“Oh! We have to order the buffalo wings and fried Oreos too!” Gabby does a little dance in her seat. “I’m so excited for you to try everything here.”

“Are you sure we can handle all that food? I’m still pretty stuffed from dinner and birthday cake.”

“Ah, it’ll be fine. Just sample a little of everything. The guys will finish whatever we don’t eat.”

“I guess that is a perk to having them around,” I reason.

Not only is this my first real outing since coming to Starboard Beach, but it’s the first time I’ve gone out socially in about a year. It feels freeing to be out with friends again.

A few negative thoughts pop into my head, but I squash them down, reminding myself that I’m in a crowded bar and after all, there’s safety in numbers. If anything were to occur, I feel like my roommates would have my back. I know Alex or Carter would step in too, if something were to happen. And then there’s Jax. I turn to look at him sitting at the bar. I don’t think he would sit back and let shit happen, but I still can’t figure him out. Something tells me he has a history that he’s not too eager to share with me or anyone else, and I can respect that.

A commotion near the dance floor has me turning my focus off my handsome, albeit aloof, neighbor and towards Michelle and Carter. Gabby and I both slide out of our booth for a better view.

“I cannot believe Michelle can dance in those five-inch heels!” I say to Gabby. Even though her heels give her nearly a half foot more in height, she is still several inches shorter than Carter.

“That girl is a beast on the dance floor! I’ve even seen her rock five-inch heels before. She’s unbelievable.”

I let out a low whistle. I’m not brave enough to go past a three-inch heel, but more power to her. The music changes into the infamous song fromDirty Dancing,and Carter and Michelle fall right into step. I watch the two in awe.

“Is there something going on between them?” I ask Gabby.

“I don’t think so.” She shakes her head, not taking her eyes off the dance floor. “I think they’re just really good friends. Carterdid have a girlfriend for a while, but I haven’t seen her around recently.”

The music continues, and Michelle and Carter have now gathered a small crowd around them. They’re fantastic.

“Have they practiced this before?”

“Yeah.” Gabby nods. “I’ve seen them do the whole routine in our living room, but it still gets me every time.”

“Tell me he does the lift!” I grab on to Gabby’s arm and start jumping up and down. I’m not a super girly girl or overly romantic person, but this is so exciting to watch.

The wide grin that spreads across Gabby’s face is all the answer I need. We watch in excited silence as Carter and Michelle nail the famous lift. We whoop and holler as Carter slowly brings Michelle’s feet back to the floor, both smiling brightly and looking at each other as if there’s no one else in the room.

A ping of sadness hits me. I wish someone looked at me like that. I know I’ve said I’ve sworn off dating, but I’m not going to lie; the last year and a half has been tremendously lonely.

“Excuse me.” A lanky, fair-skinned man with a delicious accent approaches. Standing next to him is a similar-looking man that’s slightly shorter. “Would you two ladies be interested in a game of darts?”

“Nice accents! Are you from Ireland?” I ask. I’m a sucker for a foreign accent.

“Yes! We’re from Limerick. I’m Declan and this is my brother, Shawn,” the taller one says.

Gabby and I introduce ourselves and walk over to the dartboards with the two Irish brothers. They proceed to tell us that they are here in the States on business and work in marketing. Declan talks about the latest deal they just made—something about a big merger, which means lots of money. I pretend I’m interested because I’m too nice and don’t want tooffend anyone, but in actuality, I’m bored to tears. I have no interest in marketing and no interest in people who flaunt their money.

“I’m going to get a refill. Does anyone want anything?” Shawn shakes his empty glass. The three of us decline and Shawn heads to the bar. He comes back a few minutes later, sans drink. He whispers something to his brother and they both turn to face us.

“Ladies, thank you for the lovely game, but I just got a call from a coworker of ours. Something with work came up and we need to get going,” Shawn says.

“We wish you all the best,” Declan adds.

Gabby and I share confused looks but thank the guys and watch them hastily leave.

“Did you find that—”

“Strange?” Gabby responds. “Yeah, they already said they were done with work and then all of a sudden something comes up on a Friday night?”

I shrug it off. It’s weird, but at least I no longer have to be subjected to listening to the latest trend in hamster toys.

“It looks like Michelle is taking a break. I’m going to grab a drink with her. Did I mention this place makes the best mocktails?” Gabby asks.