Page 56 of Spur of the Moment
Reed took another swig of his beer, then slammed it down, standing from the table. He grabbed Cal’s cue from him, stalking over to the end of the table.
“Rack it,” he instructed Lennon.
Lennon rolled his eyes. “I am older than you, you know.”
“By two years,” Reed grumbled. “That doesn’t even count. I can still boss you around.”
Bailey came back from the bar with shots of tequila, setting one each in front of Brandy and me. “For the birthday girl and her best friend.”
“Oooh shots!” Brandy shrieked.
“Bailey,” Reed warned.
He waved him off. “Have a little fun, Reed.”
I looked up at him from where I was sitting. “Thank you,” I said with a smile.
“My pleasure. It’s not like you’ve waited until you were twenty-one, anyway,” he pointed out, reminding me of the times he’s had to save my ass while I was tipsy before.
“That camping trip was so much fun. We have to go again,” Brandy said before holding her shot glass out to me for cheers.
I tapped mine against hers, a soft clink vibrating off them, then we tipped them back.
My face scrunched against the burn, and I quickly used my virgin margarita to wash it down.
“Taste a little more like a real marg?” Bailey asked, watching me gulp it through the straw.
“Little bit,” I croaked.
“Another?” Brandy gleamed.
“No,” Reed clipped from where he was bent over the pool table, deep in the game.
“Don’t listen to the party pooper,” Brandy mumbled to Bailey.
I laughed at the look Reed gave Brandy’s back. Even over the music, he could hear her. She was oblivious to it, but I swore I saw something other than hatred there.
“One’s enough for you ladies. Lettie?” He faced me. “Care for a dance?”
I gulped. “Uh, sure.”
"Blue" by Zach Bryan played over the speakers, slowing down the mood for the couples on the makeshift dance floor. Really, it wasn’t a dance floor at all. Just a section of the bar with an abundance of boot scuffs on the hardwood floor where there weren’t any chairs or tables.
Once we were in the center, Bailey stopped, turning to face me. He set both hands on my waist as I draped mine around the back of his neck. We swayed to the music, a little off beat, but clearly the two of us couldn’t be bothered to keep up with it.
His green eyes seemed to get lost in mine as the bar drowned out and all I saw was Bailey.
Bailey, my brother's best friend.
Bailey, my childhood annoyance.
Bailey, the guy who just baked a cake, probably the first one he’d ever made, just because it was my birthday.
My heart rate picked up and I dropped my forehead to his chest, unable to keep my eyes on him.
He was looking at me the way someone looked at their first love, and I was far from that.
He was always playing pranks on me growing up, doing whatever he could to get under my skin. But maybe I was taking his signals all wrong. Maybe he didn’t do it because he couldn’t stand me, but for solely the opposite reason.
