“That movie sucked,” Cody said as we left the movie theater. “I need a beer to get over how much it sucked.”
“I agree, it wasn’t that scary.” I laughed as I walked by his side. “I wouldn’t mind getting a cocktail to get over my lack of fear.”
“Hey, guys, as much as we’d love to join you for a drink, TJ and I have plans early in the morning, so I’m not sure that that will be possible.” Mila made a face. “Have a drink on me, though.”
“You’re not coming?” I looked at her in disappointment, my heart racing. As much as I wanted to spend time alone with Cody, and we had plenty of times already, it felt weird to be going to a bar, just the two of us. It almost felt like a date. Though I knew it wasn’t. At all.
“Sadly, no.” Mila shook her head and her eyes stared into mine with a glint. My heart started racing as I realized she was doing this on purpose. She was trying to get me to make a move. A real move. I knew it was time to just see if it was ever going to go anywhere, but the whole moment was just scaring the shit out of me.
“Where shall we go, Sally?” Cody looked at me with a questioning look. “You’re not going to flake out on me as well, are you?”
“Would I do that?” I laughed, my heart fluttering. He wanted me to come? I tried to tell myself that he didn’t really care if I came or not. I tried to tell myself that all he wanted to do was grab a drink and he didn’t care who was coming with him, but it was hard to tell myself that when all the hope in me was praying to God that it was because he secretly had feelings for me and wanted to spend the evening with me.
“I hope not.” He gave me a winning smile and then turned to Mila and TJ. “Okay, well, it was good seeing you guys. I’ll get Sally home safely.”
“You’d better.” Mila pointed her finger at him and then she looked over at me. “You sure you want to go out with Cody?”
“Sure, it’ll be fun.” I nodded and she winked at me and I tried not to laugh in giddiness.
“Ready, Sally?” Cody grabbed a hold of my hand and pulled me away from Mila and TJ. “Let’s leave these two lovebirds to figure something out. And let’s go and get a drink. Bye, guys.”
“Bye, guys,” I repeated to Mila and TJ as I gave them a small wave goodbye, wondering what I was getting myself into.
* * *
“You want a glass of wine?” Cody asked me as we walked into a crowded bar.
“I think I’ll have a cocktail, actually.” I laughed. “A Cosmo thanks.”
“Okay.” He nodded. “Wait here for me and I’ll be back.” He looked towards the packed crowds in front of him. “Unless you’d like to join the meat market with me?”
“No, I’m good here, thanks.” I smiled and readjusted my bag strap on my shoulder. “You go ahead and get the drinks. I’m thirsty.”
“Anything to oblige you, my dear.” He grinned and continued on his way to the bar. I stood there watching him for a few seconds and then looked around me to check out the scene. There were a good mix of people, ranging from mid-twenties to mid-forties, and there seemed to be a lot of singles flirting with each other. I watched as two girls were checking out a particularly good-looking blond guy and were trying to make eye contact with him, but he didn’t seem to be noticing them at all. I grinned to myself as I watched one of the girls flicking her hair and staring him down, but still he didn’t look at her. And then, because this was how life always goes, the hot guy looked up and stared at me. And because I’m awkward in these situations, I just continued to stare at him with the grin on my face. When I realized we were making eye contact, I looked away quickly and I could feel myself blushing.
“Hi, there.” I heard a deep voice right next to me and I looked up and saw the hot blond guy, who was even better looking closer up than he had been from a distance. His hair was a deep gold and his eyes were big, bright and a piercing blue. His face held a golden tan and his pearly white teeth were perfectly even as he smiled at me.
“Hi,” I said with a small smile. I looked over his shoulder and saw the two girls glaring at me.
“Waiting on a friend?” he said and looked around him before looking back at me.
“Kinda.” I nodded. “You?”
“I just came for a drink. By myself.” He smiled again. “It’s been a long week.”
“Work?” I asked him.
“Yeah.” He nodded and fake shuddered. “I’m an attorney and I’ve been in the middle of the most tedious document reviews for the last two weeks.”
“Sounds painful.”
“It was. My night is looking up now, though,” he said, his eyes twinkling as he looked at me. “Would you like a drink?”
“Oh, my friend went to get me a drink,” I said and looked towards the bar to see if I could see Cody. I felt weird saying that he was my friend, but what else could I say? The man I love who doesn’t care about me? No way.
“Oh, okay.” He nodded and his expression became thoughtful. “My name is Tom, by the way.”