Andrea pushed off the bar. “Uh…”
Their lips were touching.
Damn it.
A second later Kyler leaned back, his jaw working as he chewed what I assumed was the piece of ice Blondie had so openly shared.
“Ugh,” I murmured, turning back around. Andrea winced, because she knew…she was the only person who knew. “I’ll be over in a little while. Going to finish my drink first.”
“Okay.” She smiled, but sadness crept into her eyes. “Sydney…”
Now I felt like a lame turd. “It’s all right, really. I’ll be right over.”
“After you finish your drink?” When I nodded, she sighed. “You never finish a drink, but I’ll be waiting. Don’t take forever.” She started to turn and then whipped back to me, nearly losing a bottle of beer. “Actually, take your time.”
“Huh?”
Her smile spread. “Look who just came in.”
I craned my neck to follow her gaze. “Oh.”
“‘Oh’ is right.” Andrea bent down and kissed my cheek. “Forget about Kyler the man-slut. You’re better than that. But him?” She nodded at the door. “That’s a keeper who’s more than willing to end your celibacy.”
Heat swamped my cheeks. Before I could argue the use of the word “celibacy,” Andrea had skipped off and I was left staring at Paul Robertson.
Paul was new to our group; I’d met him in my Cognitive Processes lab. He…he was good-looking. He was nice and funny. He was perfect, really, but…
He stopped just at the edge of the dance floor, tugging off his skull cap. Scanning the bar, he smoothed a hand over his blond hair. His eyes met mine and a quick grin spread across his face. Giving me a little wave, he easily navigated the group of people huddled around round tables.
Paul would be perfect for me right now, and for that very reason alone, I needed to stop thinking about the unattainable and start thinking about what was right in front of my face.
Taking a deep breath, I mustered up what I hoped was a sexy smile. There was no better time than tonight.
Kyler
I was already starting to get a headache. By the way the chick was squirming in my lap like she was ready to get it on right now, this was going to be a long night. I crunched down on the piece of ice, half-tempted to spit it out.
But that would be sort of rude.
I should have been in the mood to celebrate, except I wasn’t. One more semester of college left, and then what? Join the family business and shit? God, that was the last thing I wanted. Well, not necessarily the last thing. Trying to explain to my mom why I didn’t foresee a career in bar restoration in my future was probably the last thing I wanted to do. It was never something I wanted to do, but almost four years of college later, and I was about to walk out with a degree in business bullshit.
Reaching around the girl, I grabbed the neck of the beer bottle. Across from me, Tanner raised his brows. I smirked as he turned back to whatever the brunette chick was saying to him. Something about getting a wax yesterday and she was outside the mandatory twenty-four hour waiting period. Seriously? That was pretty much the last thing either of us wanted to hear.
Knowing there was an all-clear on getting down did have its bennies, but Tanner didn’t look too into it.
“Kyler,” the blonde crooned in my ear as she wiggled her ass. “You don’t seem happy to see me. I’m happy to see you again.”
And apparently I wasn’t too into it, either. Taking a long drink, I knew I had to proceed with wise caution. Supposedly I knew this girl—like knew her, knew her—but I couldn’t place her face or her ass, which was all kinds of messed up. How could I not know her when I’d most definitely slept with her at some point?
Fuck.
Sometimes I was sick with myself.
She leaned in, pressing her breasts right up under my chin. Okay. I wasn’t that sick with myself. “Honey,” I said, fingering the bottle. “I’m going to need to breathe at some point.”
Giggling, she leaned back far enough that I could sneak another drink. She ran her hands through my hair, tugging it off my forehead. I fought the urge to knock her hands away. “You gonna play your guitar for me later?”
My brows rose. “I played the guitar for you?”
Tanner choked on a laugh.
The girl—and damn, I hoped her friend said her name real soon—frowned. “Yes!” She smacked my chest playfully. “You played it with those awesome, talented fingers of yours, and then you played something else.”
Oh.
Tanner leaned back in his chair. “Look at you and your awesome fingers.”
“My awesome, talented fingers,” I corrected him.
Shaking his head, he looked away as the brunette leaned over, tracing the edge of the tattoo that popped out from under his rolled-up sleeves.
“You don’t remember?” She stuck out a glossy lower lip. “My feelings are hurt.”
I snorted and took another drink, my eyes scanning the now-packed bar. Sometimes I had no idea how I ended up in situations like this. Okay. That was a bald-faced lie. What was between my legs was how I ended up in situations like this.
But it was more than that.
It had always been more than that.
“Kyler,” the girl whined.
I took a deep breath and turn back to her, giving the girl my most charming smile. “Yeah?”
“You gonna share?”
Before I could respond, she took the bottle from my hand and downed damn near close to the whole thing. My brows shot up. Damn. That was sort of impressive… and gross.
Her friend giggled. “Jesus, Mindy, take it slow tonight. I am so not carrying your drunk ass back to the dorm.”
Aha! Her name was Mindy! I felt a little better about this.
Mindy just shrugged as she turned back to me. She leaned in and when she spoke, all I could smell was beer. “You’re so incredibly sexy. Have you ever been told that?”
“A time or two,” I replied, wishing for another beer.
Andrea appeared at the table, two beers in hand. One was for her and the other for Tanner, so that sucked. She looked at me and huffed. “Like Kyler needs his ego stroked.”
“Kyler needs something else stroked,” Mindy murmured, pushing down with her hips.
A look of disgust crossed Andrea’s face as she sat on the other side of Tanner. The look didn’t bother me. Now if it were someone else? “Have you seen Syd?” I asked.
Andrea eyed me over the rim of her bottle, eyes narrowed. She didn’t say anything.
I sat back in the chair, sighing. “I invited her.”
Tanner arched a brow. “You know damn well Syd’s in her dorm, packing for our trip. Actually, she’s probably repacking for our trip.”
A smile pulled at my lips. She probably was retentively going over what to bring.
“Who cares about her?” Mindy folded her arms, which made her breasts even bigger. Impossible. She looked at her friend. “I need another drink.”
“So do I,” I said, bouncing my knees so she’d get off. She didn’t take the hint. I sighed. “Since you drank mine, why don’t you go get us a refill?”
Another pout graced Mindy’s lips. “Have you seen how packed the bar is? It will take forever.”
“You could always get up,” Andrea suggested.