Page 34 of Crash & Burn

I follow Annie over the high-top table she sat down at.

“I’m so happy to finally meet you,” she says, and there is something about her that is so genuine that I can’t help but smile. It has been a while since I spent time with other girls, aside from when I saw my old college roommates a few weeks ago, but that did not end well. Just as I suspected, I haven’t heard from either of them since.

“You too,” I reply. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

She laughs, and I finally understand what people mean when they say some smiles are contagious. “Well, if it was from any of those guys over there,” she gestures to six guys talking and laughing about something at the bar, “it is probably far from the truth.”

I can’t help but hover my eyes over one of the guys in particular. Eddie is standing between Luke and Emmett behind the bar, and, while all three guys are incredibly handsome, there is something about Eddie that makes him stand out. His dark hair is getting long and perfectly frames his eyes that are roaming between the guys around him as he follows the conversation. His face is lit with a smile, and he just listens to each of the guys, laughing when they laugh, smiling when they do.

Eddie has the type of smile that shows all of his teeth and makes the skin next to his eyes crinkle but stops there. On the surface, it looks like a genuine smile, but, as I have gotten to know him more, there is something about it that seems to be more of a mask than anything else.

As if feeling my gaze, Eddie turns his head to catch me staring. I quickly look back at Annie who has an all-knowing look on her face that makes my chest feel hot with embarrassment.

I clear my throat and take a sip of my drink in an attempt to cool down, “So,” I begin, “You’ve known them all a while then?”

“Um, no,” she responds.

“No, you haven’t?”

“Um, no. As in, you are not about to act likethatdidn’t just happen.”

I fake confusion, but it is not at all convincing, “What?”

“Don’t ‘what’ me. You weretotallychecking Eddie out.”

“Shh!” I hush her even though she wasn’t talking all that loud. “I wasnot.”

“You so were, and he’s doing the same to you now.”

“What?” I turn to look at Eddie. “No, he is not.”

“Yeah, but damn you wanted him to be, huh?” She leans back in her chair and crosses her arm, her face amused at my humiliation.How is it that I just met this girl, and she saw through me in mere seconds?

“It’s a gift,” she explains as if she read my mind.

“What’s a gift?” I hear from behind me. I whip my head around to see hair the color of red wine and jade eyes. “Hi,” she says with a smile on her beautiful face, “I’m Drew.”

A few inches shorter than me, she hops up on the empty chair at our table, before adding, “You must be Mia. Emmett told me you would be here with the band tonight. Sorry I’m late. Dinner with a friend of mine ran late.”

“Who’d you have dinner with?” Annie asks her.

“Just Lacey,” she says to Annie before turning to me, “A friend from home,” she clarifies before adding, “I’m happy to finally meet you. I barely ever get to come around when the band is here because I’m always too tired from school, but I’m excited to be around more now that it is summer and get to know you and your brother, and the other two.”

I don’t even have time to reply because, as if he appeared out of thin air, Emmett appears behind her, wrapping his arms around upper body from behind and nuzzling into her neck.

“Finally,” I hear him whisper, and Drew’s cheeks turn the same shade as her hair.

“You get used to it,” Annie says to me, reading my mind again. “He’s only in a good mood when she’s around.”

“You’re fired,” Emmett says, still wrapped around Drew.

“No, I’m not,” Annie replies. She is apparently immune to Emmett’s grumpiness. “Anyway,” she continues, stretching out the word. Her attention is back to me, “You and Eddie, huh?”

I bury my face in my hands because I just met these people and now they think that I have a crush on their friend, who is also my friend.

Andonlymy friend.

“Annie, leave the girl alone,” Drew says, and I immediately fall in love with her. But, I’ll keep that to myself because Emmett doesn’t seem like the type to share. “I’m sure they are just friends. How do you like being their photographer, Mia?”

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