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My fingers fly, ready to fire off a text to him about my fucking awful date when I read his words again. Ilookbored. My head jerks up and I look around the room, scanning the tables to my left in the dining area and the booths that line the far wall before turning back to the bar, leaning forward to scan the faces of those seated beside me.
My stomach dances when I see him casually sitting at the corner of the bar next to the same blonde guy I recognize from Lasso’s. He’s dressed in a collared button-up, sleeves rolled to show off his ridiculous forearms, and that thick, wavy hair dips into the collar of his shirt.
I can’t help but break out into a wide smile as I shake my head at him, pulling my phone up to text back.
Me: Are you stalking me?
Dr. Ryan: You didn’t answer my question.
Me: You didn’t ask a question.
Dr. Ryan: Is he as douchey as he looks?
I laugh and look up at him, which gives away my answer.
Me: You didn’t answermyquestion.
Dr. Ryan: Of course not. I happened to be meeting a friend here. He’s about to leave.
Me: That’s convenient.
Dr. Ryan: It is for me. Ditch the idiot and come have a drink with me.
My cheeks flush as what’s-his-name comes back to his chair.
“I’m meeting some of my friends at a bar down the street, I think your friend Kelly is there. Care to join?”He pulls out his wallet, tossing his card on the bar for the bartender.
Fuck. No.
I stand, using that opportunity to bolt. “No, but thank you. I had an emergency come up and have to go. But this was … this was something.”
I leave Colton with an awkward wave and sling my purse over my shoulder, grabbing my coat and blowing past him to the lobby, not waiting for a goodbye.
Chapter Fourteen
Ryan
“She’ll be back. She’ll come back, right?”
Jim laughs at my despair as he stands to slip his coat on. “This is awesome. This nervous, needy side of you is one for the record books.”
“Fuck off. She’s just another girl.” Before the words have even left my lips, I know they are a lie. She’s the opposite of just another girl. She’s a girl who has consumed every thought during the day and infiltrates my dreams at night. She’s a girl who’s way too good to waste any time on me, yet I can’t help myself. Seeing her walk into the restaurant tonight, dark jeans painted on that mouth-watering ass and heels that I want to see propped up on my shoulders, knowing she got dressed up for someone who isn’t me makes my stomach churn.
Jim throws cash on the bar for his drinks and turns to me, his stare expressionless. “Right. Just another girl. You dragged me out tonight to crash the date of just another girl. A girl you met well over a month ago, who you haven’t been able to score with, but you’re still interested in. Like I said, this is one for the record books.”
I let out a pained exhale, my eyes fixated on the entrance, willing her to come back inside. “She’ll come back, right? She looked miserable next to him.” Not a funny miserable either. A miserable like—Jim had to stop me from marching over there and ripping his arm from its socket. Each time he eyed her up and down, each time he silenced her when she spoke, each time he dared to touch a part of her body, I was ready to rip him from his fucking chair.
Jim slaps me on the shoulder as he chuckles once more at my expense. “Let me know how this turns out. And quit taking your frustrations out on the napkins.” He gestures to the pile of white fuzz that was once our bar napkins, a marker of my attempt to distract myself from watching her.
I follow his back as he leaves before pulling my phone out to see if she texted me back.
Nothing.
I swipe a hand across my forehead and down my face, feeling like an absolute idiot for coming here to crash her date.Five more minutes, I tell myself. Five more minutes of waiting and then I will leave with my tail between my legs. I’ll leave her alone.
For tonight, anyway.
My gaze returns to the entrance, and relief washes over me, cooling my veins when I’m met with my favorite set of olive eyes. She watches her feet as she practically catwalks down the bar aisle, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She circles to sit in the empty chair between me and the wall, that herbal scent following a few seconds after.
