Page 66 of Next in Line
“They make your legs look really fucking sexy, and I can’t stop staring at them, which makes me think of them wrapped around me, which then becomes a serious problem.”
I press my hands to the top of the table. “Okay, okay, chill.”
“And since ordering for you is apparently too boyfriendy, will you please go up to the bar and get yourself a glass of wine? I can’t watch you gag on that Guinness anymore.”
“Fine…I’ll go.” With a huff, I stand, straightening out my dress that’s riding up on my tights. Sam’s eyes drop to my legs, and he bites his lip. With a sharp intake of breath, I turn on my heel and murmur under my breath, “We are so fucked.”
Miles and Kate return at the same time I do, and then Sam and I go our separate ways to get food. Like super separate. I picked the food truck farthest away from his food truck.
Once I’ve eaten and had a glass of wine, I feel moderately calmer. And thankfully, I manage to keep the embarrassing sweaty dog story in my head for the remainder of our dinner. Once we’ve all had one more drink, we get up to head down to Pearl Street to the next bar.
I assume I’ll be riding with “Mom and Dad” again when suddenly Kate shoves me toward Sam’s truck. “Ride with Sam so he doesn’t have to ride alone.”
Miles nods his agreement, and the two of them take off for their truck without a care in the world while I have to watch Sexy Sam open his truck door for me. I ignore the cute smirk on his face as I hop up into his vehicle, and by the time he gets in and pulls out, I’ve formulated six different ways I could murder Kate and have it look like an accident.
The silence is heavy as we drive, and all I can think about is the fact that I was laid out completely naked in this spot only twenty-four hours ago. Surely, Sam’s thinking about it too because he’s gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles are white.
I swallow slowly, doing my best to take deep breaths, but eventually, the silence becomes too much to bear. “This is harder than I thought it would be.” I expel my words as if I had been holding my breath this entire time.
“Yeah, this kind of sucks,” Sam replies, his tone tight and constrained.
“I’m sorry to put you in such an awkward position,” I lament because it was my idea to add sex to our little deception in the first place. “It was all pretty innocent until I threw myself at you.”
He clears his throat and looks away. “You didn’t put me in this situation. I put myself in it.”
We drive a little farther until we reach Bohemian Biergarten on Pearl Street. Sam throws the truck in park and turns to face me. His eyes are serious when he says, “We just need to relax and try to have some fun. Your brother is my best friend, and you are his sister, so there’s no reason we can’t have some drinks together and pretend we haven’t seen each other naked.”
“Right,” I reply, nodding my head earnestly. “Because it’s seriously no big deal!”
“Exactly.”
“’Cuz you’re not a commitment kind of guy, and Miles knows I’d never hook up with someone like you. He’s not going to figure it out.”
“Right,” Sam confirms, a strange look across his face fleeting as he turns away from me and slides out of his truck.
He opens my door for me, and I hold back my comment about this being a boyfriend move because he looks like he’s beating himself up about something, and I don’t want to add fuel to his fire.
We head inside to the German-style bar that’s filled to the brim with people. It’s noisy as we make our way past the picnic tables to find Miles and Kate wedged up against the wall sharing a community table with a group of college guys. Sam and I squeeze through everyone and take the last two spaces available directly across from them.
“I ordered us a round!” Miles exclaims with a big smile as the waitress carries a tray of drinks over everyone’s heads. “Meg, I got you wine…I think you’re wrong about liking beer.”
I force a smile and take the wineglass Miles hands to me. Maybe if I drink enough tonight, this will all seem a lot less difficult. The rest of the drinks are all passed around, and we do a cheers.
“So Megan, is Sterling missing you yet?” Miles shouts over the loud noise of bar, leaning across the table toward me.
“I think so,” I reply with a forced smile.
He frowns. “He’s back at school now. Surely, he’s begging for you to head back to Utah.”
“You trying to get rid of me?” I ask and take another drink.
“Hell no! I wish you’d move here.” Miles takes a quick drink and adds, “I’m hoping Sterling gets signed by the Broncos so I can see a lot more of you. Denver is so close to Boulder…just an easy train ride away.”
I inhale and exhale slowly, trying my hardest not to chug this very generous glass of wine. Miles and I haven’t spoken that much about Sterling since I arrived in Boulder, so lying to him hasn’t been that difficult…until now.
I decide to tell him the little nugget of truth I received during tonight’s phone call. “He said he missed me tonight, so maybe I’ll be going back soon. We’ll see.”
Both Sam’s and Kate’s eyes bore into me with curiosity, but I do my best not to look at either of their reactions.
