Page 38 of Under My Skin
“Nope,” I answer happily. “Simon owes me.”
My brother tosses his head back. “The drive over wasn’t even that bad.”
I shove him playfully. “Speak for yourself. I need that blueberry Moscow mule to help me recover.” I point to a picture showcased on a screen with rotating menu items.
He glances up at the screen, rolls his eyes, and then gets to his feet. “All right. One Moscow mule coming up.”
“The blueberry one,” I emphasize, getting too much enjoyment out of this.
He gives me a sideways glance. “Yeah. Noted.” Turning his attention to Troy, Simon adds, “What about you? I might as well get it while I’m up there.”
“Thanks. I’ll take a Bud Light.”
Simon and Everett exchange a look, and it doesn’t take much for me to know what they’re thinking. Having so many breweries at our fingertips, ordering a Bud Light at a bar around here might as well be an unforgivable sin.
“Yeah . . . I’m not ordering that.” Simon says. He quickly shifts his attention to Everett. “What’s a good alternative?”
Everett scratches the scruff along his jawline. “Just order him a Bud Light.”
“But it’s piss,” Simon says.
Everett grins. “I mean . . .” His eyes jump to Troy like he doesn’t want to offend him before his shoulders drop and he admits, “Yeah. But order him one.”
“It’s not that bad!” Troy says in an effort to defend himself. He looks at me, but I just grimace.
“Don’t look at her for help,” Simon says. “Lucy only drinks real beer.”
“And blueberry Moscow mules,” I hint.
“Right,” he says, unamused. Getting to his feet, he looks at Troy. “I’m just fucking with you. I’ll get you your shitty beer. Toni?”
Toni stares at my brother. “I’m not letting you buy me a drink.”
Everett sighs and gets to his feet. “Don’t worry, I’ll buy your Manhattan.”
Toni smiles at Everett, and it’s the warmest I’ve ever seen her.
Pointing to her smile, Simon says, “See, I want that. How do I get her to do that for me?”
Everett claps a hand on my brother’s shoulder. “Don’t be a creep.” He and Simon head toward the bar, and I’m mesmerized again by the way Everett’s dark T-shirt grips his shoulders and upper back. The faint lines of the tattoo that lies beneath creeping up the back of his neck.
By the looks of things, I’m not the only one who notices. The petite bartender, with her brunette hair curled, beams at him as soon as he walks up. Simon nudges Everett with his elbow, and I wonder if it’s because he wants him to be the one to order, or if it’s about the pretty girl standing in front of them.
Chapter Twenty-Two
EVERETT
While we waitfor our drinks, I look over my shoulder at the table. Troy has Lucy’s full attention while he talks about who knows what. She sits on the high-top stool with her feet resting on one of the pegs. The profile view of her gives me something new to study, and she’s beautiful from every angle. She practically sits on her hands as she eagerly listens to Troy, nodding along to whatever antics he’s probably laying the field with.
“Did you get the chance to talk to her?” Simon asks, and it’s only then that I realize he was definitely watching me watch his sister talk to another guy.
I blink and refocus on what’s in front of me. The bartender poured the Bud Light, but we’re still waiting on our other drinks. “About what?”
Simon lets his stare linger on his sister a little before turning back to me. “I don’t know. Our parents? The divorce? How her visit went today?”
“Ah,” I say as the bartender sets another glass in front of me.
“This is the brown ale,” she says with a grin, and I thank her before taking a sip.
