“No problem!”
We open the door to The Tavern and voices, laughter, and music spill out onto the street. All the booths along the perimeter of the restaurant are full. To the left is a bar that stretches the entire length of the space with hardly a stool available. We must have entered at the point in the night where you seat yourselves because the hostess station is abandoned. A couple bartenders tend a packed crowd at the bar, and a band plays on the stage in the back. Sublime’s “What I Got” is the song of choice, bringing me back to our high school days; Viv and me driving with the music blasting and the windows down.
People fill every corner, but by some stroke of luck we find an empty two-top in the middle of the room. We order a couple of drinks—beer for Viv, wine for me—and settle in. A few people in the crowd sing along with the chorus of the song, Viv and I included. We’re off-key and we know it, but what’s a little bad singing between friends?
When the band switches over to a new song, erupting cheers sound out around the bar. I watch the people around me and smile. Everyone stops to talk to everyone else: people smile and nod at one another. It’s like one of those cute small towns in the rom-com novels I devour in my free time.
The waitress, who looks to be in her mid-fifties and navigates the crowd like she’s done this her whole life, comes back to see if we want another round.
“That round’s on me, Joanie!” A voice carries out across the crowd of noise.
Viv and I turn our attention to where Joanie, our waitress, is now looking.
“You got it!” she calls back, then looks at us. “I’ll be right back.”
Viv’s smile widens as the source of the voice comes into view.
“I must be in heaven because two angels sit here before me,” Josh announces, approaching our table. Luke strides into view, coming up beside him.
My stomach twists at the sight of him. Tonight he’s in a gray Henley tucked slightly into the front of his jeans. A worn brown belt sits in the loops at his trim waist, holding up a pair of dark-wash denim.
“I wasn’t sure if my mind was playing tricks on me when I saw your gorgeous faces from the other side of the room. I said, ‘Luke, we better get over there and buy those ladies some drinks before another guy tries to.’” Josh is so animated when he speaks. He elbows Luke in the side, earning a shove in return.
Viv laughs, clearly charmed. I smile too, but my focus is elsewhere.
“What are we drinking, darling?” He throws his arm over Viv’s shoulder like they’ve been friends forever. It would typically be strange for a man you just met to put his arm around you like you’ve been friends your whole life, something about him makes it feel completely normal.
Luke moves to stand beside me. The smell of his cologne—butterscotch and oak—washes over me, and I can’t help it. I lean closer. Tilting his head down closer to mine, he whispers in my ear.
“You’re looking better.” His breath flutters against my neck, sending goosebumps down my arms.
“Excuse me?” I jerk away to get a better look at his face.
His eyes, playful, scan mine and then briefly drop to my lips before returning to meet my glare. “Well, when I saw you earlier, you looked like you’d seen a ghost or something.”
“Maybe I was too busy figuring out where to hide my oyster crackers once I realized it was you,” I snap back, grateful I’m able to form coherent sentences this time around.
He barks out a surprised laugh. “Touché, Trip. Touché.”
“I have an actual name, you know.” I roll my eyes up at him.
“But this is so much more fun.” His eyes crinkle when he smiles. It’s warm, and genuine, and just like that, my insides turn to mush.
“You’re insufferable.”
“What was that? Irresistible? That’s really nice of you to say,Trip.” He places his hand on my wrist, sending a zip of energy through me, then he pulls it away again. “Thank you.”
Shit, he’s charming, too.Don’t smile.
My face betrays me, and my lips stretch into a smile that I’m hardly able to mask with a casual look around the bar.
“Hey bicker babies, you done?” Viv yells at us from across the table.
“It’s adorable, though, isn’t it? All that hot sexual tension?” Josh looks down at Viv, arm still draped over her shoulder.
“Truly.” She looks up at him. Two peas in a pod.
The first few notes of a new song play out, inciting a gasp from Viv. “OH! I love this song! Liv, let’s go dance!”
