They really hadn’t offended me, but I had to do something to divert their attention.
Kaya’s elbow nudged mine where it rested on the table. “I think you broke Vera’s brain.”
“Not true!” she defended immediately. “Pregnancy broke my brain. Dillon just surprised me. I didn’t realize you knew each other.”
“We don’t,” I assured her. “Not really. It was this awkward, chance meeting thing. It lasted all of fifteen minutes.” Regrouping, I realized Vera needed something besides the facts. She needed me to weave her a story that would make sense in her hormone-addled brain. “We’ve run into each other enough that he recognized me. And then he overheard our conversation and basically just stepped in because even he could recognize how awful it was.”
It was that very moment that Killian arrived, sliding in next to Vera at our table and squishing her against Molly. He grinned at Kaya and me. “Hey, ladies.”
What a dork.
Before we could even respond, Ezra appeared, looking buttoned up and socially awkward as ever. Then Wyatt walked over from the bar, the exact opposite of Ezra—tattooed, loose and totally comfortable in every space. And then… the man of the hour. Vann.
He wore a version of what I had come to realize was every outfit for him complete with trendy sneakers. He trailed behind the other guys, in no rush.
I squeezed out of the booth so Wyatt could sit next to Kaya, but that only squashed me awkwardly between Ezra and the table and god, I just wanted to leave. Why had I opened my stupid mouth? Why were men here at all?
This was supposed to be a bachelorette party. The plan was to gorge ourselves on good food, unbutton our pants or skirts later and curl up on my gigantic leather couches and finish the night with Meg Ryan movies.
We’d all taken the weekend off to celebrate the union of two of our favorite people. We had all let other, less qualified people run our kitchens for the entire weekend. That meant Blaze was currently at Bianca, by himself. Without my supervision.
I needed alcohol to soothe my frayed nerves and give me the courage to get through this vacation weekend. And I needed my friends. And a fantastic time. And for them not to write a narrative of what was going on between Vann and me in their heads only for them to get their hopes up and then dashed to smithereens.
“Dillon,” Ezra said, in that way of his that didn’t include normal words like hello or hey or how’s it going.
“Ezra,” I returned formally. “You going to make it through this weekend?” He had been ordered by Killian, Vera, and Molly that he could not work, no matter what.
I could already see his hand twitching, desperate to check his phone. He wasn’t going to last thirty minutes.
Not that I was any better.
Ezra eyed me seriously. “That depends. Is my restaurant going to make it through this weekend?”
Ha. Touché! I shrugged helplessly. “Hopefully?”
His glare sent me running back to the bar. I knocked my drink down as I went, fully aware that I’d just thrown back an Old Fashioned like a shot, which was basically sacrilege in the Bourbon community. But desperate times and all that. I tottered trying to walk in the tall heels I hadn’t worn in months, maybe longer than that.
These red-soled beauties used to be my party girl go-to, but since finding a real purpose in life, I’d traded them in for sensible sneakers with Dr. Scholl inserts.
Sometimes I wore Crocs.
Oh, if only my high school friends could see me now.
“I think you owe me a drink,” Vann’s reserved voice suggested from beside me.
I hadn’t realized he’d followed me over here. I side-eyed him while leaning forward on the bar and flashing some upper cleavage. It wasn’t for Vann. It was so the bartender didn’t make me wait twenty minutes before he noticed me.
Listen, I’m all about female empowerment and making a name for myself in my trade because of my talent and not my tatas. However, this was a packed bar and I wasn’t above using my assets to get drinks faster than the huddle of frat guys at the other end.
He rested his elbow on the bar and turned his body to face mine. “Saving you is turning into a bad habit. I feel as though some compensation might even things out for us.”
“Someone thinks highly of his accidental ability to be in the right place at the right time.”
He let out a laugh that had an edge to it. “Maybe it’s you with the knack to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Have you ever thought about that?”
I had definitely thought about that. It seemed to be the entire direction of my life.
Instead of admitting that, I miraculously held the truth back and gave him a flirty smile. “Do you mean, like right now?” I walked past him and let my hand settle on his shoulder. Brushing over his shoulder blades and down his spine, I felt brave and bold and like the Old Fashioned I’d downed had seriously kicked in.
