I refuse to wade through those croc-infested waters, so I take our glasses and head to the bar, wiggling through people. The bartenders whip past, and after a few minutes, I have two vodka cranberries in hand and am twenty-five dollars poorer.
Drink prices are no joke in this country.
I spin around and nearly drop the drinks from how close Jett stands to me. I leap away on reflex, and he darts a hand out, steadying me and preventing any liquid from landing on my dress. “Fuck, you scared me.”
A rough laugh escapes me, but it fizzles while I absorb his appearance. His hair is golden from days in the sun, pulled backand out of his face. He wears a shirt he bought in Sydney, a short-sleeved button-down with a deep purple swirling pattern that hugs his biceps in a way that should be illegal.
But out of everything, it’s the joy alight on his face that sends a thrill down my spine and steals my breath away.
“You look incredible,” he whispers, the confession nothing more than a puff of air against my ear.
Charlie, Oliver, and Mateo appear beside him, each of them dressed for a night out on the town. Charlie in a long linen maxi dress, and Mateo and Oliver in thin button-downs and slacks.
“Oh, is that for me?” Charlie asks, stealing one of my drinks.
I let her take it, too stunned by Jett’s presence. “The other is for Amy.”
She nods, weaving through the crowd with Mateo to find her best friend. Oliver steals my spot at the bar. “I’ll get a round,” he says.
Jett follows me to the table, his hand falling to my lower back as we squeeze past a group. My heart jolts, and when we reach our friends, I slide between Charlie and Amy to get some space from him.
His brow furrows, but he’s pulled away in conversation with Mateo, animatedly sharing about my surprise and the cassowary. His voice grows more spirited the longer he speaks, and I’m sucked into the story, as if I weren’t there to experience it.
I gulp down the liquor Oliver brought me, dousing the fire building in my core. Jett stretches his arm over his head, the hem of his shirt lifting and revealing tan skin and flexing muscles while he explains the size of the bird.
Fuck, it’s hot in here, and my drink is empty, so I steal Amy’s when she’s not looking.
Drunk. I need to be mindlessly drunk to forget how hot he looks right now.
Chapter 19
jett
“We might have discovered a new species of microbe,” Mateo cheers, beer sloshing from his cup as his hands fly around. “It’s an incredible find. I can barely believe it.”
God, I missed my friend.
“How do you know it’s new?” I ask, subtly inching out of the splash zone.
This is a shirt Sofía picked out at the clothing store in Sydney. I don’t want it to get ruined because Mateo is proud of his research.
“We sequenced it, and it doesn’t match any other genome in the public database. We need to do more digging, but imagine if we discovered it. How cool would that be?”
“Wicked,” I reply, scanning the bar for Sofía.
I think she’s avoiding me, bouncing to a new region of the pub any time I make it within five feet of her. I want to talk to her, but she continues to evade me.
Mid-scan, I do a double take, a ruckus occurring where we left Charlie and Oliver to get another round of drinks.
“Uh…Mateo, man, I don’t want to ruin your killer moment about your research, but I think we’d better…”
I don’t know what we should do, but I think we’d better dosomething.
He follows my pointer finger until he gazes upon the small scene unfolding in the back corner. In the booth—where Charlie and Sofía watch on with thinly veiled concern—Amy and Oliver are making out, as if nobody else exists and they haven’t agreed they’re better off as friends.
Sofía waves me over, chewing on her straw, and I whip through the crowd to get to her.
“Should they be doing that?” she asks, swaying into my side.
