Page 15 of The Vow We Made
5
Friendly Interruptions
Aiden rolls his eyes and growls in my ear, “Ignore this idiot.” I raise my brow, adding a smile when he pulls away and faces his friend. “Will.” He turns and holds out his hand, offering a handshake. “I thought you’d gone home.”
“So I see.” He winks in my direction while waiting for an introduction. When it’s obvious it isn’t forthcoming, he takes matters into his own hands. “What’s your name love?”
“Victoria.”
I’m already shaking his hand when Aiden offers, “Sorry, that was rude of me. Victoria, meet my brother, Will. Will, this is Victoria.” He’s smooth and entirely unapologetic considering he’s been handed my name on a plate.
“Brothers. Really?” I reply; I won’t pull him up on it and instead continue boldly, “Are you two having me on? You couldn’t be more different.” They share a look and I can’t read what they’re silently exchanging between them.
“We get that a lot,” Aiden smirks.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you Will,” I say, still shaking his hand.
Before I have a chance to ask more, Aiden adds, “Thanks for coming over Will, now if you don’t mind—”
His brother laughs. “I don't mind at all. Crack on.” He nods. “I'm waiting to hear what comes out of your mouth next.” He rests against the bar, brow raised and with a cheeky grin while Aiden's eyes bore into his as if he's willing him to beanywherebut here.
“I know you bruv and I bet you didn’t bother to ask her name.” Then he nudges into my side. “Don’t worry love, he never does.” I note the muscles around Aiden’s closed mouth are tensed and he gives his brother a warning stare.
I’m sure I don’t help his embarrassment when I reply, “And there was me thinking I was special.”
Will shuts his eyes and slaps his forehead with his palm. “Shit. I’m sorry. That came out wrong. I meant to embarrass him, not insult you love.”
I laugh, but Aiden isn’t amused. “Will?”
“Yes bruv?”
“Fuck off.”
Will winks. “Just getting you back for the other night.” He salutes in my direction. It seems to me he gets a certain amount of enjoyment from winding his brother up. “Where are the others?” he asks scanning over the sea of people around us.
Aiden tilts his chin towards the stairs. “Up there I think. I lost them.”
“Right, I’ll leave you to it then.” He’s about to head off but is caught in the glare of a petite princess giving him the come on. This guy is like a rabbit in heat. He doesn’t look back, taps his fingers across Aiden’s back and finishes with a half-hearted slap. “Laters mate.”
“Will, for Christ’s sake, you can’t keep—” Aiden sighs but his brother has lost interest and is already holding court. Aiden shakes his head and through the volume of noise, I lip read, “Fucking idiot.”
“What’s the problem?” I glance back and forth between Aiden and Will’s figure now out in the crowd.
“Don’t worry about it. You don’t want to know.” He shakes his head to himself then leans towards me. “And just for the record, he was talking out of his arse.”
“About?”
“Asking names. He’s making out I’m a player, but that’s not who I am.”
I shrug. “I’m sure it’s none of my business.” He catches my slight smirk and raised brow, which causes him to smile in return. The heat between us had sizzled until we were interrupted. I’m hoping we can get right back to where we left off.
“So, Victoria.”
“You can call me Vickie.”
“I prefer Victoria, it’s a fitting name for a queen.” He grins. I don’t care what he calls me, I’m enjoying every minute and names don’t matter at all. In fact, a lot of things don’t matter at this point and I realise I might be losing my grip.
“What’s next on the drinks list?” he asks.
