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West catches me studying his profile.
“How old are you?” I say the first thing that pops to mind, hoping he doesn’t notice my staring.
He pauses.
Oh, yeah. He noticed.
“Twenty-eight,” he says, resting his forearms on the table as though he’s in the middle of negotiations and things are about to get serious.
Is that what’s happening here?
“What about you?” I ask Callahan a second before I realize that might be a rude question to ask a woman. “I don’t—”
“It’s okay,” she says, smiling again. “I’m also twenty-eight.”
“And you guys are…” I trail off.
“Old friends,” says Callahan.
“Very old friends,” says West. His glare is back, though this time it’s aimed at the table. “Her brother Finn is my best friend.”
I nod. Yeah, there’s nothing going on here. Sure. Right.
But at least now I think I’ve got the picture. West is clearly into Callahan, and she already told us she wants us both—down boy—and it’s pretty damn clear that West has no intention of making a move.
So West wants Callahan. Callahan wants West. Callahan also wants me.
A number of tantalizing possibilities bring themselves to mind and a low heat begins to build.
Between Callahan’s outspoken interest and all of West’s weird energy, I’m flying a little high right now. Getting out of my shell is the point, right? Along with getting out of the house for the first time in ages. And while I wouldn’t exactly announce it as a bucket list item—I never did like that phrase—I’m not going to say no to expanding my sexual horizons.
I hardly know these people, and it seems like West is fully capable of dismembering me without much effort, so maybe this isn’t a good idea.
Probably. Surely it’s not a good idea.
But the longer I try to hold that thought, the more intriguing the possibilities become.
Callahan mistakes my silence for hesitation.
“I promise,” she says, laying her hand on my arm the way West had done just a moment ago. “There’s nothing between us.”
I could take her words at face value, let her hold on to that little piece of fiction. It might even be true in a way.
But tonight has already been stacked with wins for me, and it’s making me feel heady and reckless. And I’m supposed to be pushing boundaries.
Baby steps to get what I want. I take another step.
“I disagree,” I say. “There is definitely something between you.”
Callahan sits up straighter and West’s gaze sharpens on me.
“What I’m trying to figure out,” I say, tracing water droplets on the neck of my beer bottle, “is what, exactly, that is.”
There’s a faint blue vein at the base of Callahan’s throat that shifts every time she swallows. I want to trace it with my tongue.
“That’s none of your business,” West says. The menace has returned to his voice, but I press on. He’s hardly going to beat me up in front of all these people. Probably.
I check around the room. My parents left ages ago, as did most of the people over the age of forty, but the soon-to-be-newlyweds are still going strong. If I’m in danger from West, it’s unlikely to happen here.
