Our eyes all shot behind Pierce at the sound of a woman’s voice. She was average height, a tan face and had on large, silver hoop earrings. A white lace dress hung fashionably off of her thin frame and brown cowboy boots were on her feet.
Samantha always looked pretty.
I sat up in my chair, following Sam’s gaze...to Max. He was looking at her, a smile making the dimple in his cheek sink in. My cheeks heated immediately as I watched their exchange.
“How are ya, Sam?” Max asked.
“I’m good,” she said brightly, her eyes never leaving him. “How about you?”
“I’m good.” He cleared his throat.
Screw her and her red lips.
Pierce stood up and grabbed a couple of chairs from a nearby table as a group of guys finished at the mic. The only open spot at the table was between Max and Cane.
“Why don’t you ladies grab a seat? I’m going to get us some drinks. What can I get you?” Cane asked, standing up.
“Ah, thanks, Cane! I’ll have a Stella,” Brielle said.
“Um,” Sam said, smacking her lips together as she looked at Max’s drink. “I’ll have a Corona, please.”
“Want me to go with you?” Jada asked her husband.
He gave her a look like she was out of her mind. “No and I’ll get you another water.” He turned to me. “Hey, Kari. Why don’t you come with me?”
I looked quizzically at him and the look on his face told me to just go with it. I pushed back from the table. “Be right back.”
I followed Cane to the front of the building as a girl with no musical ability what-so-ever belted outGenie In A Bottleby Christina Aguilera. The place wasn’t too busy but had enough patrons to be entertaining.
Cane rested against the bar while we waited on the bartender. He looked at me like he was waiting on me to speak.
I took the bait. “Not that I don’tlovehanging out with you, but wanna explain?”
“Maybe I just wanted to spend some time with my beautiful sister-in-law?”
I rolled my eyes. “Not your style, Alexander. So spill it.”
“Alright,” he said, standing up to face me square on. “How well do you know Sam?”
“I’ve seen her a few times.”
Cane snorted. “Keep it that way.”
“What?”
“Look, I’ve known her a long time. She’s harmless, I think,” he tapped his chin with his fingertips, “but I’m not a huge Sam fan. Just...keep an eye on that one. Max has this sense of obligation to her or some shit, which I understand, considering the circumstances. But she’ll walk all over you if you let her.”
“Uh, Cane? Did you forget who you’re talking to? No one will walk all over me.”
He winked. “Good girl. Just keep that in mind when you deal with her. She’ll chew you up and spit you out if you don’t watch it.”
I nodded, thinking back to something he said that didn’t settle with me. “What did you mean about ‘the circumstances’?”
“Fuck,” he muttered and shook his head.
“What?”
The bartender arrived to take our order. She took one look at Cane and began batting her false eyelashes, pressing her cleavage together. He completely ignored all of her innuendos, barked out our order, and turned back to me. She stomped away in a huff at being outright rejected.
