Page 8 of Right Side of Paradise
Her dark brown eyes danced all over my face before she gave me a sheepish smile. “Thanks.” She pulled her bottom lip into her mouth, waking up the deep dimples she liked to hide. “Can you make me a drink?”
“Anything for you,” I replied, tugging on the towel slung over my shoulder to mask my nerves. “What you want?”
Glancing up, I sought out my other two best friends. Soul and Rico were still slowly making their way to the bar, greeting everybody who stepped in their path.
Harlow cocked her head, tapping a nail against her jaw in contemplation. “A white Negroni, please.”
Always so polite and soft spoken. She didn’t have to say much to get what she wanted out of anyone, and it was a superpower she didn’t use nearly enough. “Coming right up.”
Before I could turn around to get started on her drink, Zay’s voice delayed my movements.
“Yo, Chris, let me get an old-fashioned.”
It wasn’t a question, it was a command, and the ticking of my jaw was a countdown to my waning patience.
With a quick sideways glance at Harlow, I cut my eyes at Zay and jutted my chin in my bartender’s direction. “Matt will take care of you.”
The last thing I saw before I finally turned around was the swell of Harlow’s eyes as she looked at me.
She was so oblivious it wasn’t even funny.
This was going to be a long fucking night.
I was goingto fucking kill someone. If I had to listen to Harlow laugh at another one of Zay’s unfunny jokes, I was sure a vein would rupture. I’d already accidentally dropped a martini glass and cleaning it up shouldn’t have been the highlight of my night but it’d been my only reprieve.
There was no reason for me to be out here. The bartender that had been running late showed up over an hour ago and me being behind the bar was a hazard at this point.
Except I wasn’t leaving Harlow alone with Zayvion Wilcox.
I couldn’t tell if she was drunkenly entertaining him to be polite or if she was genuinely interested, but both options had me tight.
Soul and Rico were on the other side of the patio and my body refused to relax when I saw an expression on Rico’s face that mirrored how I felt.
Soul looked unfazed. He always did.
I was ready to go. Had been ready since they walked in and it looked like the universe was finally on my side when Harlow smothered her third yawn in less than five minutes.
Yes, I timed them.
“I’m gonna get out of here but it was good to see you, Zay.” She slid off her stool on the opposite side of him, angling her body away from him.
That’s my girl.
Zay stood up right away, arms outstretched.
Harlow gave him a friendly tap on his back and turned her head in time for his lips to land on her cheek instead of the corner of her mouth.
“Why the fuck you trying to kiss her?” It was the first thing I said since they got here and Harlow whipped her head in my direction, shocked orbs sliding over me.
I tossed the towel off my shoulder and rounded the bar to stand between them.
“What? You forgot I was here?”
“No.” She shook her head. “You’ve been standing there like a chaperone all night.”
Maybe she wasn’t oblivious.
Zay snickered and blurted “cock block” loud enough for me to hear over the music.
