Page 78 of Single-Minded
Magnolia and Kemp, at the nearest pool table, high-fived as they apparently beat another opponent. There were groans around the table, with some people complaining that the duo was undefeated tonight.
“Woo, keep schooling ’em, Mags,” Maeve called out.
Jewel and Piper came up to us then.
“Hey, pretty girls,” Piper said. “This place is packed.”
“Hi, pretty girls,” I said back.
“Hey, you two,” Maeve said. “Did you just get here?”
Jewel nodded. “I just got off work. We came out for one drink.”
“Was Humble’s busy tonight?” Maeve asked Jewel.
“Crazy busy.” Jewel held up her cocktail. “Hence the drink.”
“And the flower shop?” I asked Piper. “You must get loads of shoppers during tourist season.”
Piper nodded. “Today rocked, and I have the sore feet to prove it.”
Anna rejoined us, distributing our drinks. “Hey, ladies!”
We stood in a tight circle a few feet from the end pool table, our conversation gliding from one shallow topic to another. Piper and Jewel eventually wandered away to see who was in the front half of the bar. As I watched them walk away and listened to Anna comment on how cute Piper looked particularly for a last-minute drink, my heart lurched.
West and Luke were here, making their way to the counter just a few feet away from me.
Chapter Twenty-One
West
I’d had second thoughts about going out for a drink a dozen times between Ben’s house and downtown. I’d told Luke I’d meet him at the Fly though.
I parked on a side street and met Luke on the sidewalk in front of the bar, coming from the other direction.
As we walked into the bar, a wave of noise and chaos rolled over us. One glance told me the place was near capacity. I braced myself against it, then told myself to lighten up and have some fun.
“What the hell are we doing, man?” Luke asked me, grinning, as we reached the edge of the crowd.
“Living the life,” I said. “You sure you want to commit?”
He shrugged. “Might as well get all the bang for my buck with the babysitter. Kinsley said she could stay till midnight. I’ve got almost two hours to avoid my overly quiet house.”
“I hear that.” I wasn’t a fan of my empty house either. With the girls gone for the weekend again, it was almost a shock to come home to nobody. When they were asleep in their bedroom, the house might be quiet, but it wasn’t empty. “Drink first?”
He nodded, and we headed to the long counter, angling toward the back half of it where there were fewer people.
Once we had a beer, we turned toward the back section, where the pool tables and dartboards were.
“There’s Kemp,” Luke said and headed toward him.
I nearly stumbled when I realized Kemp was standing with Anna, Magnolia, Maeve, and Presley.
In the seconds it took to follow Luke to their cluster, I worked to wipe my blatant desire off my face and play it cool. Like a contractor running into his client and nothing more. At the same time, I drank in the sight of Presley before she spotted me.
Tonight she wore a camisole top with lace trim and a cropped hemline that gave me yet another tantalizing glimpse of the skin at her waist. Instead of her usual short skirt or shorts, she wore a long, flowy skirt with a side slit that reached her upper thigh. I was struck stupid by the idea of ducking under that skirt and burying my head between her thighs.
Cut it out, dumbass.
