I pulled back onto the road and ignored the exchange between the guys. They both thought I was nursing a broken-heart. Well, they were right.
No one said another word until I pulled the truck into the parking lot of Wings. I’d driven about twenty miles south to the next town big enough for decent restaurants.
“You should’ve told me you were headed to Wings. I’d have shut up,” Jake made an excited whoop as he jerked open the backdoor of the truck and jumped out.
This was somewhere I’d never eaten with Ash. There weren’t many places that I didn’t have a memory of her so my choices had been limited. Tonight, I needed to get my mind off her and focus on my future—or at least my summer.
“I’m gonna eat my weight in some wings,” Ethan said in reply to Jake’s excitement over my choice of restaurant. At least I’d made them happy. Not that it mattered.
Opening the door, I went inside and stopped at the hostess stand. A tall girl with long blond hair pulled back in a ponytail smiled up at me with an appreciative gleam in her eye that I was used to. It had been habit for me to ignore that look in other girls’ eyes for so long that I automatically brushed it off. Tonight, I wasn’t going to do that. It was time I started flirting back.
I flashed a grin that I knew was pretty damn impressive because it was one Ashton always commented on. “Three please,” I told her and watched as her brown eyes got bigger and she blinked several times. She wasn’t exceptionally pretty but seeing her get all flustered was a nice balm to my ego.
“Oh...um... okay... yes... uh,” she stammered, reaching for the menus and instead knocking them to the floor.
I bent down beside her to help pick them up.
“I’m sorry. I’m not normally so clumsy,” she explained with two bright red splotches of color staining her cheeks.
“So, it’s just me then?” I teased.
A nervous giggle erupted from her and I realized she’d never do. I didn’t like giggles. Ash wasn’t a giggler.
Handing her the menus, I stood back up and pointedly shifted my attention elsewhere. I didn’t need to flirt with her anymore. She’d get the wrong idea.
“Okay, um, this way,” I heard her say. Both Ethan and Jake quickly fell in behind her. I started to follow when my gaze stopped its uninterested appraisal of the bar to focus in on a female I would happily let giggle all she wanted.
Auburn hair hung down her back and curled on the ends. Two very long legs were bare and crossed as she sat on the barstool and a silver backless high-heeled sandal dangled off the toe of a very dainty foot. I hadn’t seen the face of this one yet but from the back, she was a head turner. Major potential.
“You coming or what?” Jake yelled but I didn’t turn my head to see how far they’d gone or where they were being seated. Instead, I stood frozen watching her. Jake’s loud voice caught her attention and she turned in her seat and glanced over her shoulder toward him. The creamy smooth complexion was dotted with freckles. Normally, I wasn’t a fan of a lot of freckles but the bedroom look to her green eyes and full, almost unreal, looking lips made it all work. She started to turn back around after seeing what the yelling had been about when she froze and her eyes locked with mine.
Surprise, pleasure, and anxiety all flittered across her face as she studied me. I was fascinated. The bartender came up behind her and said something and she glanced back at him.
“Sawyer, man, come on,” Ethan called out this time. Tearing my gaze off the redhead, I made my way toward the table where the hostess was standing with our menus.
“Sawyer, wait,” a familiar voice stopped me in my tracks. Disbelief settled over me as I turned back around to see the pretty redhead making her way toward me. A short denim skirt stopped several inches above her knees as I made my way up her body appreciating the view. The white top she was wearing tied at her waist in some sort of loose knot and small glimpses of flat smooth stomach peeked out as she moved. Finally, I managed to get my focus off the impressive cle**age the shirt displayed to see her face. A small smile tugged on those ridiculously plump lips and recognition dawned on me.
No f**king way.
“Lana?” The incredulity in my voice was unmistakable. The last person I’d expected to see was Ashton’s cousin. The fact she was the girl I’d been checking out was even more shocking.
“Sawyer,” she replied with a full grin on her face.
“What’re you doing here?” I asked, thinking more along the lines of what the hell happened to you? She looked nothing like the girl I’d seen about seven or so months ago. That girl had been sweet, prim, and proper. This one in front of me was a walking sexual fantasy.
“Eating,” she quipped and I realized I was smiling. A real smile, not a forced one, for the first time in months.
“Well, yeah, I kind of gathered that. I meant what are you doing here, in south Alabama?” She pressed her lips together and then her tongue peeked out and nervously licked them. Hmmm... I wouldn’t mind tasting those lips either.
“I’m staying with Ashton this summer. My friend is headed to the beach so she’s dropping me off at Ash’s after we eat.”
Ash. Damn. Did she have to bring up Ashton? My good mood evaporated and I was once again forcing a smile. She glanced over my shoulder toward the table I had been headed to and frowned.
“You guys are already seated at a table?” She shot her frustrated gaze over toward the hostess stand. “Figures,” she muttered. I followed her gaze and saw the blonde hostess watching us with an irritated frown on her face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, turning my attention back to Lana.
She sighed and looked back at me. “We’ve been waiting on a table for at least fifteen minutes.”
Ah. The waitress had given us their table. I could fix this problem.
“Go get your friend and y’all come sit with us.”
Lana flashed a bright smile, “Okay, thanks. I’ll be right back.”
I watched as she spun around and walked back to the bar. Her backside was impossible not to watch as her hips swayed gently from side to side. Damn, Lana looked good.
Lana
“Ohmygod, did you just flirt with that hottie? Dang girl, when you decide to flaunt it you shoot high.” The awe in Jewel’s voice made me want to laugh. However, the fact I felt like I was about to throw-up kept the humor at bay. Sawyer had checked me out. His eyes had slowly scanned up my body. He’d paused at my boobs. I felt the need to fan myself with the stupid coaster under my drink.