Page 20 of Breaking Free
“I’m sure. Be safe, okay?”
“Okay.” I wait a beat. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she replies in a shaky voice.
9
I endup meeting Jay and a few of his friends in front of the bar.
“You ate, right?” It’s the first thing he says when he sees me. When I raise my brows, he continues, “Because we’re about to drink our weight in alcohol!”
I laugh. “I ate, but I also drove here.”
He cuts his hand through the air. “Don’t worry about that. We have a DD.” Turning toward the two people to his right, he says, “This is Bryant and Olivia.” He gestures to me. “This is Dom.”
“You’re always making new friends,” Olivia says with a smile. “Nice to meet you, Dom.”
“You too.”
Bryant gives me a once over before lifting his chin and grinning. Definitely gay and definitely checking me out. He’s not too bad on the eyes either. Tall and thin, soft looking skin, and someone I could definitely see myself having some fun with.
Jay chuckles, slapping my shoulder as he catches me looking Bryant up and down. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s head inside. The guys will be here soon. Shea texted me that they stopped for food first.”
Inside, the place is dark with neon lights flashing from another room, and the lamps hanging above the bar are a mix of red, blue, and green. Loud laughter and cheering filters in from the left, a group of people crowding around something.
“Mechanical bull,” Jay says into my ear. “People go crazy for it, but you ain’t about to catch me on that thing. Just so you know.”
I laugh. “Me neither. I’d just embarrass myself.”
“Down to the right is a dance floor. They play a decent mix of music.” He struts ahead to the bar, passing the bull on our left. “Whatever you want, they got it. What do you normally drink?”
I don’t bother to tell him I hardly drink, but I definitely feel like forgetting some shit tonight, so I say, “Give me whatever you usually get.”
He watches me for a second, a smile growing. “You sure?”
“Yeah.”
With a laugh, he turns around and gets the bartender’s attention, and now I’m starting to wonder what the hell he usually drinks.
Olivia and Bryant stand to our left, placing their orders, and I spin around to check out the room. It’s definitely more spacious than I anticipated. Though there’s a lot of people here, it doesn’t feel crowded. Half the tables are full, but most of the customers are standing. Music blasts, making people sway even if they aren’t on the dancefloor.
“Here you go,” Jay says, handing me a glass with dark liquid in it and then passing me a shot glass. “We always take shots first.”
“What the hell is this?” I ask, inspecting the reddish drink.
“It’s Liv’s favorite,” he replies, shooting her a wink that makes her roll her eyes and smile. “Red-headed slut.”
I take in Liv’s red hair and wonder if that’s why. She shakes her head. “It’s not just because of my hair. It’s a good drink.”
We all clink our glasses together. “To new friends.”
After swallowing down the shot and placing the empty glass on the bar top, I take a sip of whatever drink Jay gave me and instantly regret taking such a huge sip.
“What the fuck is this?”
He chokes out a laugh, almost spitting out his drink. “It’s Between the Sheets.”
“That helps a lot,” I deadpan. “I don’t know names of drinks.”