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Feeling Austin’s presence at my back, I jolt out of my daze and clear my throat. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Derek’s eyes remain on mine for a prolonged moment before finally shifting to focus on the person behind me.
“This is Austin.” I step to the side and gesture between the men. “Austin, this is Derek.”
“Nice to meet you, man.” Austin holds out his hand. “I’ve been following your career for years. Congratulations on all your success.”
“Thank you,” Derek replies. The two shake hands. “How do you know Oliva?”
“We work together. Well, sort of.” Austin laughs. “My firm uses her lab for court cases. I’ve been begging her to go out with me for months, and she finally agreed.”
My face burns hot. I feel Derek’s eyes slide back to me.
“So this is a date?” he asks coolly.
“No.”
“Yes.”
Austin and I speak at the same time.
“I mean, yes. I guess this is a date,” I try to rectify my response when I see Austin’s questioning glance. Thankfully, he doesn’t call me out on it.
He resumes fanboying over Derek. “Well, listen, I have an app I’m developing. Or, actually, my friends are developing it and I’m helping to provide some funds for the project. I’d love to sit down and brainstorm ideas on how to take it to the next level with you.”
Derek’s demeanor thus far has hardly been warm, but Austin’s question makes him downright icy. “App development isn’t really my thing,” he clips.
“Of course, not. But you are in the tech industry. I just figured you’d have some valuable insight to share.”
A tense beat passes. I can see the annoyance flickering over Derek’s face. “Look man,” his tone is belittling. “I’m glad you have some pet project going for you, but I’m not in town to offer free advice to people I don’t know just because they’re dating a childhood friend of mine.”
I’m mortified. Austin’s request was tacky, but Derek’s response is unnecessarily rude. He has no idea if Austin is a guy I like. As my friend, he could’ve tried to be nicer when rejecting his request. If only to not make things as awkward as they are now.
But that’s the thing, isn’t it? We aren’t friends anymore…
Austin leans back, just as surprised by Derek’s brusque reply as I am, but his experience as a lawyer helps him keep his composure. “Of course. My mistake.” He places a hand on my back. “We should get back to our table, Olivia. I think our server is looking for us.”
“Of course.” I spare a glance at Derek before allowing Austin to lead me away. “Have a nice evening, Derek.”
His attention is zeroed in on the hand on my back. “Sure,” he mumbles then turns to face the bar top. “You, too.”
As we walk away, I hear Derek order a beer and the phrase “and keep them coming” leave his lips.
“Yeesh. I didn’t expect Derek Lawson to be such a tool,” Austin says as he pulls out my chair for me.
I sit on the tall chair. “He normally isn’t. We must’ve caught him on a bad day.” A bad day that has been never-ending ever since Kyle’s death. And I’m worried it will always be that way.
CHAPTER 8
Olivia
“Well,that’s the first and last time I take your advice.” Austin leans back in his chair and holds his stomach with a groan. “I’m going to explode.”
“Hey, I just said you should order one of their signature Pizookies. I didn’t say anything about ordering two.”
“How was I supposed to choose between chocolate chip and snickerdoodle?”
His mock outrage makes me laugh. “I never would’ve pegged you to have a sweet tooth.” I haven’t seen Austin with his shirt off or anything, but it’s obvious the guy is in shape. You can see the outline of his arm muscles under his suit jacket.
