“I want a beer.” He glanced at me, one eyebrow arched. “I had a shit few weeks just like you. I found out everything I’d thought about this place was a crock of shit, and I potentially made it worse for myself. For my friends. So why am I here? I need to get drunk.”
He met my look, and I started to grin.
“When does that happen?” I teased him, feeling more relaxed now than I had the whole evening.
The server arrived with four bottles of beer and two sodas, one for me and one for QB10. We weren’t twenty-one yet, but she didn’t bat an eye when Dante reached for the beer, everyone knowing the soda was just for show.
“Thanks,” I murmured as she left.
His bottle was on the tabletop, his thumb rubbing over the opening. He hadn’t even taken a drink. “Me, drunk? I think it’s been a while.”
We settled into a comfortable silence. Dante looked over at Noah a few times, checking that he was okay. Other than that, it was just him and me, and it was... good.
Like old times. I settled in to enjoy it.
I saw her before he did.
Hadley sat at a table across the bar with a few other girls, her back to us. She’d turned in her seat to talk to one of her friends, and I studied her profile. Her long brown hair was pulled over one shoulder, her fingers stroking through the ends. Her olive skin looked warmer in the low lighting, hinting at a mixed heritage I wanted to know more about. She wore simple leggings and an oversized beige sweater with the sleeves pushed up.
“Sav does that,” Dante told me quietly, pulling my attention from Hadley back to him. I saw he was also watching her. “She runs her fingers through the ends of her hair. She does it when she’s nervous.”
I looked back at Hadley, who was in a deep discussion with her friend. “She look nervous to you?” I commented, then took a swig of my beer. She looked perfectly at ease.
Dante sucked his teeth as he turned to look at me. “She may be smiling, but the person she’s talking to is not comfortable.” His fingers drummed on the table. “Look at their posture. They’re sitting ramrod straight, there’s no fluidity there. Their hands are clenched in front of them, and they’re struggling to make eye contact with her.”
I watched Hadley and her companion as Dante spoke. He was right. The other person did not look at ease. “She’s interviewing her.”
Dante nodded. “Looks like it.” He sat back in the booth. “I can see the attraction, though,” he conceded. “She’s got the looks. If you tell Sav I said that, I will deny it.”
“You can compliment a woman on her looks,” I reasoned. “How many times has Savvy told Noah that he’s hot?”
Dante pursed his lips. “True. Make sure you let Sav know I said the reporter was drop-dead gorgeous.”
I laughed just as the music dipped and Hadley turned her head, our eyes meeting across the room like a bad intro on an eighties rock video.
“Damn it.” I breathed out as she looked over at us with a sly smile. “Looks like we’re going to another bar after all?”
“No need,” Dante replied smoothly. “You have a bigger problem.” He was looking to the doorway, and I followed his gaze as my little sister Naya strolled into the bar like she wasn’t three years shy of twenty-one.
“What the fuck is she doing here?”
Dante was already getting out of the booth. “Let’s go find out.”
Naya saw us as we walked over, and she gave me a wide smile. So nothing was wrong, then; that was a good thing. I looked her over, the big brother in me showing in my frown.
“Dustin,” she greeted me, reaching in for a hug. She stepped back once I hugged her and eyed me critically. “You look tired.”
“I looktired?” I ignored my roommate’s chuckle beside me. “Why are you here?”
Naya rolled her eyes, her arms already crossed, her hip jutting out like she was ready to be cast in the next teenage drama. “You have such negative energy,” Naya scolded as she smiled at Dante with a look my little sister shouldn’t have on her face. Ever.
“Donotflirt with Spence,” I grumbled, taking her arm and heading to the door. “I will kick your ass if you do it again, and he’s got a girlfriend who willdefinitelykick your ass.”
“Oh really? Cool.” Naya looked at him with disappointment before turning back to me. “Anyway, what are you? The sex police? I’m almost eighteen, Dustin. I’ve had sex.”
I dropped her arm like she was toxic. “Do not ever say shit like that to me again!”
“You’re such a hypocrite! You had sex when you were even younger than I am!”