Page 23 of Silent Is The Heart

“Hey!” the woman from the shop desk calls from across the table. “I’m Shannon, by the way!”

“Hi. I’m Aaron.”

The muscular tattoo artist they came in with has an arm slung over the back of the booth behind her, making me wonder if they’re a couple. He reaches out his inked-up hand to shake mine.

“Fro,” he states, making me give his buzzed sandy haircut a second glance, at which he grins before settling back.

Instinct has me looking at the last of Easton’s party, but they’re indisposed. The guy that Easton lip-locked is currently doing the same to the woman with the long black hair, both oblivious to everyone around them.

Sitting back in the booth, I decide introductions aren’t important right now. The back of my shoulders touches something solid that doesn’t feel like the booth padding. I find Easton smiling at me, his arm resting on top of the seating behind me.

That’s Wolf and Melissa. They don’t come up for air often.

Laughing at his joke, I hate the anxious way it sounds. I feel so awkward. It doesn’t help that the question on my lips is if he joins them, so I bite the inside of my cheek and glance out at the dance floor.

A brush of skin against my hand snaps my attention back to the table. I find Easton palming my glass and bringing the straw to his lips. I didn’t even think to offer to get him a drink. Fail number one on my part… or fail number three, I guess.

Coming up, he narrows his eyes at the clear bubbly liquid and then scrunches his face up at me with a shit-eating grin. Sprite. Right. I’m such a party animal.

“I…already had one while I was…while you were still at work.”

One? Wow.He grins, sighing animatedly.

I don’t mind that his humor is at my expense as long as he’s showing me this lighter side of him. It feels like I’ve been let into a locked city.

“Thanks for letting me join you guys. You all work at S&H I take it?”

God, that was a stupid question. He knows I’ve seen them all there. I’m nailing the small talk already.

Nodding, he leans back in the booth, no doubt as enthralled by my segue as I am. His face lights up, however, when the waitress approaches with a tray loaded with drinks. Drinks and a whole lot of shots.

“Easton? Who’s your friend?” Melissa calls from across the table as the waitress unloads her tray.

“Hi, I’m Aaron,” I repeat like a parrot. At least I have that phrase down.

“Melissa,” she chirps, flashing me a dainty wave. “And this is my boyfriend, Wolf.”

Wolf hoists his beer bottle up in a salute, but I don’t miss the guilty look on his face. I sneak a glance at Easton to see if I can decipher anything between the two of them and find him smirking at his business partner. Wolf’s eyes narrow, his frown looking unimpressed and an evident raucous under the table tells me he just kicked my booth companion.

I try not to gawk at Easton’s profile, but can’t help myself. He takes notice and shrugs, staring out at the crowd of people dancing.

I’m not his type,he signs casually.

That does little to draw my baffled attention away. Sliding a shot in front of me, he withdraws his arm from behind me and smirks as he lifts one up for himself.

There’s a devilishness in his eyes as he looks at me.He’s shit at getting you to leave too, apparently,he confesses.

I don’t know whether to laugh or drown in my utter foolishness, remembering that kiss from last weekend. He kissed his straight friend just to get me to leave? That’s… rash and, I suppose, hilarious if I were outside looking in. As he gestures for me to pick up the shot of liquid, I stare blankly but oblige his wishes just to prevent myself from looking like a statue.

As the alcohol burns its way down my throat and I gasp, I still can’t shake the importance of his confession. Does he even realize what he just told me? Easton hated me before I even walked into his apartment.

Why?

Shuddering, I feel the liquid balloon in a ball of warmth in my belly. No sooner do I recover and another shot is slid into my reach.

“Oh, no. I’m fine. Thanks,” I tell him. “I had…”

One. I remember. Loosen up. The night is young.

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