“Good girl,” Nix says. “That’ll cure what ails you.”
“You’re the doctor.” I raise the second in mock salute. She sinks into her side of the booth and joins me for the second shot.
“I thought we were celebrating how well your speech went over the weekend,” she says. “But you don’t look very happy.”
“I’m fine. This looking-for-Mr.-Right thing is exhausting me. Maybe I’m meant to be a spinster.”
“I refuse to accept this as my fate or yours.”
“What about you?” I ask, eyeing the empty shot glasses in front of her. “What’s driven you into the loving arms of tequila?”
“Shit from home. It’ll be fine, but I’m not looking forward to the holidays. If I had a husband here, I’d at least have a good excuse not to visit. What about you? Does that scowl have anything to do with Mr. Sexy over there?”
“I don’t understand him,” I admit. “He’s this consummate bachelor, but then sometimes . . .” Sometimes he gives me sweet speeches that make me believe we could have a future. I shrug. “It’s stupid and it doesn’t matter. Let’s talk about something else.”
“Any dates lined up for this week?”
“Not yet.” I’ve been so distracted by River and then Sam that I haven’t even logged into my multitude of dating sites lately. “I miss River.”
Nix chokes on her drink. “I’m sorry, what?” she manages after an impressive round of hacking.
“I miss him.”
“The anonymous stranger who wants to tie you up? Who may or may not be a serial killer? Who may or may not be a married man with a newborn baby at home? You. Miss. Him?”
“He’s not a serial killer. He’s . . . Whoever he is, he was a friend to me before any of the other stuff.” I shrug. “Connor’s a big idiot, I guess. But I miss my relationship with River.” I miss Hanna and Cally, too. Now that they have babies, they can’t come out much. It’s lonely being the single girl.
“What’s really bothering you?”
“Mr. Bradshaw told me he doesn’t like me seeing Sam. He all but said Sabrina Guy is his betrothed.” I roll my eyes. “God, I didn’t know people even did that crap anymore.”
Nix cranes her neck to look over her shoulder at Sam and Sabrina at the pool table. “It doesn’t look like he’s into her.”
“I still haven’t told him about River,” I confess. “Until I come clean, I have no right being jealous of Sabrina.”
“You could tell him now,” she says. “He’s coming this way.”
“Hey, ladies,” Sam says, sliding into the booth beside me, his hip pressed against mine. “How’s it going tonight?”
“Good,” I say, but Nix says, “We’ve been better.”
Sam frowns and then gives me the full attention of those honey-brown eyes. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“Not exactly. I don’t think your dad . . .” I swallow. “I don’t think he approves of us dating.”
He grunts and takes a sip of his beer. “Well, that’s because he didn’t think of it first. You may not know this, but my father’s a bit of a control freak.”
I shrug. “I don’t want to get in the way of family matters, Sam.”
He shifts his attention to Nix. “Do you think you could excuse us? I need something from her, and I think I might need a few minutes to talk her into it.”
Nix quirks a brow at me, but then she slides out of the booth and leaves us alone.
“Do you have plans for this weekend?”
I shake my head. “I haven’t thought that far ahead.”
“How do you feel about fresh seafood, candlelight?”
“Well, I—” I stop. “Are you asking me on a date?”
“Isn’t that what a guy does when he has a crush on a girl?”
“A crush?”
My confusion seems to sap his bravado, and he shifts. “I like you, Liz. I know we’ve done this backward, but I want . . .” He drops his gaze to his beer, then back up to my face. He looks different. Younger, somehow. Maybe because the cocky man is gone, replaced by the unsure boy. “I want to do this right. I want to cook for you and take you to fancy dinners and hold your hand.” He cups my jaw and his gaze drops to my lips. “And then I want to get you naked. I really like you naked.”
I smile, and for a second, I’m just a girl looking at a boy she’s kind of always loved. For a second, it’s not complicated by secretly broken hearts and online affairs.