Page 15 of The Reading

When the bartender returned with her beer, I watched her thank him and start a tab. As the bartender turned his back on her, I waved him over.

“Need another already?” he asked, grinning.

“Nah,” I said, taking money out of my wallet. “I need to cover that lady’s tab.”

He smirked knowingly. “I don’t blame you.”

If only.

“We work together,” I clarified. “It’s the least I can do.”

This time, he arched a brow. “How much can the woman drink?” he asked, eyeing the hundred on the counter. “I mean, she’s as big as a toothpick.”

“The rest is for you,” I told him. “Just…keep an eye out on her if…if I leave before she does.”

He nodded solemnly. “Got it. Thanks, man.”

As he went to check on the other patrons, I noticed a guy breaking off from his group of friends, and my stomach immediately tightened.

The fucker looked like he could be Irish.

I was only three green beers in, so I couldn’t blame what I did next on the alcohol, but I didn’t need to. Blaming Sloane Vicious worked well enough for me. I felt comfortable in blaming her for every-fucking-thing, and it didn’t matter if she were at fault or not.

I was done letting the woman drive me crazy.

Grabbing my beer, I made my way across the room, not caring that this was probably going to blow up in my face. I wasn’t going to stand by and watch some asshole hit on her. Even worse, watch her walk out of the bar with him. Sure, I could leave and save myself the anguish, but that would be too logical and simple, and nothing was ever logical or simple when it came to how I felt about Sloane Vicious.

Stranger Danger was just getting comfortable next to her when I came and stopped on the other side of her. “Fancy seeing you here,” I drawled out, and Sloane’s eyes blinked in surprise. However, I was more focused on the asshole standing next to her.

“What are you doing here?” she finally asked.

Making sure to look Stranger Danger in the eye, I said, “Waiting for you.”

Sloane’s head swiveled around as the guy stepped back, then made his way back to his friends. “What the hell was that?”

“Only you, Sloane,” I sighed.

*****

Sloane~

Iwasn’t sure what Reign was doing here, but it wasn’t that big of a coincidence. This was the closest bar to Granger, and with the kind of daythat we’d had, I really wasn’t surprised to see him here. However, I was surprised at whatever just happened between him and the good-looking guy that had saddled up next to me a second ago.

“Only me, what?” I asked, doing my best not to let his cologne distract me when he was standing so close.

“That guy came over here to make a play for you,” he said. “Only you wouldn’t notice.”

I bristled at that. “I just barely sat down and got my beer,” I pointed out. “I was focused on other things.”

“You’re always focused on other things,” he accused. “I think that’s your problem.”

“What in the hell does that mean?”

Not waiting for an invitation, Reign made himself comfortable in the seat next to me. “It means that you can be quite oblivious for someone so smart.”

“Thanks for the insult,” I drawled out. “And who said that you could sit down?”

“It’s a public bar,” he stated, unconcerned about my rudeness. “Besides, I’m doing you a favor.”

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