Page 22 of Spin The Bottle
He opens his mouth but before he can speak a girl slides in beside me. “Aiden,” she purrs, her voice so sweet, just as sweet as she looks. Slim figure, tiny and drop-dead gorgeous, just like the girls I’ve seen Aiden with.
I’m not stupid. I am so far out of his usual type, which makes me wonder why he’s pushing this so hard. Memories of my ex come flooding back, making me bite my bottom lip.
“I didn’t get a chance to talk to you at the party last week,” she says, pouting. My eyebrows rise, glancing at Aiden. I can’t lie, I’m very interested in what he’ll say, how he’ll react. I keep my mouth shut, sipping on my drink, waiting it out.
He smiles at her… of course he does. Aiden is just a golden ball of sunshine and smiles that people eat up like sunlight. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I didn’t get your name.”
A snicker comes out of me, and I end up drinking at the same time and cough uncontrollably. The girl and Aiden both look at me. I hold up my hand, attempting to stop dying over here. “I’m fine.”
Aiden presses his lips together, failing to attempt to hide his laughter.
The blonde shakes her head, turning back to face Aiden. “My name’s Alicia, we met at Carter’s twenty-first, remember?”
He squints and then nods. “Yeah, of course.” I press my lips together. Liar. “Alicia, right. I’m a little busy right now. Can I get you anything to drink?”
She shakes her head. “I ordered like twenty minutes ago. From you.”
“Right,” Aiden says, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, busy night.”
“Oh,” she says, deflating a little. “That’s ok.”
He smiles at her again. “It was nice to meet you.”
She gives him a grin, leaning forward so her cleavage spills out. My eyes widen. Damn. The girl has an impressive rack. I glance at Aiden for a second. I’ve got to give it to him, he doesn’t even glance down.
“Hey, man,” Andre, his teammate, slides up to the bar, tapping on the counter. “Scotch. Neat.”
“Sorry, I have drinks to pour.” Aiden gives her one of his signature smiles and moves behind the bar, grabbing a glass and filling it with the dark auburn liquid, sliding it over to his friend. By the time Aiden turns around, she’s gone.
“Thanks, man,” Andre says, taking the drink from him and sliding a ten across the bar before he leaves.
“You alright there?” Aiden’s voice makes my eyes lift, meeting his. “Didn’t think beer would be a choking hazard.”
I roll my eyes, a laugh bubbling out of me. It must be the alcohol. “I’m good.” I take another sip. “You seem to have options.” I eye him, seeing if he’ll catch on.
He smiles, nodding. “I have many.” Well shit. At least he knows it. “Too bad the one girl I seem to want is hellbent on denying there’s any attraction between us.”
I don’t know what to say. What can I say? I could try to lie, tease him about it, but at this point, we both know I’m lying.
“Shit. Gabi’s Cosmo.”
He smiles, heading back to grab a glass and starts making the drink. I lift myself off the stool, grabbing my glass and let out a breath, picking a twenty from my jean pocket and sliding it in front of me.
He pushes it back. “It’s on me,” he says, placing the red drink in front of me.
My eyebrows lift. “In exchange for my number, right?”
“Damn.” He drops his head, a chuckle escaping him. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
“Because you’re not a complete asshole?” I offer with a tilt of my head.
He grins, rubbing his thumb across his bottom lip. “Glad to see you’re coming around.”
“Eh.” I shrug. “You’re not all bad.” I spin on my heels, heading to the table where Gabriella is sitting at, eating pretzels. Her eyes widen when she sees me approaching, and she reaches for the glass. “Finally,” she says. “That took forever.”
“Sorry. Long line.” She accepts the drink from me, her eyes closing when she takes a sip.
I take a seat beside her, placing my beer on the table. I presumptuously look over my shoulder and see Aiden looking at me. He flashes me a grin, and I roll my eyes, turning back around.
