“Oh no! Tell me about it in a second. Hi Annie.”
Annie gave me a shy smile from behind her own glass, her light brown hair falling forward to frame her pale face. You could take the librarian from the library and plunk her down in a bar, but she’d always be a librarian.
“Where’s Aiden?”
The way her eyes lit up at the mention of her new partner’s name made me smile. “Just at home, working.”
“Got another best seller brewing, does he?”
“I hope so!”
“Let me scoot over.” Annie’s twin sister, Samara shifted her slim frame to make room. If you looked up the word grace, you’d see a picture of Samara, or Sammy as we usually called her. I guess that was the dancer in her.
I slid onto the open stool, warmth spreading through my chest at being surrounded by these women. We’d known each other since high school and even though they were a few years younger than me, and Hannah’s friends first, they’d never made me feel like an outsider, or like they didn’t want me there.
“Hannah not here yet?”
“No, she texted to say she got caught up and to start without her.”
As if summoned by our conversation, Hannah burst through the doors. Her curly hair was wild, like she’d been running her hands through it, and her face was a thundercloud. She stalked across the room, her boots thudding against the floor.
Maya’s eyebrows shot up. “Whoa, what bug crawled up your ass?”
Hannah’s blue eyes flashed. “Dex fucking Jones that’s what.”
“Hmm, kinky,” Emily quipped, earning herself a death glare from my sister.
Hannah’s shoulders sagged. “I need a drink.” She turned to me. “You want one too, Cass?”
“Sure, I’ll come with you.” I slid off my stool, grateful for the chance to get the scoop on whatever had my little sister so riled up.
We squeezed through the crowd to the bar. Hannah leaned against the sticky surface, drumming her fingers impatiently. I nudged her with my elbow.
“So, you gonna tell me what Dex did, or do I have to guess?”
Hannah’s jaw clenched. “I’ll tell you all at once, if that’s okay. I don’t think I can go through it twice.”
The bartender finally noticed us. “Hey, ladies. What’ll it be?”
“Hey, Cooper. Two whiskey sours, please.”
I grabbed Hannah’s wrist. “Not for me!”
“Oh, fuck. Sorry. One whiskey sour and a fucking Ribena juice, I guess.”
I had to laugh at that. “I’ll just have a diet soda, thanks, Coop.”
“Coming right up.”
While Cooper got our drinks, I turned back to Hannah. “Since when do you drink whiskey?”
“Since Dex Jones decided to be a dick,” she muttered.
“He’s honestly not that bad. I don’t know why you dislike him so much.”
“Wait ‘til I tell you what he went and did! Then you’ll change your mind.”
No one on the planet riled my baby sister up as much as Dex Jones. Lucky for her, I knew just what to say to distract her.