Page 3 of Veiled in Brick

“Took you long enough,” I quipped.

He shrugged, grey eyes dancing as he ushered me, “So?”

I traced my gaze down his body and then back up. I focused for only a brief moment on the muscles in his inked forearms. They flexed as he gripped his glass tighter, and though I was uncertain of what was written across my face, Claire alerted me to it soon enough.

“Down, girl,” she mocked me.

I glanced her way and quietly voiced, “Woof.” She chortled, shaking her head until I looked back to James and sighed. “Fine; you’re on.”

James smiled so wide that I was able to see each and every one of his teeth. “Yeah?”

Claire gasped loudly, and Liam muttered from behind me, “Oh.”

I rolled my eyes and looked to the both of them. “Y’all are dramatic.”

Liam took a final swig of his beer, set it on the counter, tapped the rim of the glass to signify to Claire that he wanted another, and grinned a lopsided grin down at me.

“See you at the wedding,” he remarked. “You’ll be the one in white, right?”

He laughed at his own joke, the dim lighting shining off of his blonde head as he threw it back, letting out a loud guffaw as I smacked his chest.

“Fuck off, Lee!”

My profanity only appeared to amuse him more, and his laughter remained until Luke appeared once again. His typically coiffed hair was hanging over his forehead, his head cocked to the side in curiosity at Liam’s fit of hilarity. He set down the two empty shot glasses that he had returned with and began to ask Claire:

“What is he—”

She slid a fresh beer to Liam and trilled over her shoulder quickly, “You owe me money.”

A wicked smile stretched the freckles across her face, and Luke’s brows pulled together.

“I do?”

“Mhm.”

She moved to stand before him, placing a hand on his chest and leaving it there, toying with the material of his dark t-shirt.

He smirked at her candor. “And why is that?”

Her eyebrows raised in a silent challenge for him to guess, and he squinted his eyes, slowly shifting his gaze to James.

James lifted his whiskey in a cheersing motion and as he took a large sip, Luke’s focus moved rapidly to me.

“You didn’t,” Luke voiced to me disbelievingly.

“Didn’t what?”

“Did you…bet money against me, brother?” James asked him with a sarcastic tone, narrowing his eyes.

I added, “Did you two bet on my sex life?”

Luke held up an index finger to us both. “The particulars are neither here nor there.” He moved his now-accusatory finger to me. “You two are…”

Luke’s words lingered in the air, awaiting my response.

I spoke on an exhale, “Going on a date.”

“And you sound so excited about that,” Liam joked from my right.

---