“He’s looking,” Mikayla says. “Oh my God, he’s so dreamy too.”
Sandy glances over her shoulder as I peer up at her. “Damn, girl. If you don’t make a move tonight, I may have to end our friendship to have a piece of him.”
“You’re gross,” Mikayla tells her. “You’d never do that to our friend. You know she likes him.”
“Then she better start acting like it,” Sandy replies, giving my shin a kick under the table.
“He’s coming. Shit. He’s coming,” Mikayla says quickly, her voice all high-pitched and nearly a squeal.
“Damn it,” I whisper and take a few breaths, trying to get control of my anxiety.
“Iris.” His deep, rich voice hits me, making the butterflies in my chest swirl into a full-on tornado. “What are you doing here?”
I glance up, meeting his dark eyes. “Hey.” Somehow, my voice is strong and doesn’t quaver as I take in his stunning smile.
“I’m Mikayla, her best friend, and she told us about this great bar, and we just had to see you…it…for ourselves.” Mikayla gives Brax a sweet smile as I try to not choke on my own spit from her word slip.
Brax’s smile widens. “I was hoping you’d come back,” he says to me, completely ignoring Mikayla.
“You were?” I ask, shock filling my voice.
Sandy pats the pleather spot next to her in the booth. “Wanna sit?” she asks him. “I’m Sandy. The other best friend.”
“Brax,” he says to Sandy and then looks at Mikayla, finally acknowledging her. “It’s nice to meet you both.”
Mikayla doesn’t seem fazed by the fact that a moment ago, he was so into me, he didn’t even give her the time of day.
“You can sit,” Mikayla tells him when he doesn’t take the spot next to Sandy right away.
He pitches his thumb over his shoulder, but hisgaze is firmly planted on me. “The bar’s busy, but I can get you guys some drinks to get started. And when it quiets down, if it does, I’ll come sit for a few.”
“I’ll take a Moscow mule,” Mikayla tells him.
“Cosmo,” Sandy orders as an homage to our favorite television series.
“Beer,” I say to him.
“You sure about that?” he asks me.
I nod. “One beer won’t hurt.”
Mikayla and Sandy stare at me, and I can almost see the wheels inside their heads turning after that tiny exchange.
“You got it,” Brax says. “I’ll be right back.”
When Brax is a few feet away, Mikayla shoulder checks me. “What was that?”
“What was what?” I reply, playing dumb.
“He knows what alcohol does to you?”
I had left that part of our evening together out of the conversation I had with them. I knew they’d read too much into it because they already had us in a long-term relationship in their heads.
“We did shots.”
Sandy glares at me. “And?”
I shrug. “I may have sleepwalked.”
