His words seemed to bounce off the wall of Tory’s girl group and into the ceiling of the bar. From the corner of the booth beside Piper, Saylor threw me a “what are you going to do?” look before addressing Tory and her friends. “I prefer my Stromboli’s hot.”
When the knot of girls still didn’t move, I caught the server’s eye over Tory’s shoulder. “I think the only way we’re going to have our pizza is if you grab the bouncer.”
His eyes rounded, then he headed in the direction of the front door, taking our pie with him. Not catching on, Tory snorted.
“Our IDs passed the test.”
A minute later a big man who looked like he might be a member of the Wildcats basketball team loomed over the crowd in front of our table. “Is there a problem here?”
“We’d like to enjoy our dinner in peace, but this bunch of freshmen don’t seem to want to move on—like to a place where they’re legal,” I said, my voice even.
“We are not freshmen.” Tory threw daggers at me with her eyes, and I had the impression she was about an inch from stomping her foot. Turning to the bouncer, she flipped a switch and piled on the charm. “You checked us when we walked in, remember?”
“It’s kind of dark by the door, and I’m new.” The megawatt smile on the guy’s beautiful brown face didn’t quite reach his eyes. “May I see your ID again, please?”
The furtive expressions Tory’s little tribe passed from girl to girl should have alerted him that he’d been had, and maybe they did. But since she was the leader and still impeding the server from delivering our pie, the bouncer started with her. When her girls gave her space to hand over her driver’s license, the server took advantage by slipping inside their half-circle and sliding our pizza into the middle of our table. “Can I get you anything else?”
“Another lemon drop for me, please,” Piper said with a grin in my direction.
“You got it.” The server smiled at Piper.
With a glance at our half-full pitcher of beer, Saylor added, “We’re okay on beer for now.”
The server disappeared at about the same time as the bouncer slid a penknife into the edge of Tory’s ID. She screeched in outrage as he discovered her subterfuge, her anger aimed directly at me.
“You are such a freakingbitch!”
“I’m not the one with a fake ID and a nasty attitude.” With a shooing gesture, I said, “Run along now and leave the bars to the grown-ups.”
Tory made as if to lunge at me, but the bouncer stuck his massive arm out, shutting her progress down with ease. “Miss, you and your friends need to leave, please. I don’t want to have to call campus police.”
At the mention of police, Tory’s entourage melted away toward the door. When she caught on that her wall was no longer surrounding her, she threw back her shoulders and glared at me. “You’ll pay for humiliating me, Chessly Clarke.”
I reached for a slice of pie and slid it onto my plate. “No, I won’t.”
She gasped.
“I won’t pay for what you’ve done to yourself.” Blinking up at her, I added, “I hope I don’t see you around again anytime soon.”
Piper started a slow clap that Saylor obligingly took up too.
When Tory tried again to step in my direction, the bouncer cut her off. A cross between a growl and a shriek escaped her throat before she finally stomped her foot and swung for the door. Pushing through her little group waiting near the front of the bar, she swanned out into the cool evening. A server with a to-go box followed her, shouting about her owing money for their pizza. She turned and stared at one of the girls following her. With a sigh, the girl I recognized as Penelope something-or-other from our dorm stopped and paid for the pizza before following her leader out of the bar.
My friends and I exchanged a look before I said to the bouncer, “In case you hadn’t noticed, that one’s trouble.”
“I’ll be keeping an eye out for her. Thanks for the heads-up. I can’t afford a seven-hundred-dollar fine for letting the under-twenty-ones in.” He touched a finger to his ball cap and headed back to his stool right inside the front door.
Only after the commotion ended did I notice our audience when Piper’s attention zeroed in on the back of the bar. When I turned to see what—or who—she was watching, I caught sight of Finn McCabe. For a second, I could have sworn I saw longing in his features as he stared back at me. Then Wyatt Baxter stood up from their booth and headed back in the direction of the restrooms.
A few minutes later, Piper excused herself to use the ladies’ room. While she was gone, Finn wandered up to the bar across from our booth. Though I willed myself to keep my eyes on my food, and on Saylor seated across from me, I kept sliding glances his way out of the corner of my eye. From what I’d seen on Homecoming, Finn and Tory had something going on. Now that I thought about it, she was making a scene at the back of the bar before she started in on me. So why was Finn staring at me via the mirror behind the bartender and making no effort at all to hide it? And why did he look so unhappy?
Wait.
Was he pissed at me for outing Tory to the bouncer and getting her kicked out of the bar? I slugged back the half a glass of beer in front of me and refilled it to the brim.
“Was it something I said?” Saylor remarked with a smirk. Her side-eye in Finn’s direction said she’d busted me. Mercifully, she left it at a look.
“Have you noticed how much bullshit the beautiful people get away with?” I asked around a bite of cheesy chicken and artichoke deliciousness.
