Her face relaxes, her smile returning. “We are.”
“And you’re good with kissing me today?”
The sweetest laugh puffs her cheeks. “You’ll have to find out.”
My head sinks closer until she’s only inches away, our eyes locked. Her lips slowly part, calling to me. I move to close the gap, breathing in her breath…
“I’m here, too,” Reid interrupts.
Ellie blushes, dropping my hand and retreating.
Really? What’d I do to deserve that?I shoot Reid a quick glare, then take Ellie’s hand back. “Ignore him.”
“Please don’t,” he says.
I give him the finger while keeping my eyes on Ellie. She bites her lip as if holding back a giggle, and the urge to bite that lip myself has me straining against my pants.
BANG.
Reid’s fist hits the table, rattling the tankards. We startle apart.
“Fuck no, this isn’t happening.” He pushes himself out of the booth.
Confused, I lean past Ellie to see where he’s going. Alexis has draped herself over the shoulders of the guy with shitty taste in drinks, laughing at something he said. Reid slides onto the stool next to them and waves down the bartender.
“He’s certainly popular,” Ellie notes.
“He has horrible taste.” I sit back in the booth, begrudgingly accepting that we’ve lost the moment. I push my tankard toward her. “Reid got me this at his recommendation.”
Ellie sniffs it, and her eyebrows shoot up. “Fruity.” She takes a cautious sip. “Wow. That is… I’ve never tasted anything like that.” She takes another. “It’s not terrible.”
“You’re kidding.” I grab it back and taste it again. “Nope, still bad.”
Ellie laughs as I grimace. “Then I’ll have this, and you can get yourself something else. Oh, and snacks!”
“Fine, but you better pace yourself. Or don’t. That could be fun.” I slide out the other side of the booth and give her hand a quick squeeze before weaving through the crowd toward the bar.
I press in beside Reid, claiming some space with my elbows. Waving down the bartender, I order an ale when I finally get his attention. It’s painfully loud over here; I could probably make out what Reid and Alexis are saying, but I’m not that interested. One of them must have made a joke, because the guy they’re talking to tosses his head back, laughing.
This is gonna be a long night.
The bartender slides a drink toward me. I fish out some money to pay him, then take a swig before hunching over it.
A moment later, I get the uncomfortable feeling of someone’s gaze weighing on me. Reid and Alexis’s companion is staring at me, a curious look in his eyes.
“Another friend of theirs?” he asks, raising his voice over the noise of the tavern. His tongue flicks between his teeth as he smiles. “You can call me Emmrich.”
Reid bumps my arm with his elbow. “What are you doing here?” he hisses, leaning close.
Emmrich’s gaze stays fixed on me, despite Alexis attempting a conversation, her fingers trailing along his arm.
Wonderful.The last thing I need is to get dragged into some horribly unbalanced foursome. That’d just open me up to twice as many headaches.
I meet Reid’s eyes. “Just getting a drink. I might head home soon.”
“Did something happen? I thought I was doing you a favor.”
“What are you talking about?”
