Page 42 of Hunt for the Roses
I respond before thinking. “You look great,” I say.
“Thanks! It’s a dance party, so naturally I had to pull out all the stops,” Ari responds.
I involuntarily check her out as I say, “I approve.”
She narrows her eyes at me curiously. “You’re being too nice.”
Snapping my eyes back to hers, I chuckle as I shove my hands in my pockets. “Are you implying I’m not nice normally?”
She’s still narrowing her eyes at me. “You are. You just normally open with jokes, so I was thrown off for a second.”
“Well that’s because I’m unpredictable. One of my many charms,” I say as I place a hand over my heart.
She points to me. “Ah, there we go. That’s what I like to hear.” I just laugh, and Aria smiles as she grabs her clutch off the foyer so we can head down her porch steps to my Mustang.
We arrive at eight o’clock, and just as we enter Dukes, we hear the DJ playing “Hot in Herre”by Nelly. “Okay, song choice is strong from the start, so that’s a good sign,” I joke from behind Aria as I follow her to the bar.
She turns back to me, but keeps walking forward. “Oh my god, I’m so happy right now,” she says with an excited smile.
I smirk as I continue to follow her, and luckily there are two free stools at the bar for us to sit at. “So, what’re we having tonight?” I ask her as we take our seats.
“I think this night calls for at least two shots,” Aria says with suggestive eyebrows.
“Oh wow, we’re going hard tonight. What’ll it be then?” I respond.
She squints her eyes and purses her lips as she thinks about what she wants. “Fireball?”
“Really?”
She sighs in frustration. “Well what would you suggest?”
“Tequila. For sure,” I say.
She slaps and rubs her palms together. “Let’s do it!”
I laugh and call the bartender over to order two shots of tequila and two waters. The bartender pours the shots in front of us and places a lime slice on top of each little glass. I hand one over to Aria as I take the other, and I raise my shot glass up to hers. She taps her shot glass with mine, and we both down our tequila shots in one smooth gulp.
When we are both done sucking the juice out of our limes, we place them in the empty shot glasses, and Aria does a small shake with her body. “Ugh, I haven’t done a shot of tequila in years,” she says as she winces.
I furrow my brows. “Yeah come to think of it, I probably haven’t done one of those since college. Shit, we’re getting old.”
Just as I finish my sentence, I feel someone bump into my shoulder at the bar. I turn around to apologize, but when I do, there’s an attractive blue-eyed brunette standing next to me.
A distraction.
This is what I need.
“Sorry,” she apologizes as she places a hand on my shoulder.
“If you wanted my attention so bad, you could’ve just asked for my name,” I say with a side grin.
She smiles shyly as she asks, “So what is your name?”
“Dane. You?”
“Sarah,” the brunette responds, and then notices Aria sitting next to me. “Are you here alone?”
I turn to Aria who is sipping her water, and she’s trying to look like she’s not listening to this exchange, but I know Aria too well to know she’s definitely listening in. I turn back to Sarah to respond. “I’m actually with a friend tonight. Maybe I can catch you later if you’re around?” I say as I throw her a smirk.
