Page 8 of Beneath the Midnight Sky
“Intense?” She glanced over toward his table, and then back at me. “I mean, maybe a bit, yeah. But nothing alarming. He works on his family’s ranch. So, normally, he’s just with his family and working. I don’t see him here much, but Theo must have dragged him out tonight. That’s his youngest brother. Although to be honest, he’s still staring at you, so maybe Theo won’t have to drag him around much longer.” She nodded her head slightly toward his table.
I immediately whipped my head to the side to look over, and sure enough, he was still staring our way—his gaze still intense as hell, even from across the bar floor. I mentally smacked myself because this was not part of the plan at all.
“I don’t have time for this, let’s dance some more,” I muttered, grabbing Ivy’s arm and dragging her back toward the dance floor. She waved to Todd, letting him know to watch our drinks.
I didn’t want to come across as rude or bossy, but my brain literally couldn’t handle the intense vibes Rowan was throwing down. I’d just left intense. I’descapedintense. I couldn’t go back. Not again. Not ever.
Plus, with a man that looked like him? Not even close to in my league. It would just be a quick hot and heavy night together,and he’d never look my way again. A surefire way to get my heart broken in the mix of things.
“He’s still watching you, Aspen,” Ivy whispered against my ear as she started to dance against me. She knew me well enough to know that I was done with men for the evening, so her taking the spot behind me was deliberate and a very Ivy move. I was still choosing to ignore her comment and just let go of all the drama—choosing to dance with my best friend and listen to the music.
Another thirty minutes or so of dancing flew by before I remembered I had a favor to repay.
Seeing as I wasn’t going to offer to drop to my knees, even though my inner slutty girl I wasn’t even aware I had until tonight wanted to, I ignored her and headed over to the bar. Flagging Damien down for a beer, I took a deep breath and prepared myself to be in the same vicinity as him again. Grabbing his beer, I headed over to Rowan’s table.
He was sitting with two other guys, both of whom were clearly his brothers. They all shared the same dark hair and deep blue eyes, but one of them was identical to Rowan, only with shorter hair, and the other was clean-shaven with a buzz cut.
Rowan glanced up at me and smirked. “Well, look at that, boys, my girlfriend has finally arrived.”
I let out a small nervous laugh and handed him the beer. “A kind offering for saving my ass against jerks who can’t take a hint.”
“I appreciate the repayment, but it wasn’t needed. My mother raised me better than to turn a blind eye when a lady needs my help.” I could feel the heat climbing up my cheeks again. Good lord, this man was something else. “Anyway, these are my brothers, Theo and Wyatt. My girlfriend should probably know my family after all.” He dipped his head at them as henamed them off and then saved the smile until he was facing me again.
“Well, it’s great to meet you guys. I just wanted to drop that off before Ivy and I headed off. So, thank you again. Oh, and I’m sorry about the girlfriend comment. Obviously, you don’t even know me, and it was just the first thing that popped into my mind when he started trying to fight back…I didn’t want him to start a huge scene and, yeah.” I needed to get myself away from this man before I listened to Ivy and threw her idea onto the table in front of his brothers like a psycho. I was rambling, which only happened when I was nervous.
“Anytime, little angel. Anytime.” The smile never left his face, but it didn’t seem like a normal, happy smile. It gave off the impression that he knew more than he should.
I also had no idea what the little angel nickname thing meant, but the way he said it made it sound dirty. Almost as if it were some sort of praise to use.
Send help—because good Lord.
I wokeup to the sound of my phone alarm buzzing beside my head. Well, at least I’d remembered to plug that into its charger. One massive point for Aspen.
My head was pounding, and I was pretty sure it was a miracle we’d even made it back to Ivy’s place last night after all the tequila we’d had. I reached over, turning off my alarm, and then stretched out in Ivy’s queen-sized bed. Looking over, I realized she was still sleeping next to me.
Growing up, I’d never had any girlfriends. I’d always wanted some, hell, even one would’ve been cool, but most of the girls around our neighborhood had “normal” families who knew allabout my parents. So, they didn’t want their kids over. You would’ve thought growing up in Las Vegas, no one would know anyone. Yet somehow, they’d always known about my home life in our little corner of town. As if there were some neighborhood gossip magazine, and we were the only ones not subscribed to it.
I’d had a couple of girls I’d gotten close to in some of the foster homes, but the last thing you were able to easily do was keep up with them when you’re all pre-teens, bouncing from home to home all the time with no phones or permanent addresses.
I dragged myself out of bed and headed into the bathroom to attempt to make myself feel more alive. Coffee was desperately going to be needed via injection today. Thankfully, I was off of work today. A small glimmer of positivity to accompany this foul hangover. I couldn’t say the same for my bestie though.
I went into Ivy’s kitchen, started a fresh pot of coffee for us, and then grabbed a bottle of water with some pain medicine for us both. Walking back into her room, I bounced back on the bed next to her.
“Ohh, Ivyyy!” I used my most annoying sing-song kind of voice. She was not a morning person in the least bit, but I knew she’d feel better after coffee, meds, and a shower. “Come on, boo. I brought you your fav hangover cocktail,” I said with a soft chuckle. She opened her eyes to openly glare at me, but once her gaze landed on the medicine, she snagged them from my open palm, sitting up and chugging some water with the mixture.
“Have I ever told you that you’re my favorite?” she muttered as she fell back down onto her pillow with her eyes shut.
“All the time, but I’m always down to hear it some more out of your lovely mouth.” She truly was my best friend in the entire world. I could tell her anything and never feel judged or loved any less. In the six months I’d known her, she’d discovered more about me than anyone ever had in my entire life. While I knewthat to most people, six months would seem like a short span of time for someone to get to know you on that soul-deep level, something about Ivy and me transcended time and reasoning. We just worked.
I leaned against the beige headboard of her bed and smiled down at her. “What time do you have to work tonight?”
“I go in at four for the late shift. Are you going to come in and visit me?”
I tapped my chin a few times with my index finger. “Mmmm, maybe.” She knew I would. I’d drag my ass back to my apartment, paint, clean up and do some laundry, and by seven this evening, I’d be going stir crazy. Sick of the same four walls and more than ready to annoy her while she was busy as hell helping her tables.
“If you come in early enough, Chris may let you help work the bar shift tonight! Killer tips on a Friday.”
“I could always use the tips,” I replied, happily. I didn’t particularly want to work the bar shift, but I’d never turn down extra money and tips when I was just going to sit at my apartment staring at the walls otherwise.
