Page 17 of Made Over by Meredith

“How’s the drink treating you?” he asked, and I replied with some kind of affirmative and a smile.

Atlas placed his hand on the bar top, right in front of me, posing again. Truly, the name fit him.

And I couldn’t have cared less.

Especially when I spotted a familiar head of dark hair out of the corner of my eye, almost like I was trained to pick him out of a crowd now.

Aiden walked with his date, his hand on Celeste’s lower back, his gait confident, listening as she said something to him, which had him smiling. His dark eyes crinkling, and that’s when I noticed.

He wasn’t wearing his glasses!

Sure, I’d ask him about his glasses, but I didn’t think he’d actually ever exchange them for contacts. They were a part of him.

Then again… I guessed not, since he looked as good without them.

This Superman version of him worked. The fitted gray pants I’d picked out for him, along with a white button-down, tucked in with a belt, and a light blue leather jacket I’d never seen before. He lookedsogood.

Fuck me.

He had swagger.

Did I do that?

Or did he have it all along?

No, he did. He had that nerd swagger, but I think I gave him to room to release it. Lean into it.

As I watched him guide her through the restaurant to the exit, he casually draped his arm across her shoulders, a deceitfully good move. One of casual possession, and Celeste liked that. I could tell from the way she tipped her chin, smiling up at him, tucking into his side.

For his part, Aiden offered her his crooked grin, and jealously had me downing my drink in one go. It left a bitter taste in my mouth that had nothing to do with the grapefruit.

When I handed the glasses to Atlas, he raised his brows. “All right?”

“Fine.”

“Date stood you up?”

“Something like that,” I muttered, giving into the terribly bad idea of staring at Aiden and Celeste out of the windows of the restaurant. They were holding hands now, swinging them back and forth like a cute fucking couple, talking and laughing about something, and I hated myself.

I rolled my eyes to Atlas. “Better make it a double.”

He shrugged and turned away to make the drink as I poked at my salad.

I should have been happy for Aiden. This was what he wanted, a girlfriend.

And I… I didn’t know what I wanted anymore.

Atlas returned my drink to me, and, yep, it was a double. I smacked my lips, giving into the desire to wallow.

I must have made it clear to Atlas that he wasn’t going to get any flirtation back from me tonight because he swiftly moved on to another customer, and I placed my elbows on the bar, holding my drink between my fingers, sipping and thinking.

Thinking of the time I’d spent with Aiden.

Of all the times I’d hung out with him at Hart family gatherings. Of how he never hid who he was or tried to be someone else. Maybe he was the one who should have been tutoring me.

Because he was the one out there, going after what he wanted.

And I was the one here, drinking something that I didn’t even like. Thinking about a guy who I’d never expected to like.

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