“Oh,” Daphne said, sitting up a little straighter. “Wow, hi.”
Sasha grinned, that smile emanating from her over Daphne and April like some sort of sexy radiation. “What can I get you?”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” April said under her breath as she looked at the cocktail menu printed on thick recycled paper.
“Something wrong?” Daphne asked.
“Fuckbois abound,” April said quietly.
“I’m sorry?” Daphne asked.
“Never mind,” April said, then louder, to Sasha, “I’ll have a pink lady.”
Sasha nodded once. “Coming right up. And you?” She slid her gaze to Daphne, who felt her cheeks warm inexplicably.
“Dirty gin martini,” she said.
Sasha lifted her pale brows, then slid her gaze down Daphne’s torso once before settling on her eyes again. “Unexpected.”
“What’s that?” Daphne asked.
Sasha flipped a navy towel over her shoulder, then started pulling glasses and bottles to make their drinks. “If I had to guess, I would’ve flipped your orders.” She chin-nodded at April. “Dirty martini”—then did the same toward Daphne—“pink lady.”
“Well, you guessed wrong, didn’t you?” April said.
Daphne was a bit relieved to see April’s sass wasn’t only reserved for her.
Sasha laughed. “I love a surprise.”
“Oh, I bet you do,” April said, shaking her head.
Sasha stirred Daphne’s martini, then poured it into a glass before spearing two olives to finish it off. She set the drink in front of Daphne, then got to work on April’s cocktail, shaking the mixture before pouring a very pink, frothy liquid into a champagne glass. Daphne had to admit, she also hadn’t expected a tiny Goth like April to sip on something quite so vibrant. She laughed as April rolled her eyes back as she drank, moaning with pleasure.
“Wow, maybe weshouldswitch,” Daphne said.
“Over my dead body,” April said, clutching the pink lady to her chest.
Daphne smiled, happy to see April relax a little. “To fresh starts,” she said, taking a deep breath and holding up her glass.
April hesitated for a second, her eyes dark and deep, but finally she tipped her head and clinked her glass against Daphne’s. Daphne drank, loving the salty tang of her martini. She’d never been a huge drinker, despite years of repression, but right now, she felt like draining her glass of every drop.
In fact, that’s exactly what she did.
“Well, damn,” Sasha said. “Another?”
“Please,” Daphne said, popping both olives into her mouth at once. Sasha, she noticed, followed the motion with her eyes.
“What’s your name?” Sasha asked, taking the empty glass.
“Really?” April said.
Sasha frowned as she started making Daphne’s second round. “Something wrong with asking your names?”
April tipped her head back and laughed. “That’s all you’re after? A name?”
Sasha shrugged. “It’s a start. And you are?”
April shook her head, but she was smiling. “April. And no.”
