Page 89 of She Likes It, Hey Micah
I guess I didn’t need to worry about the drinking part. After we settle at a booth in the surprisingly bright and clean Grey Bird Tavern, everyone orders sodas and seltzers.
Kit asks the question I’m wondering as well. “Who’s the genius who decided we should go to a bar when none of us are drinking?”
I’m pretty sure Micah kicks him under the table. “Nachos,” she says at the same time the twins say it too.
“Trust me,” Houston tells Kit.
“We just ate,” I say, though I mildly regret my comment when Houston throws me a quick glare. What? He didn’t askmeto trust him.
Micah threads her fingers through mine. “You’re not going to care as soon as you taste them,” she says.
I keep my reply to myself, even though I’m tempted.I’d rather taste you right now. I really need to take things slow, considering there is every likelihood I’m going to struggle with kissing Micah as much as I struggled with holding her hand. I am perfectly okay to take my time, though I’m not sure she is on the same page. Based on her two attacks before dinner, Micah is as eager to kiss me as she is to do everything else in life.
No fear. Just sunshine and happiness. I wish I could live like her.
As the table continues in conversation, I pick up the dessert menu card tucked away with the condiments. I don’t need any sugar tonight, with the way my heart rate ticks higher the later the night gets, but I do need a distraction if I’m going to last through the rest of the evening. I flip the card over, then frown.
Trivia night. Every Thursday. Today is Thursday.
I’m pretty sure the Briggs siblings didn’t drag us all here just for nachos.
“What are you scheming?” Kit asks someone.
It’s Houston who answers. “Nothing you need to worry about.”
“Pretty sure we should all be worried,” I mutter. If Houston is anything like Micah, which I suspect he is considering he rarely loses games when he pitches, the night is about to get a whole lot more competitive. I’m going to guess the Briggs are more than a little enthusiastic about trivia night.
Suddenly Houston chokes on his drink, spitting soda everywhere—mostly on me. I protect Micah as best I can, but we both get covered in sticky Coke. Houston doesn’t stay put long enough to apologize or explain. Still coughing, he heads straight for the bar and sits next to a busty brunette in a cocktail dress.
That sounds about right.
“Come on,” Micah says with a laugh, pulling me out of my chair. “Bathrooms are this way.”
It takes me five minutes to feel like I’ve washed the soda from my face and hands, but my attempts at de-stickying my shirt leave it soaking wet. I peel it off, glad that the men’s room is currently empty, and hold it under the hand dryer. This feels like a pointless battle though, which means I’m going to be stuck wearing a wet Oxford the rest of the night. Yay.
“Hey Fisch?” Micah pokes her head into the restroom, though her eyes are shut tight.
I chuckle. “You can open your eyes. It’s just me in here.”
She opens her eyes, and then she squeaks, reminding me that I am currently shirtless. And though she already got an up-close feel of my torso the other night, apparently she finds the sight of it a very different experience. Turning bright red, she stares at me long enough that I start to flex in case she doesn’t like what she sees. That just makes her start to giggle. Not exactly comforting.
“One of these days you’re really going to have to tell me your workout routine,” she says and then throws a wad of black fabric at me.
I catch it and hold it out, reading the white lettering stamped across the front. “‘I won at trivia at Grey Bird Tavern and all I got was this T-shirt.’ Really?”
She shrugs. “I figured you wouldn’t want to wear Houston’s Coke spit all night. Maybe it can be a good omen! Though…” Her eyes wander over my chest and abdomen with interest. “I wouldn’t mind if you decided not to wear anything at all.”
I don’t know why she’s so obsessed with my workout routine when it’s really nothing special, but the idea of teasing her and keeping it a secret is too tempting to pass up. I’ll have to keep her guessing for a while before I tell her I do the machine circuit at the gym, like everyone else. I have just had a lot of frustration to work out lately, which translated into higher weights and more reps.
I’m almost glad for it when I get looks like the one she’s giving me right now.
“You’re drooling a bit.” I tug the shirt over my head. It’s small and squeezes around my biceps more than I’d like, but it will do the trick. “Thank you.”
She beams. “No, thankyou. Now I get to enjoy those arms all night.”
“What, these?” I flex my arms up in a move that I instantly hate, especially in this too-small shirt. I feel like a tool.
Micah glances behind her and then steps aside to let another guy into the bathroom. I drop my arms. “You don’t have to stay for trivia if you don’t want to,” she says when I join her in the hall.
