Page 42 of True Blue

“You don’t like it, Mir.”

Axel glances over at me, catching me staring and holding my gaze as his heats up, smirking at me. Heat blooms underneath the ball of anxiety, flooding my stomach, and I continue staring at him, not caring that he caught me.

“It’s fine, Bentley. I want to try getting used to it.” She takes another sip. “It’s really not that bad on the second try.” Autumn laughs and Bentley shrugs.

Layla leans over, saying, “I’ve never liked beer either. If the drink doesn’t at least have juice to cover the alcohol, I usually won’t touch it.”

“Same!” Autumn says, holding up her plastic cup.

Axel winks at me and I smile, letting the straw fall out of my mouth and turning back toward the group as they start talking about cocktails they all like and then the first drinks we all had. Aria nods to her cup when it gets to her turn, and everyone pauses.

“Well,” Axel says, leaning forward with his hand on the back of Autumn’s chair. “What do you think of Sex on the Beach?” He smiles mischievously at her as she side eyes him.

“Subtle, dude,” Bentley murmurs, sipping his beer to hide his own smile.

Axel laughs, opening his mouth, probably to try to fit his other foot inside it, but Aria beats him to it. “It’s good, but I prefer sex in less sandy locations.”

Axel bleats a laugh, Autumn and Mira chuckling as well. “Touché,” Axel adds, cheers-ing his beer against her cocktail. He makes eye contact with Bentley across the table, and I see the same heat he directed at me in his eyes. I glance between them, watching the way they hold eye contact and feeling the heat in my belly grow.

The group starts trading stories about their hometowns and childhoods, Layla and Axel starting to argue about the events of certain family holidays. But I stay silent, watching Axel and Bentley. They seem relaxed, sharing heated stares every once in a while, and then each turning toward me. Bentley licks beer off his lips at one point, my eyes following the movement while he watches me, and Axel starts telling the story about how he fell off his roof chasing squirrels.

I notice Mira staring down to check her phone every couple of minutes, eyebrows pulled together, and forehead wrinkled in worry. Bentley sees it too and they have a wordless conversation of nods and shrugs before they’re both back to paying attention to the group.

Autumn rolls her eyes as Mira, Layla, Aria, and I laugh at Axel’s story, culminating in him crumpled on the front yard in a dumbfounded heap. “That was completely your own fault.”

“No way!” he insists. “It was the squirrel’s! If it hadn’t charged me, I wouldn’t have fallen.” Autumn shakes her head and Bentley tilts his to the side, staring at Axel with a lopsided grin.

I snort, pulling everyone’s eyes toward me. “Squirrels don’t charge people.”

Axel narrows his eyes, putting his hand on the back of Autumn’s chair again to lean across the tabletop and say,“Maybe if someone hadn’t dared me to go catch one, I wouldn’t have fallen, hmm?” His look makes all the air leave my lungs, rendering me unable to respond as I get sucked into their brown depths.

Autumn laughs. “Still your fault, Axel. You were the one stupid enough to climb up there.”

He leans back, nodding slightly but still staring me down. “Touché.”

“What are you doing here?” The furious voice draws all our attention to the group of men standing at the end of the table. A guy looking very similar to Mira stares down at her, Bentley having moved out of the way to stand behind her as they glare at each other. Another guy, slightly taller and more muscled stands right behind the first, arms crossed over his chest and a slightly lesser look of anger on his face.

I see Tanner over at the bar, ordering with the same bartender who fixed our drinks and notice a sandy haired man in nicely tailored clothes come around to stand behind Layla and me.

The Ravens surround us, all their attention on Mira at the end of the table as she stares up at who I assume to be her brother Ramsey.

“Hanging out. What the hell are you doing here?” She sits up to try to match his height from atop the barstool.

“You’re not old enough to hang out in bars, Amiria.” Ramsey glances down the table at each of us, skipping over looking at Autumn entirely. “None of you are, actually.”

“Don’t chastise them! Like you never drank before twenty-one,” Mira yells back, face getting red as she looks over at the guy behind Ramsey and glares harder for a second before returning her attention to her brother. “You’re being a hypocrite.” Bentley reaches out, placing his hand on her shoulder and stepping in closer behind her. He glares at the guy behind Ramsey, bodycompletely tense. The guy’s eyes track Bentley’s movement, staring down at his hand. Mira shakes it off, and I glance between her and the newcomer then over at Bentley whose jaw is clenched tight.

“That’s different. I didn’t have anyone there to stop me from making mistakes. You have me, so you’re not going to do the same stupid shit I did.” I’m certain he’s her brother after that remark, silently thanking my parents for not having more kids after me.

Autumn cuts in suddenly, snorting at Ramsey’s words. His eyes fly to her, immediately leaning back when he realizes how close they are. She openly glares at him from less than a foot away. “Oh please. Because sitting here in a bar having one drink is really going to ruin her life.” Tanner approaches from behind them as Ramsey and Autumn try lighting each other on fire with their minds. He carries three beers easily in his massive hands, passing one off to the guy behind me, then handing another off to the guy behind Ramsey.

“Figured Ramsey would be dragging Mini-Adams home,” he murmurs after sipping his own and making eye contact with the guy behind me.

“He will not be!” Mira looks ready to put up a fight and Ramsey turns toward her, matching the energy as they face off.

The guy from behind him steps forward, getting between the two and facing Ramsey. “Drink a beer, dude. Cool down, hang out.” He pushes his beer against Ramsey’s chest, who grabs it and chugs two-thirds in one go. “School’s been stressing you out too much. You’re burning out with all your pre-med classes and TAing.”

Autumn jumps in her seat, eyes flying to look over at Ramsey beside her, lips pursing but eyes less anger-filled than before.

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