasant, but it isn’t inviting either. It makes my nose wrinkle before the bartender passes me my drink.
Bennett laughs. “Good luck with him as a partner, Mae.” He tilts his drink toward me, head nodding towards Mr Grumpy Pants in the corner. “You’re going to need it.”
I run a hand down my face, sipping my cider. “Thanks. I think I’m in for an interesting season.”
Poppy’s mouth turns flat at the conversation, but she doesn’t say anything as we sit at the table Nathan’s claimed.
“Does anyone have any charities in mind?” Bennett asks, and Nathan’s eyes shift to me. I can see him analysing me with no shame. He's trying to sus me out. But there’s a way that his gaze collides with my own that makes my stomach tense.
“I don’t want to do anything dull,” Poppy says, swirling her finger around the rim of her cider bottle. “Something fun.”
