Page 2 of Worth the Want
“None.” I give it to her straight, and she makes a pouty face before answering her sister.
“Fine, let’s go then. Lead the way, Girl Scout.” At that, Tiny’s mouth pops open, and she lets out another laugh. It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever heard; the sound has my lips curving again in response.
“You are such a bitch!Youwere a Girl Scout too!” she tells her as they both break out into laughter. I watch them reach for each other, their laughter shaking their bodies. If I didn’t just hear their conversation, I wouldn’t believe they had ever argued. It’s the kind of bond you can only share with a sibling. The way anger is so easily dissolved with laughter or a terrible pun.
It reminds me of when my younger brothers physically fought over Alder getting hit in the head with a baseball bat, but they ended up laughing over the way Rhett had pronounced the word accident, “Axtident” when screaming “I didn’t mean to! It was an axtident!”
It’s starting to feel like I’m intruding, and I go to turn, when a small hand wraps around my forearm, I note the light-pink shade of her fingernails as I’m pulled back into their conversation. “I’m s-so sorry you have to witness th-this.” She barely gets the words out, laughter causing her to stutter, her high cheekbones are now flushed pink. I spot a few freckles peeking through, and those combined with her short hair brushing her bare shoulders is unexpectedly the sexiest thing I can remember seeing.
“It’s fine. You ladies have a good evening.” Nodding, I turn my back again, effectively disconnecting her body from mine, anddamn,I already miss the weight of her hand on me. They laugh a few moments more before I hear the scrape of the barstools being pulled out.So they’re staying?
“I’m just going to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” Tiny must be giving her a look because there’s another laugh before she assures her that she’ll only be a couple of minutes. The bartender comes by, and I ask for five waters and a club soda with lime.
“Not drinking tonight?” That bright voice from earlier asks from the stool next to mine.
Twisting, unable to fight the pull, our eyes connect. “The group I’m here with has drunk enough for the whole bar,” I tell her.
“But not you?”
“Designated driver.”
“That tracks,” she says, nodding.
“Is that so? In what way?”
She looks at me, eyes shining with humor. I’m caught up in them again, admiring their unique shade of brown. “You just look like you would be the designated driver,” she tells me while taking a sip of her rum and Coke.
“And what does that look like exactly?” I ask, turning my body to fully face her now.
“Oh, don’t be offended. I know what one looks like becauseI’mtypically the D.D. Takes one to know one and all that,” she admits.
I nod toward her drink, and she grins before whispering, “It’s just a Coke, no rum.” She adds a wink at me and it’s so fucking cute.
“I’m Knox,” I introduce myself, holding my hand out to her. She takes it, and my whole body hums.
“Nice to meet you, Knox.”
She doesn’t tell me her name. Just gives me a sweet smile.
“Do you live around here?” I ask, sounding a little too hopeful, but she shakes her head.
“I’m only in town for a few days with my sister. What about you?”
“Idolive around here.”
“But you’re notfromNew York.” She surmises. I try not to bristle at her comment.
“And what makes you say that?”
She cocks her head to the side, her short hair once again brushing against her bare shoulder where her shirt has slipped off, then she looks back toward the table I’ve come from. “I can just tell,” she says, sipping her Coke.
I narrow my eyes. “And if I told you I was born and raised here in The Big Apple?”
She shrugs her shoulders, a small laugh escaping her lips. “You weren’t, so you’d be lying.” The way she’s so sure of herself is as equally annoying as it is attractive.
“You seem pretty confident in your assessment. I have to know what’s giving me away. What’s making me stand out?”
“Besides calling itThe Big Apple?” she teases before studying me. Openly.
