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“I’m not,” he replied, taking a long pull of his beer. “That’s the last thing I’m looking for.”
My gaze traveled to Shelby again. She was standing with Layla and Lyndi still, but her date was gone. I scanned the crowd until I found him at the bar. “Looks like he’s getting drinks for them.”
Will followed my gaze. “Need another one?”
I looked at my beer and shook my head. It was pretty much still full. “Not yet.”
“Do you recognize him from work?”
“No, do you?”
“No. How crazy is it that Aria set her up with a male escort?” Will asked with a joking smile, then laughed and held up his hands when I shot him a murderous glare. “I’m kidding. Relax. It’s still crazy to see her with someone, though. I don’t think I’ve seen Shelby on a date in like… years.”
“Years?”
I thought back, trying to remember the last time she’d told me she was going out with anyone. Will might have been right. The last guy I remember hearing about was the one she’d dated when I was in recruiting school, which was over three years ago. And as much as I’d wanted her to talk to me about it, because we were friends and she could talk to me about anything, it still stung.
I didn’t remember the guy’s name, but she’d met him through the flash mob business. He’d been pretty relentless in his pursuit of her. She didn’t think it was a good idea because she didn’t want to start a serious relationship with anyone, but he hadn’t cared. He’d said he’d take what he could get. So they went on a few dates, then sort of drifted apart after that. As selfishly glad as I was about that, I felt bad for her. I guess he’d told her he wanted to find someone who didn’t keep him at arm’s length. It made sense to her, but she still felt bad because she just couldn’t get there.
Will and I watched as the guy carried two drinks back to Shelby and handed her one, then they raised their glasses with Layla and Lyndi in a toast. “I guess I should go over and say hi.”
“Might as well,” he replied. He started to come with me, but then his date appeared next to us. “Oh, hey. Amber, this is my friend Paul.”
“Hi, Paul,” she said, shaking my hand.
“Hey, nice to meet you.”
Will gestured to Shelby with his drink. “We were just headed over there to say hi to some friends.”
“Sounds good,” she said as she fell into step with us. “I met your friend Aria when I was coming back from the bathroom.”
Will’s feet stuttered and he cleared his throat. “Oh, yeah. She’s actually Paul’s little sister, not my friend. Well, I mean, I guess she’s my friend too, but mostly Paul’s little sister.”
I raised a brow at him as we approached Shelby, but whatever I’d been about to say died on my lips when she smiled at me with those big brown eyes of hers. “Hey, Shel.”
“Hey,” Shelby replied, her cheeks turning slightly pink and making the blood pound in my ears.
“You look beautiful,” I said before I could stop myself. Then I quickly stuck out my hand, addressing her date. “Hey, man, I’m Paul.”
He returned my handshake. “Beau Devereux, nice to meet you.”
“This is Will,” I told him, gesturing to him and then his date, “and I’m sorry, Amber, right?”
Amber’s eyes were wide as she stared up at Beau like she’d seen a ghost. “Beau? Wow, what a surprise.”
Beau nodded politely at her before reaching out with his free hand and placing it on the small of Shelby’s back. “Hi, Amber. Good to see you.”
An awkward silence fell over us then, and I couldn’t decide if I wanted to deck him for his hand placement or point at Will and cackle. I settled for taking a long drink of my beer instead, my eyes meeting Shelby’s over the bottle. She was clearly trying to conceal a smile. This was what happened when you hired out a date, I guess.
“Excuse me,” Amber said, slipping away without a word.
Will blinked at us. “What just happened?”
“You should probably go after her,” Shelby said as her eyes tracked Amber’s retreating form.
With a sigh, Will did so, leaving the three of us in a stunned, silent triangle. Shelby looked up at Beau. “Old friend?”
He chuckled but looked at me like he wasn’t sure if he could answer. “Uh…”
