Page 62 of Flirting with Forever

“I thought people generally liked being in the proximity of their crushes.”

Richie rolled his eyes and stepped aside to let a flock of pretty women in high heels scuttle past. “That’s only if there’s a possibility of the crush being requited. It’s hopeless in my case. And Hogan gets a kick out of winding me up.”

John frowned. “You think he knows how you feel?”

“I know that he knows. It’s an ego boost for him.”

John frowned, disliking Hogan even more than before. “That’s screwed up. You’re a person. He shouldn’t treat you like that.”

Richie shook his head and tossed his arm around John’s shoulders. “If only all the straight boys were as nice as you, John.”

John cocked his head to one side. “Must be something in the water lately. You’re calling me nice, last week Mary called me sweet and the week before that she said I had a big heart.”

Richie’s eyebrows rose. “And this surprises you?”

“I’m more used to being categorized as a dick, to be honest.”

“Yeah, but that’s only how you come off, John. It’s not who you really are. Anyone who really knows you figures that out pretty quickly. Hey, Beth!” Richie called suddenly, waving as he spotted their friend across the street, two blocks down from the bar.

She waved and waited for them to cross the street to her. “You guys headed to Mary’s party too?”

“Are you?” John asked in surprise.

“Yeah.” Beth bounced on her toes. “I’ve been stopping into her shop since the break-in to make sure she’s doing all right, and she invited me to come along.”

John couldn’t stop his incredulous chuckle, the shake of his head. “Jeez, is there anyone that woman can’t charm?”

Beth gave him a funny look. “She’s good people.”

“Yeah.”

For some reason this put John in a sour mood as they stepped through the door of the bar. Everyone loved Mary. It was almost unavoidable. He’d never even stood a chance, apparently. The fact that the bar was sexily lit and serving up sixteen-dollar cocktails and the dance floor was filled to the gills with Brooklyn’s version of glitterati made him even more sour. Seeing Beth Herari, a cop whom he deeply respected, buying expensive drinks on a cop’s salary all because Mary was so damn lovable somehow just pissed John off.

The woman was a siren. John was sick of smashing on the rocks.

He wished he could fall in love with someone who stirred tolerable, manageable feelings in him. He didn’t want this nervous-boisterous-hysterical-more-more-more desire for Mary. He didn’t want his stomach to swoop down to his pockets when he caught a flash of her sunny hair across the bar. He didn’t want the bass of the music to fade away as he let himself be drawn toward that sunny flash. He didn’t want to immediately lose track of Richie and Beth as he shouldered his way through one corner of the dance floor. He didn’t want the fastest route to Mary to be a straight line. He wanted to be detached enough to float over to her eventually, cool as a cucumber. Instead, he was suddenly standing in front of her, not seconds after he’d entered the bar, his breath in his chest, looking down at her while she looked up at him.

“Hi!” She tossed her arms around his neck and didn’t kiss his cheek. Instead she pressed her cheek to his, and his nose somehow found its way into her hair.

She must have come up on her toes to hug him because a second later she was back to her normal height and beaming up at him.

“Whatcha drinkin’?” she asked.

“Oh.” John frowned and squinted at the bar. He happened to catch the eyes of both Sebastian and Tyler, who were leaning against the bar and watching his interaction with Mary. “I haven’t decided yet.”

“Whatever it is, put it on my tab, okay?”

He frowned harder. “Uh—”

“Seriously, John. I couldn’t have gotten through this without you. Let me at least buy you a drink.”

“Okay,” he agreed, knowing there was no point in arguing with her. And knowing that there was less than zero chance that he was going to put anything on Mary’s tab.

“Oh. Beth’s here!” Mary stepped around him and weaved her way through the crowd.

John stood there a moment longer, looking down at the space where she’d just been. He gave his head a shake and headed toward the bar. He shook hands with Sebastian, who looked like he was restraining a smile, and then Tyler, who looked torn between amusement and suspicion.

“All good?” Sebastian asked, clapping John on the back.

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