Page 66 of See You Next Winter
She bursts out laughing. “Kayla said you’d try to give us free drinks, and I’m not supposed to take them.”
“Oh, did she now?” I smile, then lean across the bar and lower my voice. “Maybe this can be our little secret?”
She winks at me. “You’re Ryan, right?”
“In the flesh.”
“I’m Allie,” she says, offering me her hand. While we shake, she squeezes hard and doesn't hide the fact she’s giving me the once over. “Fuck, I get it now.”
“Get what?”
“Why she waited for you.”
“What do you mean?”
She just laughs and nudges three beers into a triangle so she can carry them to her table.
“Let me give you a hand.”
“You’d better stay put if you want to make it through the night. I’ll come back in a second.”
Chapter 51
Ryan
No matter how hotit’s been to talk about being with other people in the past, watching a string of guys hit on Kayla and her friends is fucking horrible. I don’t like it one bit, but they can handle their own, and waste no time making it clear they’re only interested in each other’s company tonight.
Her friends take turns to visit me at the bar, first for beers, then for shots, and soon I’ve met Allie’s fiancée Mel, as well as their other friends Katie and Anna. Kayla keeps her back to me the whole time, and I’m impressed with her stubbornness, but also want to have a little fun. When the bar is quiet, I head over to collect their empty glasses.
I tap her on the shoulder and clear my throat. “Excuse me, miss?”
“What?” she sulks, and I take a deep breath and roll my shoulders back.
“Uh, my name is Ryan, and I couldn’t help but notice you from my spot behind the bar over there. I was wondering, would you like to go out with me sometime?”
She blinks at me like I’ve asked her to jump off a chairlift. “What are you doing?”
“Shooting my shot,” I beam. “What do you say?”
“Are you asking me on a date?”
“Yes, I am. Can I take you out for dinner and drinks, hold your hand while I walk you home and, if I'm ever so lucky, maybe give you a goodnight kiss?”
The collective gasp from her friends has me hiding my smile behind my fist.
“No,” Kayla says, twisting her barstool away from me.
“No?” her friends shriek in unison. God, I love these people. I duck around her to ask again.
“I think we could have a really nice life together,” I tell her, then cough obnoxiously. “Did I say life? I meant night, sorry.”
“Do it! Do it!” her friends chant, banging the table until her face breaks into a smile.
“No seeing me in the dark.” She prods me in the sternum, but I grab her hand and hold it there. “You’re too tempting. It’s dangerous.”
The idea that we’re only drawn to each other in nocturnal hours is hilarious. I don’t think there’s an hour of the day we haven’t fooled around one way or another.
“Breakfast then.”
