Page 105 of The Route to You

“You live in London?” Sloan asked Liddy, falling into step with her as they headed into the bar. That was something she could talk about. A connection point. She’d spent plenty of time in London over the last handful of years.

“Yeah, my husband, Callum, is from there.” From the warm sparkle in Liddy’s eyes when she said his name, Sloan could tell right away how happy Liddy was with him, too.

“Yeah, yeah. Mine is from England, too, and we don’t want to live there.” Elle rolled her eyes, her tone salty.

Sloan gave Elle a surprised look. “Your husband is from England, too?”

“Yeah, they’re childhood friends, actually,” Elle said with a shake of her head. Then she reached over and poked Kyle in the ribs as they headed to the high-tops in the bar. “Clearly, Kyle has done a great job of telling you all about us.”

“Oh, Kyle’s communication skills are shining brightly tonight,” Jeremy said with a hearty chuckle.

Kyle kept his gaze studiously forward, as though his life depended on picking the right place to sit.

Which, honestly, it might. Why is he acting so weird? He must have some history with Anna. That had to be it. Anna had not-so-subtly hinted at that in the car, anyway.

She couldn’t quite gauge what was going on, but Sloan recognized catty drama a mile away, and she was so not here for it.

Last night he’d been practically flirting with her on the couch, and now he was hanging out with Jeremy—who seemed intent on being a shit-stirrer, not surprisingly—and Anna, who didn’t appear to understand what personal space meant. Or, at least, not with Kyle.

So . . . what, then? Was he casually dating this girl?

Or had they dated?

Kyle veered toward a table in the corner of the bar that was big enough to fit all of them.

Sloan slowed slightly, letting the others funnel ahead of her.

Anna didn’t hesitate, following right behind Kyle.

She slid onto one of the tall stools and angled her body toward Kyle like it was the most natural thing in the world, her knee brushing his as she sat beside him.

Not subtle.

Not even a little.

Sloan’s grip tightened on her bag.

Don’t be weird. Except it was weird, and she sort of hated herself for getting riled so easily. But the truth was, the vast majority of the time she’d spent with Kyle, especially around other women, he had been hers. And they were friends now, so maybe she had to get used to the concept that Kyle was single and no one owed her the respect of hiding their attraction toward him.

Jeremy grabbed the stool across from Kyle’s, effectively boxing him in. Not that Sloan had been angling to take that chair. That might be even weirder.

“Pregnant lady gets a real chair,” Elle announced, already claiming one of the two stools with normal backs at the end of the high-top. She eased herself down with a soft exhale, then patted the chair beside her. “Sloan, sit. Save yourself before you end up climbing one of those stools in heels.”

Sloan blinked, then gave her a grateful smile. “Thank you.”

She slipped into the seat beside Elle, hanging her bag carefully on the back of the chair.

Across the table, Kyle’s gaze flicked to her—quick, as if checking on her—and then away again.

Her stomach dipped.

A server appeared, handing out menus, and the brief distraction gave Sloan a second to breathe.

“First three rounds are on me.” Jeremy glanced toward the bar. “I’ve been trying to get Kyle out for weeks now. Getting all three Winnicks feels like an accomplishment.”

“You say that now,” Liddy said lightly, sliding onto the stool beside him. “We’ll see how committed you are after round two.”

“Deeply committed,” Jeremy shot back. “It’s a personality trait.”