When Sky Breaks: Burn & Break Duet Book 2

3. Sky

“I can already tellthis is going to be our new favorite spot,” Phoebe says as we enter through the heavy wooden doors.

Tipsy Tabletop, situated on a triangular lot, spans two stories high, with an outside loft bursting with people. We’re close to the big town college, and on a Friday evening at ten, the night is just beginning.

Graham gestures me in after Phoebe like the gentleman he is, and I immediately get hungry. It smells like the ultimate bar food. Greasy burgers, onion rings, and gooey mozzarella sticks.

“If you’re on a diet, Phoebs, you’re screwing it tonight.” I follow her to an open table near the back. A neon sign of a martini glass lights up on the wall, and a small, lit candle sits atop the table.

She laughs. “Why do you think I had a light dinner? Been craving this shit all day. When’s Johnny coming?”

I sit and pull my phone out to check for any messages. “He was going to go home and shower first after his shift.”

“Perfect. I’m so excited he agreed to come.” She claps her hands and wiggles in the seat before turning to Graham, who takes my purse along with hers and stuffs them in the booth’s corner. “Are you happy not to be the lone wolf?”

“Bee, I’m just going to sit here and watch you two ladies have fun whether the doc comes or not.”

She pouts. “You won’t dance with me?”

He pulls on one of her coils, watching it spring back in place. “Of course I will. But in the meantime, I’m warming this booth.”

“I’ll grab us drinks,” I say, sliding from the crinkly leather seat. “What do you guys want?”

“Surprise me,” Phoebe chirps and Graham gives me his choice of beer.

The air churns with a combination of men’s cologne and sugary drinks as I weave through the crowd, finding the bar top already sticky as I lean against it to order. “Two”—I browse the menu written in chalk above the bar—“uh, Blue Cosmos and a Michelob Ultra. Please.”

While the bartender makes our drinks, I let my eyes wander. The place is full of barely twenty-one-year-olds out for the college game streaming on the TVs in all corners of the bar.

As I wait, I brace my arms on the bar top, hoping Johnny isn’t annoyed about being here. Even I’m annoyed, and I’m of the right age group to get rowdy on the weekends.

Once I’m back at the table and sipping on my cocktail, my nerves kick in. Bars have never truly been my scene. When I turned twenty-one, Phoebe dragged me out to the clubs, and while I had fun, the hangover the next day made me never want to pick up another drink. Of course, I’d say that and then let her bring me back to another bar the following weekend. It was a rite of passage into adulthood that she wouldn’t let me miss out on.

The dance floor fills with people, the bass vibrating the tiles beneath our feet.

Phoebe bumps my shoulder lightly. “Come on, let’s dance before your lover boy gets here and steals all your attention.”

Graham hangs back with our stuff, and Phoebe leads me to a space underneath the strobe lights. I think they’re cheesy in a more upscale bar, but who am I to judge? I miss the glow-in-the-dark stars all over my childhood bedroom ceiling, and I’m a grown adult.

Soon though, the alcohol infuses my veins, and I let the beat take me away. I don’t think about the hospital and the never-ending stress of little patients relying on me. Or the way I use work as an excuse to avoid the real world.

The warm lights caress my skin, and the heat from all the bodies makes me sweat as we dance. I’m startled from my trance when a hand snakes around my waist and pulls me flush to a hard chest. Fear bursts through my body, and I squeak, trying to wiggle away.

“It’s just me, babe.”

At his voice, I relax and spin around to face a grinning Johnny towering over me.

“Hi.” A smile forms as I smell the expensive cologne on his dress shirt. I almost forget about Phoebe until she clings to my arm, her nails digging.

“Damn,” she whispers in my ear. “He’s much hotter than the last time I saw him. Look at the way his shirt clings to his biceps. Girl, you better leave here and go back to his place. I might even lock you out of the apartment, so you don’t have a choice.”

“Stop it.” I nudge her in the stomach as I watch him study me under the lights of the dance floor. His eyes rake over my body, and my face flushes as they flash with what I can only assume is desire. I’ve made him wait for sex, and while the buzz of alcohol urges me to step over that line with him, I still hesitate.

“Get out of your head, Sky.” She pushes me toward Johnny and sneaks around us. “I’m going back to Graham. Good to see you again, Doc.”

Johnny nods to Phoebe without taking his eyes off me, and anxiety zips through my belly.

“Want to go back to the table or grab a drink?”

With a slight shake of his head, he moves closer. “No. I want to be right here.” He wraps an arm around my waist again and tugs me close, putting a long leg in between mine.

I grab onto his shoulders and let him take the lead as we dance provocatively on the dance floor. My chest grows tight with anticipation.

His eyes are bright, and his smile widens as if my reactions amuse him. Leaning in, his breath skates across the thin skin near my ear. “I want you to come home with me tonight.” A tiny gasp leaves my mouth, and he pulls back to smirk. “Just think about it. No pressure.”

After two more songs, we leave the dance floor panting and join Phoebe and Graham at the table. My wild heart thumps in nervous anticipation as Johnny’s heavy footsteps sound behind me. Palms slick with sweat, I slide into the booth next to Phoebe while Johnny takes an outside seat across from us.

Although the atmosphere is casual and alcohol dulls my senses, goosebumps pebble along my skin as Johnny scrutinizes me with an intense stare. It’s like he’s gauging my reaction to his proposition. A little smirk plays on his lips, and my first instinct is to wipe it away for assuming too much about me and what I plan to do.

Phoebe interrupts his silent probing with a loud slurp to her nearly empty drink. “Johnny, how are you? Sky said this place might be a little much for you since you’re thirty and this hotshot doctor.”

He slides his gaze from mine, and I blow out a breath. Maybe I’m nervous because it’s exactly what I want. His firm body over mine, his delicate fingers tracing up my spine and tangling in my hair.

August used to do that—no.

This is not the time to think about the many ways your ex knew your body intimately.

Johnny answers Phoebe, and it must be funny because she laughs.

Graham catches my eye and raises a brow to ask if I’m okay. I swallow and nod, reaching for my drink, sucking up the rest, my face puckering as the strong alcohol slides down my throat.

“I hear you two are in law school. Who are the hot shots now?” Johnny says before sipping his light beer with an elegant lift to his lips.

I suppose he is charming. Bet he could say whatever he wanted and at least half the girls in this bar would drop their panties for him.

So why am I being so resistant?

The three of them volley back and forth, discussing things that go over my head as I inhale the fries we ordered. It’s good they’re all getting along. This means if Johnny and I become a real thing, half the chore of introducing him to my close friends is over.

Johnny glances over at me as I stuff the last greasy fry into my mouth, a slight grimace overtaking his face. Before I can frown over his overt distaste for the delicious fried food I love, he holds out a smooth hand. “Do you want to dance some more?”

Phoebe nudges my side once I don’t immediately move. “Go. Graham and I will hang out here.” She wiggles her thick eyebrows. She’s so obvious in her meddling I almost laugh.

After I clean off the excess grease from my fingers, I take Johnny’s hand and let him scoop me from the booth and into his embrace, his arms encircling my waist, as he drops a kiss on the top of my head. “Here’s to hoping I can convince our girl here to give me a real shot.”

Phoebe winks, and Graham’s chuckle gets lost to the bar noise as Johnny whisks me back to the dance floor.

Several songs later, I’ve completely forgotten about everyone else around me—my thoughts on Johnny’s question. It’s what I wanted, right? Someone to make me feel and make me forget what happened. Maybe I should just jump in and quit being so scared of getting hurt. Johnny’s a good guy. Perhaps a little too confident, but he’s been nothing but honest about who he is from the beginning. And trusting someone is the most important thing to me.

A split-second decision—likely alcohol-fueled—is all it takes before I drag Johnny by the hand to an empty alcove near a back hallway. I push him to the wall and his brown eyes brighten right before I crash my lips to his. There’s a hint of whiskey on his breath and tongue as it plunges deep alongside mine.

“Fuck,” he says as I release him after a minute of full-on making out. “Does this mean yes?”

“Maybe.”

He quirks a brow, and I move to pounce on him again. I don’t know where this sense of urgency is coming from, but my skin buzzes, and my senses grow heightened as he squeezes my ass over my jeans when I’m flush with his hard body.

“Maybe this will convince you some more,” he says, his voice throaty.

In the dark corner, images race through my mind, and the arms currently banded around my waist morph into August’s. It’s his breath on my forehead, his scent in my nose, and his warmth at my front.

With a sharp inhale, I stumble back and slam my eyes shut.

It’s not August. It’s Johnny, and he’s the one you want. He’s the one making you live and experience a life you never would’ve known.

A hand cups my cheek, and a thumb presses against my lips. I blink my eyes open and it’s Johnny’s sparkling ones that greet me. Surging up, I capture his mouth again, flinging my arms around his neck.

This is right. Right? It feels right. I think. He’s a great kisser. And he’s mostly nice and smart and?—

“Um, excuse me. Yeah, hi. Okay, hate to break up this little love fest, but I need to talk to Sky.”

Breaking from the kiss, I flinch at the voice behind me.

Johnny curls his fingers around my forearms to keep me from moving. A painful rhythm pounds inside my chest.

How? Why is he here?

Johnny clears his throat. “In case it isn’t obvious, allow me to clarify. I’m Sky’s boyfriend, and we’re busy.”

Before the word boyfriend registers, the voice at my back speaks again, this time with a swell of annoyance I know all too well.

“Right, right. Okay, well, I’ll clear things up for you, man. Sky’s my sister, and I need to talk to her.”

Finally, I whip around, steeling myself for the inevitable moment.

Trek’s sharp blue eyes regard Johnny behind me before shifting to mine and softening around the edges. “Hi, sis. Been a long time.”