Page 23 of The Friend Zone
“Nah, I’ll go to the bar. Anybody else want a drink?”
The others shook their heads.
“One Long Island iced tea coming up,” Omar said, leaving the table.
Dana met Tamika’s eyes, which sparkled with mischief as she simultaneously arched an eyebrow. Dana arched hers right back, silently asking,What?
Tamika stood and signaled with her hands for Dana and Layla to follow. The three went to stand at the railing overlooking the crowd, which also gave them a view of the bar at the bottom right. The floor was crowded, with bistro tables lining the back and guests on their feet, a huddled mass dancing in front of the stage.
Literally two seconds after Omar pulled up to the bar, a woman approached as if she had been waiting for the opportunity all night. Dana couldn’t blame her. His clothes gave him the perfect V-shape. The charcoal gray slacks emphasized his narrow waist and hips, while the white shirt—opened at the top to expose the strong column of his throat—made his chest and back appear broader. The woman batted her eyelashes at him and pouted sexily as she handed over a card, which he tucked into his pants pocket.
“Where’s your new man?” Tamika asked.
“I don’t know. He should have been here by now, or at least called to let me know he can’t come.” She didn’t know if to be annoyed or worried.
“Probably a good thing he’s not here. If you watch Omar any harder, you’re going to bore a hole in his head.”
Was she that obvious? She constantly reflected on the conversation they had while she was in the tub, and the way she made herself come from simply thinking about him.
She shot her friend a lethal glare, similar to the one she levied at students who dared lie about why they couldn’t complete an assignment. “I’m not staring.”
“Sure.”
“I saw you,” Layla interjected. She wore her long hair in a knot on her head and a sparkly red jumpsuit in the same shade of red as her lipstick.
Dana had opted for black jeans and a fuchsia tie-neck top and, of all things—gold heels on her feet. She wanted to make a good impression on Sheldon, but he wasn’t here to see her effort.
“When did you see me staring at him?” Dana asked, challenging them.
“All night!” her friends said in unison.
The three of them busted out laughing.
When she stopped laughing, Dana brushed tears from the corner of her eye. “Really?”
Layla nodded. “Really. So can you please stop pretending you don’t like him?”
“Hypothetically, it doesn’t matter because I’m with someone now.”
Tamika leaned across Layla. “But it’s not serious yet, is it?”
“No, but it could be. Last time we went out, he brought up marriage.”
Tamika lifted her eyebrows in surprise.
“He intends to move here permanently,” Dana added.
“Because of you?” Layla asked.
“He didn’t explicitly say so, but it was implied.”
The three of them directed their gazes back to the bar, where two women chatted with Omar. They were definitely his type, both in heels and body-hugging dresses, revealing shapely figures.
He laughed easily, and though she couldn’t hear his laughter, she imagined the sound of the deep-throated chuckle. The women wrote their numbers on a napkin, which Omar pocketed before he sauntered away with the drinks in hand.
“His behavior down there doesn’t mean anything because he was checking you out a couple of times tonight,” Tamika said.
Her friend meant well, but Omar collected numbers like other people collected marbles. Where would she fit into such a lifestyle?
