Page 2 of While You Sleep

“Soph, hey.” He gave me a hug, pressing me tight to him.

“Hey.” I squeezed him back.

He sat in the booth, moving along for me, and slid a drink my way. “Got you a vodka and Coke.”

“Thanks.” I took a sip and looked around. The bar was packed and the music loud. This was exactly what I needed. After the weekend I’d had, I was in the mood to dance, to shake off the weight that going home always left me with.

Tommy was the only good thing in that house. My baby brother was the only thing I missed when I wasn’t there. My father was always busy, but he’d been more distracted and irritable than usual. Celeste, his wife, had been just as awful as she always was. I’d tried to help out around the house, and with Tommy, as much as I could to make things easier on both of them, but I couldn’t seem to do anything right.

It’s not like we’d been spending quality family time together, I don’t even know why Dad insisted…no, demanded that I come home for the weekend. I shuddered. Seamus O’Rourke and his slimy son Adam had come by the house on Saturday, and my father’s mood had deteriorated even more. But then Dad hadn’t been himself since my uncle died and he became head of the family. He never said it out loud, what our family was, but all you had to do was search our name online and it was all there, speculation at least, about both our family and the O’Rourkes.

He was obviously struggling with his new responsibilities. Not great when you were in charge of one of the biggest crime families in Chicago.

Fiona plopped down in the seat opposite me, beside Steve, and he slung an arm around her shoulders. She’d met him on a dating app, and they’d been seeing each other for about a month. I glanced at Brian. I’d met him at the cafe I took my laptop to when I needed a break from my apartment. We kept running into each other, and he’d eventually asked me out and I’d turned him down. Dating when you came from a family like mine wasn’t easy. Add in my sleep disorders, and I’d given up on ever having a relationship at all. He hadn’t gotten pissed off though, when I turned him down, and we’d become friends. We started hanging out, and he and Steve had struck up a friendship, which made it fun when we all went out like tonight.

But recently, Brian had been pushing for more, and this weekend, while we’d been texting, I’d kind of caved. I was a twenty-four-year-old virgin for fuck’s sake and seriously sick of being alone.

Brian gave my leg a squeeze under the table, and my face heated. “Missed you,” he said and moistened his lips when he looked down at me. “So…when are we going out?”

My belly fluttered. “Am I hallucinating…or are we not, in fact, out right now.”

He chuckled. “Smart-ass. I meant just the two of us. A real date.”

“Fine. If you insist on having me all to yourself, I’m free later this week.” Was I supposed to play it cool? Not seem too eager? How the hell would I know? I was far from cool. Brian was cute, and nice, and we had lots in common. We were friends first, and that was a good basis for a relationship. Though, once he found out about my family, he’d probably run for the hills.

He grinned and gave my leg another squeeze. “Cool. How about Thursday night? Dinner and a movie?”

More belly flutters. “Sounds good.”

A song Fiona loved came on, and my best friend jumped up, grabbed my hand, and yanked me out of my seat. Brian waggled his fingers in a silly wave as she tugged me out to the dance floor.

“Damn, girl, Brian wants you bad,” she yelled over the music.

I laughed, feeling light and happy for the first time in a long time. “You think?”

“I saw him wipe drool off his chin.”

I chuckled, shaking my head as she spun me around, then we were singing the chorus of the song at the top of our lungs. The music was so good, we stayed out there for the next song as well.

Fiona leaned in. “You have an admirer.” She bit her lip. “He hasn’t taken his eyes off you since we got out here.”

She did a little spin so we switched places, and I looked over her shoulder, expecting to see Brian.

Not Brian.

A guy leaned against one of the pillars that bordered the edge of the room. He was tall and built, but not in a bulky gym-body way. He wore jeans and a dark tee. His tattooed arms were folded over his chest, and his biceps stretched the sleeves. His gaze caught mine, and I sucked in a breath. His eyes were the brightest green I’d ever seen. My gaze dipped. His beard was trimmed close, surrounding a mouth that looked as if it’d been sculpted by the gods. Goose bumps broke out all over me.

Fi was right, he was definitely watching me, and when my eyes met his again, he gave me a chin lift.

Heat bolted through my veins so fast that my limbs went weak. Fiona twirled me again, and I laughed breathlessly. I tried not to look back, and succeeded for a few minutes, but when I finally gave in, he was gone.

Brian and Steve joined us then, dancing around like goofs to the next song, and I made myself stop searching the room for Mr. Green Eyes.

We danced and drank for the next few hours, and Brian pulled me close for two songs and we slow danced, something I’d never done before, which was embarrassing, but with how controlling my father was, there’d never been an opportunity. Even after he’d allowed me to move into my own place a year ago, I’d followed the rules, his rules, as if I were still in his home. It’d taken six months for Fiona to get me to come out with her, and a full year to finally agree to going on a date and slow dance with a good-looking guy.

Brian smiled down at me and pulled me close, and I instantly wrapped my arms around his neck, feeling bolder now, thanks to several vodka and Cokes. More than once tonight, I thought he might kiss me, but so far he hadn’t.

“You’re really fucking beautiful, Soph,” he said, looking down at me.

---