My fingers are tapping out a response before I can even make the decision.
GRIFFIN: Brews on the Bay.
BRANSON: We gotta drive there though, let’s do something walkable.What about Hi-5s?
GRIFFIN: Brews
BRANSON: Oh my god it’s because Casey started working there.Right.
I’m busted and I know it.But still, I try to save face.
GRIFFIN: No.They have the best happy hour.
BRANSON: Oh sure.I’ll pretend I believe that.I’ll meet you there.
So Branson might be aware that I’m preoccupied whenever Casey is in the area.I don’t really care if he notices.I just wish Casey would notice…or give me some sort of sign that she wants more from me.
I thought we’d made progress the other night afterNightbeast, but she’s so funny and friendly with everyone it’s hard to know.And now that I invited her to move in, I feel like I need to play it safe.I don’t want her to think that I’m asking her to move in just for the sex potential.I can keep my dick in my pants with a lifelong friend.
Besides, you’re forgetting the most important rule: no interruptions until you’re back on the ice.
It’s the one thing in my life I can control right now.And I’m going to control the fuck out of it.
I drive to Brews on the Bay, enjoying the bite of humidity of this early June evening.Trees line the boulevard heading to the east end of town, and through the leaves I can see the sparkle of Briggs Bay in the evening light.I’m more excited than I want to admit about showing up for Casey on her first day of work.Branson’s pulling into the parking lot just as I step out of my truck, and he’s got our friend Derek with him as well.We all exchange “whassup” and high fives, Derek and I do a chest bump because we think it’s funny, and then we make our way inside the bar.
All it takes is a couple steps and the door to swing shut behind us.The hootin’ and hollerin’ begins just as my eyes adjust to the mood lighting.
“Keegannnn!”
“Crushers Number One!Crushers Number One!”
I smile and dole out high fives as we wind through the high-ceilinged dining room, heading for the huge bar in the middle of the establishment.There are more than a few hockey fans snagging my attention.This is par for the course—I get recognized almost everywhere in Bayshore, and I don’t mind it a bit.
Right now, however, I couldn’t care less about the hockey fans in here.
My gaze zeroes in on the golden brunette behind the bar, wearing a low-cut black blouse with smart black capris.Her hair is pulled up into a high, smooth ponytail that I’d gladly tug if I could get within arm’s reach.She’s holding a small white bar towel in her hands, twisting it between her hands as she reads something a colleague is showing her.
“Should we get a table?”Derek asks, pausing en route to the bar.“I wanna get wings and I need space for the mess.My mess space.”
“Bar.”I say it like it’s not a question, because now that I’ve got my eyes on Casey, I need to be as close as possible.
“Casey’s here,” Branson explains to Derek, which earns him a punch in the side from me.
“Oof.”Branson shoves me slightly as we come up to several open seats facing the side of the bar.“No need to punch me for speaking the truth.”
“We’re here for happy hour,” I remind him as I slide onto a bar stool.Derek and Branson fill in the seats on either side of me.
“Holy shit,” Derek says in a low voice, his eyes fastened to the sexy lines of her body as she reaches for a liquor bottle on the top shelf that her co-worker pointed to.“You mean Casey Hart?Is that her?”
The interest in his voice grates at me.I pin him with a hard look.“Yeah.That’s her.”
He shrinks slightly.“Okay.Just checking.”His throat bobs as his gaze slides back to her.“She gothot.”
She was always hot in my book, but now, exponentially so.To a degree that I’m clearly having trouble keeping under wraps, if my friends are ribbing me about her after so little time.
“Dude, I wouldn’t….”Branson begins, grimacing over at Derek.
Their ribbing fades away as Casey finally looks up from making whatever drink her co-worker helped her with.Her gaze slides our way and immediately her face lights up.
