He winked at Caden. “You used the front door this time too. I’m touched.” He tightened his hold on me. “And you brought my new best friend. We are close friends now.”
Caden frowned, but I saw his lip twitch. He was trying not to grin. “Just don’t get too close.”
“Oh?” Diego pulled back and made an exaggerated point of looking from me to Caden and back again. “It’s not like that now?” His eyebrow went up, along with his sly grin.
I flushed. “It’s not.” But it was. Thirty minutes ago, in fact.
Diego stepped away. His hand curved around my back. “Come on.” He motioned for Caden to go away. “You get a table. I’m taking my new best friend to the bar. We’re going to get shots.”
“She’s underage.”
“Then the shots are not for her.” He winked at me.
Caden rolled his eyes and glanced at me. “I’ll grab a table outside.”
I nodded. I needed the night breeze to cool off.
Diego patted one of the stools. “Hop up.” He went around the side of the bar, waving off one of the bartenders. “I got this one.”
He pulled out some bottles and placed them on the bar. “Okay. This.” He lifted the tequila bottle. “I am pouring for Caden. It looks like he needs some further encouragement, if you know what I mean.”
He winked at me, starting to mix. I didn’t know what he meant, and I was afraid to ask. Diego seemed in a mischievous mood. I feared what would come next.
“So.” He cleared his throat, finishing one of the drinks. “Tell me, querida, what is the latest development between you and my long-time friend outside?”
“Um…”
He paused, his gaze intent. “You don’t know, or you don’t wish to tell me?”
“Both.” I smiled.
His eyebrows dipped together. “You are a good girl. You’re the only girl he’s brought here. That means something. Don’t tell me it doesn’t.”
“It means…” I had to stall. “That Caden and I are friends.”
He huffed at that, rolling his eyes sharply before beginning to mix a second drink. “That’s bullshit. Don’t insult me. I can tell when something’s up, and a blind man could’ve seen the chemistry between you two.”
My eyes widened. “Oh.”
“So tell me, what’s going on?”
I felt cornered by Diego’s hawk-like gaze. He hadn’t missed a thing, but I really didn’t know what was going on. I opened my mouth, having no idea what was about to come out, when someone bumped into me from the side.
“Bartender! Can we get a bunnch of shos?” a girl slurred. “Me an my friends?” She hiccupped, then noticed me.
Her arm felt hot and as she turned, I could see that her eyes were glazed over. Her lips were swollen, and I recognized her as the girl Caden had talked with in my dorm. I stiffened, looking for the guy she’d been with, but didn’t see him. Instead there was a table of girls behind her, all of whom looked just like her. They were pretty, hair and makeup done perfectly. Judging from the shrieking, they were just as drunk too.
“Hey.” She stuck her bottom lip out, staring right at me. “I know you.”
Diego saw my reaction and turned on the charm as a distraction. His smile became smoother. Suddenly a thick accent came out. “Quieres tiros, mi chinga?”
She stared at him, repeating what he’d said. Then she smiled. “Shots. Can we get some?”
“Of course!”
She relaxed at his warm tone.
“How many?”
“Oh. Um…” She glanced back to her table, her finger lifting to count her friends. “Two, three, five shots. We need five of them.”
“Any kind?”
“Sex on the beach. Or blow job.”
I glanced through the back glass door, but I couldn’t see Caden. If I couldn’t see him, she couldn’t either.
As if sensing my discomfort, Diego placed three glasses in front of me. Two were already poured. “For your table,” he told me. He quickly poured something out of a pitcher into the third glass. “For me,” he explained. He tapped the second glass. “For you.” And he winked before moving farther down the bar and lining up five shot glasses. The girl was forced to move with him.
After picking up the three glasses, I nodded my thanks. He gave me a second wink before filling the last of the shot glasses. “Ta da! There you are,” he announced to the spellbound girl.
I slipped past the table of her friends. Once outside, I saw half the veranda was empty and instantly relaxed. I only hoped those girls wouldn’t come out.