I’d not done much bartending, to be honest. I’d been more fascinated watching Ava. She was like a reality show just for me. I didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing, but I also knew a better hunch was not to tell anyone. No one could judge me, and I couldn’t stop watching her.
“She thinks she has no friends.” We’d gone over this already.
I could feel my bro watch me. I gave him a sideways grin, still not taking my gaze off Ava.
He asked, “And your idea to convince her otherwise was to throw a party?”
“It’s a roommate-warming party.”
“You stupid.”
Now I looked at him, and half-glared, but also half-smirked because that was funny. “You dumb.”
“You guys are fucking, right?”
“Tact, buddy. Learn it,” I threw back, but I wasn’t going to get riled. That was Blaise’s specialty. In his heyday, he’d be up and in anyone’s face if he felt like it. He was an asshole, but in the best way. I dug it.
“And you’re not smart. It’s her first night. What are you doing, throwing a party? Ava’s always been a loner. This is not her scene.”
Well.
Shit.
He had a point.
I tore my gaze away and tracked all the people. They were everywhere. I was pretty sure they were in the garage too, which I couldn’t blame them. I had some magnificent vehicles, ready for an obsessing audience. Which was why I had them, so people could worship them, because that was the whole point in creating and buying those beautiful pieces of machinery. There was another bar and more games in there as well.
“You think I should invite the Kades? Are they in town?”
Blaise was shaking his head. I could tell from the corner of my eye because I’d gone back to watching Ava. She was so cute.
“Zeke.” A guy came up to the counter. “Are you serving drinks?”
I ignored him.
Blaise did too, saying to me, “For your mental health, I’m being a best friend here. Mason Kade does not like you.”
I just grinned. “I’m wearing him down. We’ll be doing holidays with them.”
“Allen. Hello.” The guy made a motion.
Blaise rolled his eyes. I couldn’t see it, but I knew he did as he said, “You might want to start considering something’s wrong in your head.”
“It’s all love, Brother.”
“Guys! I want a drink.”
We were three feet away from him.
“Maybe we should go over there?”
“To the Kades’ house? That would not be a good idea either.”
“To Ava.” I gave him a look, my eyes flicking upwards. “Who’s the Kade-obsessed one now?”
The guy said, “You guys are dicks.”
Blaise turned on him. “There are like five fucking bars in this entire house, his house. Read the silence and go help yourself somewhere else.”
The guy flicked him off before marching back into the house.
I laughed. “Man, in college, you’d have that guy eating pavement after the first smart comment he made.”
Blaise sighed. “You have to be extremely professional in my job. That would be unbecoming of me, especially if someone caught it on video. Also, how old are we?”
I snorted. “Never too old for a fun beatdown.”
He sighed. “I kinda miss those days. I’m only able to channel that into my playing. The coaches love it.”
“And the fans.”
“Them too.”
We both shared a grin before I went back to my evening’s entertainment. Ava. And got a jolt. She was staring at me. I knew I wasn’t imagining the fear in her eyes. “I gotta go. My girl’s looking ready to panic. Again.”
I took my beer, finished it in one gulp, and handed him my empty cup.
Blaise made no move to take it, but I let it go as I started across to her.
Behind me, Blaise cursed then laughed.
15
AVA
I was learning that all those years in high school, there’d been a reason I worked. Other than needing money, and that was because I sucked at socializing. Literally. I’d felt Zeke watching me all night, so that was distraction number one. The other distractions: everything and everyone.
I mean, it was all good things.
I knew this wasn’t high school and a “mean girl” wasn’t going to come in and make fun of me. That wouldn’t happen with Aspen and Bren by my side, who I’d always liked in high school even though I didn’t get to know them that well. Well, Aspen. Bren, I knew her a little bit more. Bren was a protector. That’s how I thought of her, and when she and Aspen arrived at the party, they’d been trying to be casual, but also mixing in the questions between the normal conversation.
How did this happen?
How was I?
Bren had made a point of being around after my grandmum’s funeral. Her sister-in-law owned Manny’s so it wasn’t a hardship for her to come in there, but I knew she came in a lot more when I was working. She cared. I knew she did. She did the usual, asking how I was, etcetera, but she watched me too. I knew she cared. I knew my bosses cared. What Zeke said, I knew people cared, but I didn’t know what was wrong with me. Extreme low self-esteem? Was that it? Or no. It was family stuff. It was because when my dad left, when my mom lost her legs, we were in crisis mode.
Crisis mode. I didn’t think I was in it anymore.
Or was I? Did I need to plan accordingly once Zeke got bored with me? Probably, but… I couldn’t bring myself to go there. I gave him a look now because he’d not stopped watching me all night, and it was having an effect on me. I was flustered, nervous, awkward, and feeling oddly shy all at the same time. And tongue-tied. Or was that the same thing? Probably the same thing. I’m sure it was.
Bren and Aspen were talking about someone I didn’t know when Zeke glided over.
“Ladies.” He gave everyone a smooth smile. “You called, my new roommate?”
I frowned. “I did?”
“Your look. It said, ‘help me.’” His smile grew. “I’m helping. Whatcha need?” He looked at my drink, and an eyebrow rose. “Another drink maybe?”
“What?” I was mortified, thinking Aspen and Bren would think I needed his help to get away from them. I didn’t. I didn’t know what I was doing, but his other question threw me, and I looked down. I didn’t even know what I was drinking. I hadn’t had a sip of it.
“Come on. Let’s go.” He reached for me, taking the cup first and handing it to Bren.
She gave him a look. “Excuse me?”
He only smiled. “You don’t have a drink. Take it. You can loosen up a little.”
Oh, boy. Bren beat people up for a living. I did not want to mess with her, and when her mouth dropped before she started to get all scarily calm-looking, I darted forward, grabbing Zeke’s hand. “Uh. Yeah. Maybe… yeah. Another drink?” I shoved him forward, smiling uneasily over my shoulder at Bren and Aspen behind me. Though, Aspen had her head in her hand and her shoulders were shaking so I didn’t think it was as bad of a situation as I thought.
Zeke let me push him a few more feet ahead before he switched places. He began guiding me forward, his arm around me. He bent forward, his mouth teasing my ear. “You’ve not been around, but you’ll find out that I enjoy pissing Monroe off. It’s our thing. She’ll get all worked up, threaten me, and nothing will happen. Or if something does happen, it’s usually between Blaisie and her man.”