Oh shit.
“First boyfriend?”
She makes a non-committal noise.
“First love?”
That gets me a nod.
“First… time?” I prod.
She hesitates, then nods.
“Okay. So DEFCON 1. Got it.”
Another nod.
I hear a loud throat clear, and we both turn toward the interruption. Sophie and I have been hugging and whispering into each other’s hair for a few minutes. It probably looked a little strange.
Maverick stands there with a beer in his hand, and his eyebrows raised.
“Who died?” he asks.
“You, if you don’t leave us alone,” Sophie snipes.
Maverick raises his hands in surrender. “Woah, easy there tiger,” he replies, then walks back in the direction of the bar.
“Sorry, Mav!” I call out over the crowd, and music. “Girl talk!”
He throws up his middle finger without looking back, making Sophie and I laugh. I make eye contact with Chase behind the bar, and give him a polite smile. He winks back, but it does nothing for me. Nothing like when someone else winks at me, which just makes me sad.
Chase is a nice guy, and he really tried. He kept making plans for us to hangout, but I just kept blowing him off—like an asshole. After the third reschedule, he called me out on my shit, and I just told him I wasn’t in a place to date anyone. He was really cool about it, and told me there were no hard feelings.
When Sophie and I break apart, I hold her at arm's length and look her in the eye. “You’re the hottest girl in this room, Soph. You’ve got nothing to worry about,” I assure her.
It all makes sense now. She’s been acting weird since Lincoln announced Beau would be moving back. Maybe I could’ve pieced it together sooner, but I’ve been preoccupied with a certain boss, Rose, and finding a new place to rent. My mind has been elsewhere.
“I’m sorry I didn’t pry more, or put the pieces together sooner. You could’ve told me,” I say.
“Don’t be,” she shakes her head quickly, “I wasn’t ready to talk about it. But I’m relieved you know now.”
Sophie looks over my shoulder, and tenses. Her cheeks pinken, and she waves. I turn, watching Lincoln, Beau and Wes coming toward us. I see Beau glance at Sophie, before quickly averting his gaze.
Wes finally looks up from the ground and our eyes meet. He looks me up and down and I do the same to him. God, he’s so fucking hot. Same plain black T-shirt, same black jeans and boots, but he looks a little more polished than normal.
His hair looks combed, and not just by his fingers. Maybe it’s a little shorter too? Did he get a haircut? It’s still long enough on top, made apparent by the rogue strand falling into his eyes, but trimmed and cleaned up on the sides. I want to climb him like a tree. My mouth is watering. I’m pretty sure I’m ovulating.
When the guys finally meet us at the table, Sophie starts talking to Lincoln and Beau about ordering food, moving them toward the table, while Wes and I continue to stare.
“Hi,” I greet him, hands clasped behind my back, my nerves making their way to the surface. The movement pushes my chest out unintentionally, and Wes’s eyes flick down.
“Hi. You look fuckin’ beautiful,” he replies, as his deep blue eyes give me another once over.
Shocked by his compliment, I feel my neck and cheeks heat. I tuck my hair behind my ear. “Thanks, you do too.”
He quirks a brow, and his lips tug up. “Beautiful, huh?”
I nod, giving him my megawatt smile. “So gorgeous,” I quip, kissing my finger tips for thechef’s kisseffect.
