Page 78 of One More Shot
I slide into the empty seat next to Amber and reach for my glass.
‘Did Dane end up using his plus one?’ Amber asks suddenly.
I choke on my drink and glance up at the exact same time Bailey’s gaze comes up to meet mine. She holds it for a second or two and I have to wonder if I’m imagining the way her lips twitch ever so slightly.
‘No,’ she says after what feels like an eternity. ‘He didn’t bother in the end.’
Amber hums contemplatively. ‘How very un-Dane like.’
Bailey drops her mouth into her palm, hiding an obvious laugh. ‘Hm. I guess.’
Does she know? Itseemslike she knows, but maybe I’m being paranoid.
‘How long have you and Finn been together?’ I ask suddenly, desperate to get the conversation off Dane.
Amber smiles softly at the mention of her boyfriend. ‘Coming up to three years now.’
‘How’d you guys meet?’
She laughs and her hand comes up to rest idly on her stomach. ‘It’s a long story.’
‘He was herclient,’ Bailey purrs, seemingly delighted to tell this story. ‘And it was love at first sight.’
Amber snorts. ‘It absolutely was not.’
‘For Finn it was,’ Bailey says with a sage nod. ‘He just didn’t know it at the time.’
‘What about you?’ Amber turns to me. ‘Are you seeing anyone?’
There it is again. An almost imperceptible twitch of Bailey’s lips.
‘No,’ I say. ‘Not officially, anyway.’
‘Ah,’ Amber nods in understanding. ‘It’s one of those.’
‘One of what?’
‘When you both know there’s something there, but you’re too afraid to say it out loud in case it ruins everything?’
I blink over at her. ‘I— I guess?’
Her smile turns sympathetic. ‘It’ll work out.’
‘I’m not so sure,’ I say. ‘But I’m fine. I’m okay with that.’
Bailey shakes her head. ‘Take it from someone who didn’t realise what was in front of her until it almost blew up in her face. Itwillwork out. You just have to want it to.’
The train jerks forward suddenly and we start peeling outof the station. As I watch the landscape around us turn into a nondescript blur, I realise something.
I do want it to work out.
I really, really do.
Chapter Twenty-FiveDANE
Every fibre of my being wants to race across this platform and pull Eliott into a bone-crushing hug.
I want to bury my face in her hair, wrap my arms around her soft curves and bask in my own personal slice of heaven that is Eliott Rayne.
