Page 121 of Off Camera
I slide up next to her and block him from her line of vision. Her eyes widen, and relief floods her face. The corners of her mouth turn up in a pretty smile, and she tips her head to the side.
“Yes?” she asks with a curious lift of her eyebrow.
“Reid.” I hold out my hand so she can shake it. Her fingers lace through mine and squeeze. “I hear you like whiskey. Neat. Can I buy you a drink?”
“A whiskey neat, huh? I think I’d like that,” she says.
“Hey.” There’s a tap on my shoulder. “Buddy, we were in the middle of a conversation.”
I glance behind me and stare at the man. I look him up and down, and when I get to his feet, I laugh.
“Sorry, dude. She has an aversion to boat shoes. It was never going to work out between you two,” I say, wrapping my fingers around her wrist. “C’mon, pretty girl. I’m stealing you away.”
Avery beams and follows me over to the jukebox. She leans against the wall and stares at me. “Wow, you’re smooth. Thank you for the rescue. I think my IOU list is a mile long at this point. What is it with us meeting in bars surrounded by shitty men?”
“I wasn’t interrupting, was I?”
“You think I wanted to talk to that sleazebag? He was telling me how much his watch cost.” She snorts. “I prefer the company I’m with right now.”
“I didn’t like watching you give your attention to someone else. Not when I’m here.” I pause before adding, “Not ever.”
“I didn’t do it on purpose,” she says. “I wasn’t trying to make you upset.”
“I know you weren’t. Lately, I think I’d like for you to give your attention to me. Just to me,” I say, sharing the thought that’s been on my mind all week. “In the bedroom. And outside it too.”
She hums and steps closer. Her hand moves to my collar and tugs. “I’d like that,” she whispers.
“You would?”
“Yeah. We work well in the bedroom. Maybe we could try… out of the bedroom. Maybe not dating but…going places with our friends? Together? Like tonight. We could’ve come here together, and it would’ve been fun.”
“Okay.” I nod. “So not dating.”
“But notnotdating,” she adds before groaning. “I don’t know. I like spending time with you, Reid. I’m not saying we need to hold hands or anything like that, but it would stop people from flirting with us when we don’t want to be flirted with.”
“No one flirts with me,” I say, and she laughs. “What?”
“That girl three tables behind you won’t stop looking over here. And don’t get me started on the one by the bathrooms.”
“Sounds like you might be jealous, Sinclair.” I reach a hand up and brush my fingers down her cheek. “But you don’t have to worry about them. I’m only looking at you. I have been for a while now.”
Avery’s eyes soften, and I feel her smile in the center of my chest. “I’m only looking at you too, Reid.”
“Now that that’s settled, do you want to come sit at our table? I’m sure Maven and Emmy have already made their way over, and I’m not letting Boat Bro talk your ear off again,” I say.
“I’d like that.” She kisses my cheek and tugs on my arm. “Let’s go, Duncan. I want to ask our friends their opinions on the Crocs versus Sperry debate.”
Our friends.
Like we do this all the fucking time.
She drops her hand from mine as we make our way back to the table so no one asks any questions about our PDA. She sits on the opposite side of the table. We don’t touch the rest of the night, but I realize how badly I’d love to do this all the fucking time.
THIRTY-FIVE
AVERY
Reid
