Page 59 of Illicit Illustration

“Then maybe there’s hope for him yet,” she mused, standing up from the couch. “Now let’s go pick out what you’re going to wear on Valentine’s Day, becauseno matter who you end up with at the end of the night, you need to make every guy in that room regret passing on the opportunity to have your undivided attention.”

Hazel

Charley’s words stayed withme all afternoon, and into my shift that night, but we were too busy to let them truly blossom and for the panic to set in. Instead, I focused on running food from the kitchen to the hungry patrons in the packed bar, completely ignoring my phone and all the men on the other end of it.

But I should have known I’d never escape it, or them.

Annie cornered me in the small hallway outside the kitchen after I’d finished running out the last set of orders that’d come in from the servers on the floor.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but Reid was just up at the bar getting a round for his table.”

I hadn’t even realized Reid was in the bar, but it wasn’t like I could tell him to stay away. His best friend was the owner. Yet another reminder that I’d never escape him if I let things go further and they fell apart.

“…and this guy came up and started asking if you were on shift tonight, and I swear to God, Reid legit growled at him.”

“Wait, what?”

“This college guy in a baseball team hoodie was asking if you were working.”

“Go back to the part about Reid.”

She grinned, seemingly entertained that was the part I was asking her to repeat. “Is something going on between you two?”

“What? No…” I denied, but it sounded like a lie even to my ears.

“Too bad. I always thought there was a vibe between you two.”

“Nope. No vibes between us.”

Just me requiring lots of a different vibe to deal with all the pent-up attraction I’d been carrying around for him since puberty.

“Anyway, you should probably get out there and talk to him before shit hits the fan.”

“Reid asked to talk to me?”

“No, baseball hoodie guy. Reid went back to his table once I shoved a pitcher at him and pointed out he had a table full of thirsty guys waiting for their beer.”

With Annie following me back toward the floor, I saw Christian standing off to the side with his back against the bar while he watched the crowd.

I’d forgotten how cute he was with his slightly curly blond hair and dimples. He was just the kind of guy I should be interested in. But as I looked toward the back corner and my eyes caught on the penetrating stare of my brother’s brooding best friend, I questioned whether the clean-cut baseball player was truly my type.

Annie’s hand in the middle of my back reminded me I couldn’t just awkwardly stare at them all night. I reluctantly made my way toward the younger guy, trying to ignore Reid’s stare while I did.

“Hey, you,” Christian’s voice was warm as he greeted me, leaning in to give me a half hug before I could step away. “I was wondering if you were avoiding me.”

“No,” I squeaked nervously, suddenly wanting to escape from what I knew would be an awkward interaction. “We’ve just been super busy tonight.”

“I wasn’t talking about tonight.”

“Oh?” I knew I hadn’t really put much effort into responding to his texts, but he’d made it seem like he didn’t have time last fall to worry about a girlfriend. Not that I’d gone on any actual dates with him to be considered his girlfriend. We’d just shared a few flirtatious conversations at the bar and some text messages until he’d confessed he was too busy with school and conditioning for more.

“Yeah. You kind of left me on read a few times last week. I know I told you practices were kicking my ass when we talked last, but when I found out about you, I couldn’t resist.”

“Found out what about me?” I asked, but I wasn’t looking at him. My eyes were locked with Reid’s pissed off ones, trying to figure out why he was glaring at me.

Well, I had a feeling it had to do with the man next to me, but it wasn’t like I’d told Christian to come to the bar tonight. I hadn’t even seen him in person in over a month.

“…so anyway, I just wanted to stop by and see you before…”

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