Page 49 of Knot Here for You

“Sláinte,” I mutter before licking the salt off my hand and throwing back the tequila. It doesn’t burn in the slightest—which probably means we just shot really, really expensive alcohol—but I bite the lime, anyway.

Sadie grins at me. “Atta girl.”

“Here you go.” The bartender slides our drinks over to us. “My name is Glory. If you ladies need anything else, just let me know, okay?”

“Thank you so much,” Sadie coos, grabbing her glass and nudging me down the bar. But not before I pull out my wallet and leave a tip. We might not have to pay for our drinks tonight because of some sort of magic Sadie wove, but I’m sure as hell going to still tip our server.

The bartender flashes me a quick grin and pockets the cash.

By the time I’ve joined her, Sadie has commandeered two stools at the far end of the bar. She pats the one next to her, and I take a seat.

“Okay, I’m ready. Tell me everything.”

Taking a sip of my drink, I arch my brows at her. “I’m more interested in why we’re here, when you promised me a quiet dinner when where we could talk.” Using my glass, I motion to the surrounding bar. “I mean really? How the hell did you pull this off? VIP section? Free booze?”

She sighs and leans toward me. “Okay, full disclosure. I totally intended to take you to dinner, just like I promised. But then I was at that coffee shop that you like-”

“Bonheur.”

“Eating the most delicious kouign-amann—which, by the way, I’m totally going to try making one of these days—and this guy comes up to me, slides that card across the table and tells me it’s a pass to free booze and the VIP section in the most exclusive club in the city. But,” she holds up her finger when she can tell I’m going to butt in. “Its only good for one night.” She takes another sip of her cocktail. “And I figured my bestie needed gallons of booze, and if we don’t have to pay for it, all the better.”

I stare at her for a moment. “Let me get this straight. Some guy comes up to you out of nowhere and offers to treat you to a night on the town? Is he here? Do you see him? Jesus, Sadie, what if these drinks are drugged?”

Her smile turns wolfish. “Then we’ll have a really, really interesting night. And no, I don’t see him. He was so, so fucking hot, Vee. Like,” she waves a hand in front of her face while her tongue hangs out of her bright red lips. “I was melting right where I sat. My panties spontaneously combusted.”

I nod and take another drink. “Ah, so we’re here so you can hopefully see him again and get laid.”

She points at me with a nail that’s painted to look like little galaxies. “Yes, exactly that. And in the meantime, we can still have our talk like I promised, and partake in free booze, and I’m assuming they have some kind of snackies we can eat.”

I can’t fault her for it. If this guy is as hot as she’s claimed, then as her friend, it’s my job to get her into bed with him. “Let’s just hope he shows up.”

She shrugs. “If he doesn’t, I’ve got my eye on that fucking snack of a couple over there.” I turn my head to follow her line of sight and find two men sitting close enough that it’s obvious they’re together. Logically, I can tell they’re good looking, hot even. If I wasn’t so fucked up inside, I’d probably drool over them.

But alas, I am fucked up, so the most I note is that one of them has sun streaked light brown hair, and the other’s dark brown hair is artfully styled. They’re wearing dark clothes that I can’t make out through the gloom in the room, but I can see some dark blotches of ink on the lighter-haired one’s neck. They both look… hard. Tough. Like they wouldn’t have a problem with slitting your throat in an alley if you crossed them. They’re about as far from the two men Sadie just finished with, so maybe that’s the point.

Both of their eyes are focused on us… No. On Sadie, and I don’t know if it’s because she’s so blatantly checking them out, or if they are just as attracted to her. Either way, I can tell I have about twenty minutes before I lose her for the rest of the night. Thirty, if I’m lucky.

“Holy shit, Vee? Sylvie Benson?”

Sadie pulls her attention away from the couple and arches a brow at me. I roll my eyes. Apparently, this is the reaction I get from people now. Like no one can believe, I would dare show my face in this city after the humiliation I endured as a seventeen-year-old.

“Its you, isn’t it?”

A hand clamps onto my shoulder and spins me. I wobble the slightest bit at the sudden movement, and an instant later, Sadie is between us, hand pushing on the broad chest. He doesn’t let go of my shoulder, but he does back up a step.

“You wanna let her go, my guy?” She snarls up at him. “Its not fucking polite to just grab people.” She looks over at me. “Is this one of them?”

I shake my head and drag my eyes up to the newcomer. It takes a moment, but I recognize him. Connor Bilkes. He was a fixture in my childhood and teen years. Friends with the pack, but not a member. Even though it was clear he wanted to be.

He was my first kiss when I was sixteen. He stole it without asking. It felt incredibly wrong, especially when he followed it up with whispers about how I would be his eventually, when we both joined the pack, so why couldn’t we just…

You get the idea.

Ford caught him trying to kiss me again and put a stop to it. I’m pretty sure by beating his ass. After that, he was almost overly polite. Though I often caught him watching me with a hint of longing and jealousy in his eyes. I don’t know if it was because he wanted me, or he wanted what I had.

Frankly, I don’t care.

He looks the same. Still a golden boy smile with perfect white teeth and a dimple on the left cheek. He looks more put together, like an actual adult. And his brown eyes are running over me, taking me in, seeing the changes the years have wrought.

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