She waved her hand and continued walking towards the one she wanted. It was as if everything I’d told her went in and out of her ear. But, I couldn’t bring it up here so I just followed behind them. I kept my eyes focused on the ground, not wanting to make contact with anyone.
Once we made it to the booth, I settled onto the leather seat with Aubree sitting along with me. Jessa stood beside us.
“I’ll grab our drinks. Y’all know what you want?” Jessa asked.
“I’ll take water.”
“Water? Solana, you’re in a bar and all you want is water.”
I nodded, then turned to look at Aubree, who looked to be in deep thought before answering.
“Uh, I’ll have a sex on the beach.” She told Jessa.
Jessa rolled her eyes and made her way to the bar.
That’s when my eyes landed on him—the man I’d seen earlier. He tossed back a few Skittles, listening closely to whatever the two guys beside him were saying.
He looked just as good as he had at the food trucks… if not better.
I hadn’t realized how long I’d been staring until he turned and looked in my direction with a smirk. I turned my head quickly in the opposite direction. I wasn’t looking for any kind of attention he could bring.
“Is he still looking?” I asked Aubree.
She lifted a brow and glanced around me in confusion until a smirk arose. Then she looked back at me.
“He’s coming over here.”
My eyes widened as I brought a hand to my forehead, closing my eyes and counting to ten.
This was not the purpose of tonight.
Men like him came with obsessed exes or one-night-only intentions. I wasn’t in any position to entertain either of those options. And I definitely couldn’t involve anyone in my life.
I wasn’t crazy enough to believe I could run forever.
A tap against my shoulder and the expensive smell of his cologne let me know I had company. I released a breath and then glanced up in his direction. His smirk was intact while he held out a cup towards me. I looked over his shoulder at Jessa, who was smiling big as hell.
“I’m okay. Jessa, where is my drink?” I asked her, looking around him.
His chuckle brought me back to him. He still held his hand out for me to take the cup from his outreached hand.
“You ordered the water, right?” he asked.
I nodded and looked down at the glass, then back at Jessa.
“Your friends’ hands are full, I offered a hand—” he paused, as if he was waiting for me to give him my name.
Aubree nudged my shoulder and cleared her throat. I rolled my eyes and took the drink from his outreached hand.
“Thank you. My name is Solana,” I said, trying to keep things short.
He gave a brief nod before stepping away from the table. I stood abruptly—I didn’t give myself enough time to think.
“Wait, you’re just going to leave without giving me your name?” I asked.
I don’t know why it mattered if he gave me his name. Jessa had already given it to me the last time I ran into him. But it felt necessary, like knowing him or of him wouldn’t make a difference unless he gave it to me.
He glanced over his shoulder with a smirk, pulling a pack of Skittles from his back pocket and tossing a few into his mouth before responding.
