Cleo snorted. “You sound like a whiny train.”
Molly hurled a throw cushion from the couch at Cleo’s head as she dangled her legs over the arm of the recliner. “If you did what I wanted I wouldn’t need to whine.”
“I don’t feel like going out partying tonight. You can go, I won’t stop you.”
Molly didn’t want to go out partying, but the weight of the past few days was bringing her down. She needed to dosomething. “You’re such a drag now that you’re all lovey dovey with Luscious Lincoln.”
Cleo groaned. “Ew.”
“Okay, fine. What about a quiet dinner? A compromise. We can go to that new Italian place you like and feed our feelings pasta and parmesan.”
Cleo hugged the pillow against her chest. “You know I’m a sucker for alliteration. So. Hot. But I have a counter offer.”
“I’m listening.”
“The Rusty Taco.”
“Don’t tease me with a good time, Cleo Martinez, that’s just plain mean.”
Cleo laughed and stood up. “I’ll get my coat.”
***
Few things got Molly’s blood pumping more than delicious tacos, great drinks, and a casual atmosphere with her favorite people. The Rusty Taco covered all bases – oversized mango-ritas that were never watered down, framed pictures of patrons’ pets lining one wall, while old license plates covered another, and reasonably priced tacos that had her mouth watering.
But when she stepped inside and practically walked straight into the broad shoulders of Finn-freakin’-O’Brien on a goddamn date with the most beautiful woman Molly had ever seen, her stomach soured.
She hadn’t seen him in the three days since she’d almost stuck her tongue down his throat. Her body heated at the memory. She’d almost taken advantage of him when he was vulnerable and exposed, and she hated herself for it.
She didn’t want him to kiss her because he felt sad. She wanted him to kiss her because every cell in his body drove him to cover her mouth with his, because he couldn’t breathe, or live another second if he didn’t.
“Oh, hey, there’s Finn. Who’s that he’s with?” Cleo’s face fell as she reached the same realization Molly had. “It’s a date, isn’t it? Shit, Mol. You wanna go get Italian instead?”
In truth, the idea of any food made her queasy, but she nodded, taking a step back toward the door. She was met by a hard body.
“Oof.”
“Fuck. Shit. Sorry.” She spun to face the guy she’d bumped into and back to Finn to make sure he hadn’t heard the kerfuffle. He stared straight at her. She threw him a cursory wave. It was fine. Totally fine. So he was on a date in the same place she was having dinner with Cleo. What could possibly go wrong?
If the night was a meme, it would have been the dog sitting at a table, surrounded by flames, with wide eyes saying. “This is fine.” Exceptshewas the dog and she wasn’t surrounded by fire, she was all-the-wayonfire. And she certainly wasn’t fucking fine.
Her pulsing clit warned her to leave, to run fast and far, not to stay in the same building as him for a moment longer than she needed to. But he’d seen her, he knew she hadn’t eaten and if she ran, he’d know that, too. She was trapped watching him on his date with the tall, beautiful curvy model standing six feet away. Fuck it all to hell.
Her pulse quickened as she glanced between Finn and the gorgeous woman. Threesome. Visions of Finn fucking her while she ate out his date spread heat across her whole body.
Finn wore a black button-down dress shirt tucked into a pair of black dress pants. And not that she was looking, but if she had been, his ass was delightful in those pants. She wanted to take a bite out of that perfect hockey butt. He was sinfully handsome. His unruly hair was styled and he smelled delicious. His pheromones had a direct line to her pussy and were stuck on redial. He nodded a greeting at her before guiding his date to a table.
“Molly?”
“Hm?” Molly tore her gaze from Finn’s date’s perfect ass. “Yeah?”
“I asked if you wanted the usual.”
The guy she’d bumped into behind her sighed. “Hurry up, already.”
Dang, dude. Don’t be an asshole.Her inclination was to take even longer, but she didn’t want to make any more of a scene. Or get sent to prison for a smackdown with some impatient jerk she’d accidentally body checked while in line for tacos. She could totally take him. With a nod at Cleo, she ventured into the busy restaurant to find seats. The only available table was – of course – the one a few feet away from Finnegan and the Future Mrs. Finnegan Aiden O’Brien.
She pulled her phone from her pocket and scrolled TikTok with the volume low as she waited for Cleo. In her periphery, Mrs. O’Brien-to-be plucked the tortilla out from under her tacos and picked at the filling with dainty fingers. Finn’s frown made Molly hide her snicker behind her hand.
