It’s Friday.The day I promised my two best friends we’d go back to the bar to see if he remembers me. It’s a long shot. I’m sure he meets more than a handful of beautiful women every week.
It’s not that I’m not memorable. I’m pretty enough to catch most men’s eyes even when I’m not trying. But if he had been interested, he would’ve said something to me or asked for my phone number at the very least…right?
“I feel stupid.” I stare at my reflection in the glass outside the bar. “I can’t believe I let you two talk me into this. You have the worst ideas.”
Sandy bumps me with her shoulder as her eyes catch my reflection. “You won’t be saying that when his dick?—”
“Stop,” I say quickly, turning to face her. “I’m not doing this forsex.”
Sandy raises an eyebrow as she stares back at me. “You sure about that?”
“One hundred percent,” I say without my voice wavering, which is impressive since I’m not sure I’m telling the truth. And by the look on Sandy’s face, she doesn’t think I am either. “Okay. Okay. Maybe eighty.”
She snorts. “Well, at least that thing isn’t dead,” she says as her gaze dips down my body. “I was starting to get worried.”
“I’m here. I’m here,” Mikayala says, running down the sidewalk in our direction. “Parking is a bitch around here.”
“You should’ve met us at Iris’s,” Sandy tells her, having zero patience when it comes to Mikayla’s ability to be on time—or, I should say, lack thereof.
Mikayla motions up and down her body. “This doesn’t happen as quickly for me as it does you.”
She is ridiculous. Mikayla is stunning and could easily go without makeup and still get hit on by plenty of men. She has a big chest, a flat stomach, an ass you could rest a drink on, and the deepest green eyes. Absolutely stunning. She is her own harshest critic, though, and picks herself apart more often than I am comfortable with.
“We’re here for Iris to land her man. Not you,” Sandy tells her with a disapproving shake of her head.
“Just because she’s here to get some dick doesn’t mean I can’t be too,” Mikayla replies.
I groan loudly and stare up at the night sky. “I’m not here for dick.”
Mikayla and Sandy laugh in unison as I roll my eyes.
“I’m not.”
“Oh. Okay,” Mikayla says as she reaches up to clasp my shoulders before spinning me around to face the door. “Then, in you go.”
The city street is surprisingly quiet, but I don’t realize it until I walk through the doors of the Hook & Hustle. Most of the people inside are staring at a professional basketball game on television and coaching from their seats at the bar.
“Men,” Sandy mutters behind me. “There’s a booth.”
I barely see where she points as my gaze drifts behind the bar, where Brax is standing. He isn’t looking in our direction because he’s too busy talking to a beautiful woman sitting at the opposite end.
“Damn. He’s better in person,” Sandy whispers in my ear before giving me a nudge forward.
My feet move, finally feeling like they aren’t stuck to the floor by his presence. “I know,” I say on an airy breath as I follow Mikayla to the booth in the corner.
I try to take the side with my back to him, but Sandy isn’t having it. She grabs me by the hips and pushes me toward Mikayla on the other side.
Mikayla stays standing, waiting for me to get in first. They’re trying to hold me captive—or, at least,that’s how it feels. I thought my best friends were supposed to have my back, not force me into something that could be another huge blow to my confidence. There is little left after Lucas, and I’m not sure a rejection from the hot bartender won’t take the last remaining sliver.
“How’s the food?” Sandy asks as she grabs the menus from the condiment caddy on the table. “I’m starving.”
“I didn’t eat anything when I was here.”
“I bet it’s good,” Mikayla says, swiping the menu from Sandy. “Italian bar has to have good food. It’s impossible for it to be bad.”
“Let’s hope,” Sandy replies as she stares down at her menu after taking it back from Mikayla’s hands.
I study the menu like I’m going to have an exam on it in a few hours. I shift in my seat, hating the feeling of dread that’s quickly taking root deep in my stomach.
