Page 4 of Wish You Were Mine
“Hey, bro,” I said, sliding onto the barstool next to him. “Fancy running into you here.”
“Oh hey, Lucy.” Theo looked up from his glass of scotch, clearly surprised to see us. “What are you doing here?”
“Came with Nora and the hockey team to celebrate their win.” I shrugged. “We saw you from our table and thought we’d say hi.”
And yeah…hoping to flirt a little with the bartender, too.But my brother didn’t need to know about that other motive.
“Well, what a great surprise. Never thought I’d see the day when my baby sister would be grown up enough that I’d run into her at a club.” Theo was eight years older than me, so we hadn’t hung out much growing up. But after Alisha died, I’d moved in with him to help with Charlotte during my summer breaks from college and we’d grown a lot closer because of that.
“And it’s good to see you as always, Nora.” Theo leaned forward to smile at my friend. “I trust you’re keeping my sister out of trouble.”
“Of course,” Nora said, and I noticed the faintest flush creeping up her neck when she met my brother’s gaze.
Was she blushing?
When our eyes met, I could’ve sworn I saw her shoot me a warning look, as if telling me to keep our earlier conversation about how attractive she thought my brother was just between us.
I turned back to Theo and asked, “What are you doing here all alone on a Sunday night anyway?”
“I met a girl for drinks earlier.” Theo took a sip of his drink, leaning back in his seat. “Walked her to her car, then decided to come back and chat with my friend Owen.” He gave a subtle nod toward the bartender Nora and I had been eyeing earlier. “Charlotte’s at Mom and Dad’s tonight, and I just didn’t feel like heading home yet.”
“Ooohh, you had a date?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “How was it?”
“It was all right.” Theo shrugged. “Someone I met on a dating app, but I don’t think there’ll be a second date.”
“Ah, dang,” I said, frowning.
“It’s okay,” he said, turning his wrist to adjust his Rolex. “Owen and I were actually just talking about how it’s all a numbers game. As long as we keep at it, it’s gotta work out sometime.”
“Oh, so you’re on the dating apps, too?” Nora turned toward the bartender, who had just walked over from the other end of the bar, clearly picking up on the fact that Owen was the friend Theo had been talking about.
“Yeah.” Owen gave a half-smile, leaning slightly against the bar. “I caved about a month ago and signed up.”
“But you’re still single?” Nora raised an eyebrow, and I could feel my cheeks heat up when Owen’s gaze shifted between me and Nora.
His eyes lingered on mine for a heart-pounding second, seeming to inspect my face, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he could somehow sense why we might be interested in his relationship status.
Hopefully, he didn’t think we were trying to hit on him…even if that was exactly why we’d come over.
“Yeah, I’m single,” Owen said with a shrug, a playful glint in his eyes.
It looked like he was about to say something more, but then Theo patted me on the back and said, “Lucy here has no idea how bad online dating is these days.”
“Never had to sign up, huh?” Owen asked.
“Nope,” Theo answered for me. “She met her long-term boyfriend at their freshman orientation and that was that.”
And with those few words, my heart dropped because Theo made it sound like Josh and I were still together.
Which we definitelyweren’t.
I cleared my throat to clear things up. But before I could say anything, Owen said, “I’m guessing the long-term boyfriend is the guy I just saw you with? The one I gave drinks to down the bar?”
“Yeah,” I muttered, tension creeping up my neck as I shifted in my seat.
But before I could explain that Josh and I were just friends, Owen glanced at us again. “So, are you two just here to chat with my fancy lawyer friend, or would you like me to get you something to drink?”
“Can I get a water?” I asked, trying to keep my tone casual though my words came out too quickly.
