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“You gave someone your phone number?” Thea asked, her voice filled with hope. “That’s amazing.”
Thea had been all love-happy since she’d come back from her sister’s over-the-top wedding with strengthened family bonds and a boyfriend. She wasn’t on a mission to get her besties hooked up, but she sure was in favor of that happening ASAP.
Astrid moved on to straightening Nola’s cards so they lined up like soldiers at parade rest. “It’s work.”
That got a disappointed sigh from each of them.
“How is the new job going?” Thea asked.
“Better than expected.” That was true. Of course, she’d expected Dante-levels of misery, so anything short of being entombed in a fiery coffin in the sixth circle of Hell was better than expected.
Nola swiped a finger through the thick foam of her Sweet Salvation Stout and sucked it off before asking, “And the giant prick?”
“Reminding me why I’m damn lucky that wedding didn’t happen.” When she’d been in the thick of things with Tig, she hadn’t realized just how much of her life revolved around him. But now that she’d gotten a real feel for who she was without him, she realized that that was not the life for her and—if she was honest with herself—never really had been.
“The offer of having my uncles arrange for someone to have a talk to him still stands,” Nola said.
Astrid chuckled. “I appreciate it, but Tig isn’t worth losing my Diet Coke connection.”
“So why is he calling you?” Thea asked. “Also who just calls someone out of the blue when texting is available? If you needed any additional proof he’s a dipshit, there it is.”
On any other night, Andy would have done about twenty annoying things by now that they’d be groaning over instead of discussing this. But no. He couldn’t be his normal obnoxious self the one time she needed him to be. Instead, he was going from table to table selling T-shirts, his stack getting smaller after each one. Had he been possessed?
While it was tempting to pose the question to her friends, she knew better. The more she tried to deflect, the less likely they were to let it go. It was like the opposite of growing up with her dad.
Bracing for the onslaught, Astrid squared her shoulders. “That wasn’t Tig.”
“No kidding.” Thea looked up from her phone. “Who do you know from Minnesota?”
“Did you just look up the area code?” Nola asked. “Impressive.”
Thea grinned. “Science brain.”
“Lucky you. I just have former lawyer brain, which isn’t good for anything beyond…” Nola stopped mid-sentence and gaped at Astrid. “It was the latest guy, which means you work with the other guy!”
“What other guy?” Thea asked.
“The one who had Andy kissing the bar the other night and got a thank-you-strong-handsome-stranger bang from our good friend Astrid here for his trouble.” Nola’s eyes rounded, and she let out a gasp. “And now he has your number and is using it for the most intimate forms of communication—calling to talk?”
Thea’s jaw dropped. “Oh. My. God. I love it. Loooooove it!”
“There is nothing to love,” Astrid said, refusing to acknowledge her suddenly sweaty palms or the fact that her stomach was moving toward her toes. “You know my rules.”
“Like the one to never give a guy your number?” Nola asked.
Thea jumped in with, “Or never to have sex with someone you work with?”
They were way too happy about this. It was a fucking nightmare, and her best friends were ecstatic about the whole situation. No good could come of this. Not a single smidge of goodness.
“I didn’t know I was working with him that time,” Astrid said before she could stop herself.
But it was too late.
“That time!?!” her friends squealed at the same moment, drawing the attention of everyone crowded into the bar.
It was a lot of people tonight, which wasn’t the usual for pub bingo. Yeah, the weekly event had regulars and was gaining a following, but tonight the place was packed. The only open table was one near the stage with a yellow card on it that read reserved. No doubt, Andy must have read somewhere that exclusivity was the mother of building a following and had plopped the placard down on the table.
“Wow, Nola, you really have done a stellar job getting folks in for this,” she said, sending a flare out into the dark depths of the universe that her friend would take the bait.
