Page 3 of Bar Down

make it fun

nvm.

I sigh and try to make sense of his ramblings. The guy texts like a highschooler and I always scold him about it. I think about texting back and telling him it might all just be gibberish, but my heart skips at the word I spot.Date.Is he—? Is Ashton Meyers actually asking me out on a date?

I read the texts again and again.Thought we could make it fun.What the hell does that mean? Before my brain can process what he meant or how I feel about it, someone takes the phone right out of my hand.

“Hey, I was reading that,” I say, straightening up on the edge of the couch and coming face to face with Alice.

“Eli, this is asocialevent, you can’t just sit in a corner and be on your phone the whole time. And also, since when do you even look at your phone, aren’t you like anti-technology?” Alice says, and I swear, sometimes she talks a mile a minute.

I blink at her a few times and squint. “Since when do you care if someone is not participating in a social event? Aren’t you the one that brings your Kindle to every single gathering?”

Alice scoffs at me and looks down at her hands, admiring her manicure. “That’s not the same thing,” she mumbles and I laugh.

“If you must know, I was checking on Ash. He’s not here yet,” I say, reaching over and prying my phone from her dainty fingers.

“Oh, you know Ash. He never misses a party, I’m sure he’ll show up soon,” she says and looks around. Finding what—or who—she was looking for, Alice grabs my arm and pulls me up to stand. “Come on, I want to introduce you to someone.”

“Al, no. I don’t have the bandwidth to meet new people.”

She turns around and gapes at me, “Then what the hell are you doing at a party, Eli?”

I roll my eyes and relent, following her across the room where she’s being hugged by another tiny human. Why are girls so small?

“Eli, this is Hannah. I told you about her at Christmas, remember? She’s my artist friend, the one who made that Lord of the Rings painting that you loved and stole from me,” she says sweetly, but her eyes are narrowed on me.

My smile shows even as I shake my head at her. “I did not steal it from you,lapsi.” She glares at me harder and I can’t help but laugh out loud. Alice hates it when I call herkid.

“Well, regardless, this is the genius behind it,” she says with another flick of her dark blond hair that’s wavy today instead of her regular straight look.

I turn to face Hannah and shake her hand. She’s even smaller than Alice. Jesus, she’s probably only 5’2”, which compared to my 6’3” frame is baffling. She has to tilt her head all the way back to look at me. When she does, I notice more details about her. She’s got a nose ring and plump red lips that stand out since she’s wearing all black, from her Doc Marten boots, to her leggings and dress, which is tight in all the right places. For any other guy in here, she’d be the perfect catch.

Things would be so much easier if I was attracted to girls.

Hannah gives me a dazzling smile and blushes all the way down to her collarbone. She sways a little as I let go of her hand and I steady her by gently grabbing her shoulder. I realize the effect I have on women, and if I was straight, I wouldn’t have an issue leaving the party with someone on my arm. I’d be like Ash.

Ash.

Did he really want to come here with me as his date? Is he insane? What would our teammates think? Most of them are here tonight with their girlfriends or wives. Unlike Ash, who has no problem talking about the girls and guys he’s hooked up with, I like to keep my personal life private. Even if he did just ask me as a joke or because I was his last resort, I still would have said no. I care about him and I don’t want any of the lines to blur between us.

There’s an electric charge in the room and, as always, I can feel Ash’s eyes on me. I turn around to look for him and it takes me a second to realize he’s at the kitchen island, which meanshe’s already had some drinks. Our gazes lock for a moment and I lift my eyebrows in a silent question ofare you good?

Ash breaks the contact first and walks away with Robbie who is leading him to the darts board. What the hell was that about? Is he avoiding me because I didn’t respond to his messages?

Alice elbows me in the ribs and I whip my head around to look at her. Her lips are pursed and she’s giving me an admonishing look. She normally looks so much like Robbie, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen this kind of expression from him before. I frown and glance from her to Hannah who is looking at me expectantly. Shit, did she ask me a question?

“Sorry, I zoned out for a second. What was that?” I say with a fake smile on my face.

“No problem, I asked if you wanted to grab a drink with me?” she says, biting her lip and looking me up and down.

She already has a drink in her hand.

I internally groan and mentally promise to throw Alice in the snow for trying to set me up after I explicitly told her I wasn’t interested.

“Um, sure,” I say and shuffle on my feet for a bit. Alice gives me an over the top thumbs up but I just shake my head and walk away with Hannah.

“So, I hear you play goalie,” she says as we approach the makeshift bar area. I lift a bottle of wine and point it in her direction. She holds out her red solo cup and I pour, waiting for her to tell me to stop. Except she doesn’t, so I end up pouring to the brim.O-kay.

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