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“I didn’t save you,” he mutters, heat rushing to his cheeks.
I raise my brows.
“Fuck it, okay, maybe I did. And now, I intend to collect,” he says, all humor gone from his voice.
“Okay, I fold,” I joke, and he laughs.
We leave the taco place after he pays. I offer to split the bill, but he looks at me like I’m crazy, so I let it slide. Once we are sitting in his truck, I rub my stomach. “Man, that was great.”
“I cannot believe you actually ate everything. Where the fuck does it go?” he asks, and I give him a look.
“Dude.” He laughs. “I know where it goes eventually, but that was a shitload of food.”
“No idea, to tell you the truth. I’m basically hungry all the time,” I tell him, brushing my hair back.
He arches one dark eyebrow. I hold up my finger, looking in the mirror to check if my mascara is smudged, before getting out my lipstick touching myself up. “If you are going to say something dirty, it’s probably safe to say I have already said the joke inside my head a dozen times over. Having big brothers does that to you.”
“I’d like to hear about all the dirty thoughts you have rummaging around in your head,” he replies. “You wanna get that drink?” he asks, his eyes burning through me for a second before he focuses on the road again.
“Sure.” I waggle my eyebrows.
“My friends are going to love you,” he says, parking the car.
“What’s not to love?” I joke. “Me swearing all the time, or you arguing with me about basically anything and everything?”
“Not everything,” he says while I follow him inside the place. Some sort of log cabin turned bar and brewery, judging by the copper kettles. The place is packed with people of all ages. It looks like an old saloon mixed with a biker lair. Old advertisement signs line the walls, and the twinkling lights hanging above the big windows overlooking the snow-covered mountain range in the distance give everything a homely feel.
“My point exactly, Ace,” he says, stopping in his tracks when we bump into a couple of guys he knows.
He says hello to people as we walk, not stopping but introducing me as we go. He places his hand on the small of my back when we head over to a group of his friends, who all give him questioning looks, only putting a bigger smile on my face.
“Brought a friend,” he tells them.
“We see that,” a guy who kind of looks like him says, shaking my hand.
“I’m Gibb,” he says.
“Ace,” I tell the group of staring men.
“Forgive my brother and his manners. Dude wasn’t raised right.” Jesse punches him in his arm.
The other guys introduce themselves, and after the drinks keep flowing, I get to know them. They’re great; funny, rowdy, and I love them instantly. They all have the same carefree vibe about them. I thought my friends were wild, but these guys take it to a whole different level. I’m talking to Gibb when Jesse walks up to me, handing me another beer. The condensation from the bottle coats my palm and makes me shiver. Or I convince myself it’s the beer and not the way he’s been looking at me the whole night. I thank him. He only grunts a response.
“I’m gonna check out the merch,” Gibb says, winking at me and walking to a group of girls.
Jesse shoots me a look, watching as I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. “Enjoying yourself?” he asks.
“Yes, I am,” I tell him. He stares at me while he brings the bottle to his mouth, gulping half of it down.
“What?” I ask, trying not to burp.
He keeps his stare focused on me. “You surprise me, that’s all.”
“I surprise you?”
He has to take a step closer to me to yell in my ear over the music. “Yeah,” he says, leaning back against the wall, downing the remainder of his beer. The music and my racing heart make it hard to focus on anything. How can the man make me feel at ease and on edge at the same time? I try to come up with things to ask, but the only thing I want to do is press my lips to his. My eyes go big as the alcohol rushes through my brain. He’s just a new friend… we are never going to be anything more.
I push my hair back, trying to calm my nerves. Jesse holds my gaze, not saying anything.
