He raisedathick, black eyebrow but the look in his eyes made me feel like he could smell my lies a mile away.
"You're blushing," Blake chuckled. "Blue, why don't you ever blush?"
Blue, who was sitting on the same seat as me, shrugged.
"Either way, your face turned red when you saw the cock on the screen," Slim reminded everyone of the conversation we'd been having just moments before.
I grunted and waved him off. “No offense, but youthreekind of suck,” I said but I saiditwith a smile.“Just a wee bit.”
Dex looked at Blake over his shoulder, one side of his mouth curled up. “She says no offense before she says we suck, can you believe that?”
I rolled my eyes at them. “I have manners.”
Slim patted my hand like he had when I’d told them about my parents. “That you do.”
The sound of a cell phone ringing faintly over the music in the pub had each of us fishing to look at our phones. It was Blake who pulled his up to his ear, frowning at the screen. It was close to two in the morning already and the bartender had alreadyannouncedlast call, so I couldn’t blame him for looking confused when his phone rangunexpectedly.A second later he was pushing Blue out of the booth and stepping outside.
“I think it’s his baby mama,” Slim suggested in a hushed tone.
The mood shifted in those moments that Blake was gone. None of us said anything until he came back in, looking somber and flustered. He stopped at the end of the table, jaw tight. “I need to get going. Seth is in the emergency room. He’s been running a high fever that his mom hasn’t been able to keep down,” he explained quickly, already taking a step back.
“Go, man.”
Blake nodded, taking another step back before looking at Dex. “I’ll call you in case something happens.”
I forgot that they were supposed to be leaving the next day for Houston.
“Hope your son is okay!” I called out before Blake left. He shot me a grateful smile, tilted his head at the guys and took off.
Almost immediately, we all unanimously got up. Dex waved down the waitress and spoke to her briefly before handing a card over. Guilt washed through me as the waitress took off with his card. I reached into my wallet and pulled out a twenty dollar bill, folding it neatly while we waited around.
Before the waitress came back, I closed the distance between us, watching him focus in on one of the screens mounted over the bar that was showing a baseball game from earlier in the day.
“Here you go,” I told him, handing him the bill as discreetly as possible.
Dex’s gaze flickered from the screen to mine in a second, eyes widening as he looked down to see what I was trying to pass him.
“Here,” I whispered.
He just kept looking at me, making me feel awkward for holding the money in my hand. Money he wasn’t taking.
“Take it.”
Dex did that slow blink again, the one that consumed planets entirely. “No,” he said simply.
“I’m serious,” I whispered, shoving the bill closer to him.
“No, babe. I said it was on me.”
That was exactly what he’d said, but I felt bad. He’d drank anywhere from four to five beers. The other guys probably had as many, and there weren’t friggin’ happy hour specials going on. The bill had to be more than what I made in a day.
“Just take it,” I insisted.
Dex plucked the bill away, holding it between his middle and ring finger, keeping those bright blue eyes on mine. “You serious?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“Dex,can you sign here for me?” the waitress asked walking up to us with his receipt and card.
