Page 14 of Connected By Stars
“Of course, man. We’re happy to do it.”
“Mav and I have had fun planning this together. He’s had some great ideas.” Skye looks at me, and we both start laughing.
“Oh God, they’re definitely up to something. Getting those two together to plan a party might not be the best idea we had.” I hear Emma say to Noah, which makes everyone laugh harder.
The waiter comes back with our drinks and appetizers and I give him my order as he goes around the table. We dig into the appetizers and pass them around. I hear Bell softly moan, and Iglance at her. Her eyes are closed as she chews the lobster bite. I watch, mesmerized, as her tongue comes out to swipe her bottom lip. Her eyes start to open, and I quickly look away. I see Emma with a smile on her face as she looks at me. She gives me a small wink and goes back to eating. Did I give something away? God, I don’t need her on me about this before I can figure things out. She tells Noah everything.
I take a bite of the lobster and almost moan myself. Damn, that’s good. Maybe I should come here more often. If I had the right company, it could be fun. My mind wanders to what it would be like to take Bell here and have her all to myself. I could watch her eat like that all night long.
I take a sip of my beer and try to focus on what my friends are saying. I notice the girls are sharing a bottle of wine, and it’s going fast. Sophia and Bell are giggling at something Emma said, and I smile. I’m glad I drove them tonight so they could have fun. The last time Sophia and Bell took an Uber, the driver hit on them. They blew it off and laughed, but I don’t trust them alone with strangers. The driver probably wondered why all his reviews got shitty after that. He’s lucky that’s all I did to him.
The meals come out, and the girls order more wine. I take a bite of my food anddomoan this time. The steak melts in my mouth. Bell stills next to me and meets my eyes.
“Steak good?” She glances down at my mouth, and I try not to smile, knowing her thoughts are mirroring mine.
“Yeah, really good. How’s your salmon?”
“It’s orgasmic,” she says softly, and I choke on the water I was sipping.
“You good over there?” Noah asks me from across the table.
“Water just went down the wrong way.” I cough and take another sip. Bell giggles next to me, and I frown at her, causing her to giggle more. Her phone vibrates on the table, and she ignores it. I glance down and see a text message from Logancome through.Does dinner on Sunday night work for you?It buzzes again, and I can’t help but look.I can’t stop thinking about you.
I feel my blood begin to boil, and I grip my beer before taking a sip.
“You got a text message from Logan.” I try to keep my voice even.
“What? Oh, thanks. I didn’t hear it vibrate.” She glances down at it and reads it before setting it back down.
“Are you going to say yes?” I ask, looking down at my food, unable to stop myself from asking.
She glances at me, knowing I read it, and tries to gauge my reaction. “I haven’t decided yet. Do you want me to go?” She asks quietly so no one can hear.
I know what I should say. I should tell her to say yes. That he seems like a nice guy, and she needs to find someone who can give her what she wants, but I can’t get the words to come out.
“No.” I take another sip of water and avoid her eye contact.
She looks back at her food and pushes it around on her plate. “No? And you're not going to tell me why are you because you don’t know yourself.” She throws my words back at me.
“I just know that I don’t like it,” I ground out through my clenched jaw. I sigh, not knowing what else to say. She lifts the phone back up and sends a text back. I bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from asking her what she said.
“Who are you texting over there?” Sophia asks, filling up her wine glass before doing the same with Bell’s.
“Logan asked me out to dinner on Sunday.” She takes a big sip of her wine.
“Oooh, the cute guy from yesterday? You told him yes, right? He would make the perfect date for the wedding. You’ve got to give him a chance, Bell.”
Wedding date? I glance at Bell to see her reaction. She’s got her walls up again, and I can’t tell what she’s thinking.
“I told him yes. He seems really nice, and it’s refreshing to have someone that knows what he wants and goes after it.” Her jab at me goes straight to my heart, making it ache again. I know what I fucking want—I just can’t have it. I shouldn’t let myself want it. I know what he fucking wants too, and it makes me want to throw her over my shoulder right now and claim her as mine.
“Yay! I’m so glad you said yes. You never know. He could be the one that can give you what you’ve been looking for.” Sophia grins at her and toasts her wine glass in the air.
Bell gives her a small smile. “Yeah, maybe, you never know.”
“Now you just have to find a date, Mav. I’m sure you can find a fan girl around here to say yes. Just don’t ask Haley again.” Sophia starts laughing and takes another sip of wine.
“Very funny,” I mutter under my breath. “Who are you taking, Missone-act comedy show?”
