Page 360 of Call Me Baby 2: Side B

I can’t take it any longer.

“Excuse me,” I say,

peeling away from the group.

Andrew turns to snatch a bar towel from a shelf, starts wiping down the already sparkling wood.

When I reach the bar, I slide onto a stool across from him. “Someone’s bartending very aggressively right now,” I tease. “Might wanna relax your shoulders before you tear a muscle.”

An empty laugh slips out of him.

“I’m calm. I’m calm,” he mutters,

then stops abruptly,

dropping his palm on the counter.

“Actually, no the fuck I’m not⁠—

“why he makin’ you laugh?”

I roll my eyes, secretly loving it.

“You’re Jerseying hard right now.”

“Funny.” He rips his eyes away, reaches for the rag again. “Was about to ask if Allison’s okay in there.”

I drum my fingers across the counter, swinging the stool slow from side to side, watching his muscles throb in his arms.

“Andrew…”

His head lifts, gaze moving, first to me,

then over my shoulder.

The veins in his neck pop blue,

and he stands taller,

stepping away,

head tipped back slightly.

“Brace yourself, baby.

“Your wet dream’s comin’,” he says,

walking off.

Over my shoulder,

Teddy’s heading right this way,

pure heroin in his stride.

Years.

Years I’ve been waiting for this man, imagining how it’d feel to stand next to him.