Chapter 5
Five
Tabitha
Henry is so handsome. So tall. Even his hands are beautiful—large, with long fingers and perfect square-shaped nails.
And he’s reaching…
He wants to touch me.
And I want him to—
“Tabs!” Angie bounces through the French doors. “What’s taking you so long? Sage says the burgers are ready.”
I swallow, my cheeks burning, as Henry snatches his hand away.
The abrupt intrusion shatters the moment. Henry goes rigid, and I try to hide my disappointment.
I force a smile, though it feels more like a grimace. “I was just… I’ll be out in a sec.”
“You too.” Angie grabs Henry and drags him outside, Zach following at his heels.
I breathe in.
Henry.
We almost…
I bring myself back to reality and join the others outside where I inhale the savory scent of the burgers.
On the table, which is covered in a red checkered cloth, is a pitcher of something light green. Margaritas maybe? When did Sage or Angie have a chance to make those?
Sage puts the burgers on a platter and brings them to the table. “Steel beef with Ava’s brioche buns. A little tomato, lettuce, onion, ketchup, and mustard, and we’re set.”
Then she ambles over to the outside bar and returns with four highball glasses and four shot glasses on a tray. “Limeade and tequila shots?” She beams.
She returns to the bar and brings over a bottle of reposado.
“So that’s limeade,” I say. “I was wondering when you had the chance to make a pitcher of margaritas.”
“Margaritas are way too sweet,” Angie says. “Except for our cousin Donny. It’s his favorite drink.”
The comment edges a smile onto Henry’s face.
“Good old Don,” he says. “But I’ll pass on tequila shots. In fact, I’ll pass on dinner, but thanks.”
Angie looks at him then, her pretty dark eyes pleading with her brother. “Come on, Henry. Please? Tabitha’s here. Sage and I made dinner—”
That gets a chuckle out of Henry. “That is an event in itself,” he says dryly. “Where’s Anya?”
“It’s her day off.” Sage sets out four plates and napkins. Then she pours four glasses of limeade. “Anya makes it very tart,” she says. “That’s how most of us in the family like it.”
“Sounds amazing,” I say. “And refreshing.”
“Shot?” Sage glances at me, her eyebrows raised.
“Sure, why not?” A rush of blood warms my cheeks. “I’ve actually never done a tequila shot. But I do like a margarita, so I guess I’ll like tequila by itself.”
Sage pours me a shot and hands it to me along with a glass of limeade. Then she pours shots for Angie and herself.
“Henry? Bourbon? Dad’s got some Peach Street in the bar.”
Henry sighs. “Sure, why the fuck not?”
Sage disappears behind the bar again and returns with a bottle of bourbon. “The guys in our family love the stuff,” she says. “Personally, I’ve never had a big taste for it, but Angie likes it every now and then, don’t you?”
Angie nods. “It’s really smooth. Kind of smoky and caramelly. But tonight I think I’m in for the shots.”
Sage pours Henry a finger of the bourbon in a lowball glass.
He takes it and shoots it in one gulp.
Sage raises her eyebrows. “Guess I could have poured you a shot.”
Henry simply sets the glass down. “One more, and this time I’ll sip it.”
I’m not a bourbon lover myself, but I can’t stop thinking about what Henry’s tongue might taste like in my mouth after he drank the liquor so quickly.
I bet he tastes like that caramel, that smokiness. Probably a little bit of spice too.
My thoughts are interrupted by Sage, who holds up her shot glass. “Bottoms up, ladies,” she says and shoots the tequila before taking a long drink of her limeade. She exhales. “Damn, that’s good.”
Angie holds up her shot glass, gesturing to me. I do the same, clinking my glass against hers. And then I shoot the tequila.
Wow.
It’s actually delicious, and I—
“Now the limeade,” Sage says.
I stop my thoughts and take a couple of drinks of limeade.
It is really tart. But quite refreshing, and perfect after the tequila.
“What do you think?” Sage asks.
“I wouldn’t say no to another,” I say.
“Now that’s what I like to hear.” Sage pours me another shot of tequila, along with one for herself and for Angie.
But I don’t drink it right away.
Angie and Sage both shoot theirs and drink more limeade.
“What are you waiting for?” Sage asks.
“I want to think about it for a little bit,” I say. “Tequila… I might sip the shot.”
“Sip?” Sage says as if I’ve just grown a second head.
“Yeah.” I shrug. “I’m not sure I’ve ever had tequila by itself, and I really like the flavor. It was…kind of smoky. Not sweet but something like sweet.”
“That’s the agave,” Henry says. “You’re probably tasting a little bit of vanilla too. Maybe a little honey. Which is also from the agave.”
I regard him, my head tilted. “You know about tequila?”
“Yeah.” He offers a small smile. “I know about most liquor. Doesn’t mean I like to drink all of it. But good tequila, especially reposado or anejo, is delicious.”
“Then why don’t you join us?” I ask.
He smirks. “Because I don’t do shots.”
I lift my eyebrows at him.
“The bourbon I had earlier… That wasn’t a shot,” he says. “It was a…very fast drink.”
I can’t help a giggle.
This is the Henry I remember.
The one with a personality. The one who smiles a lot.
Even though I only met him a few hours before…
I shake my head to clear it.
I don’t like thinking about that night either.
I didn’t shoot anyone. God, I wouldn’t know how to. I’ve never touched a gun.
But it was a scary night. Freaking terrifying.
Ralph had gone crazy, and I wasn’t sure Angie—or any of us—were going to get out of there alive.
Angie couldn’t bear to go back into her house after that, so she moved in with Jason. He was her neighbor anyway. He lives three townhomes down in a gated community in Boulder. She offered her townhome to me as a rental, but I couldn’t bear to live there either.
I take another sip of my tequila.
This time I taste the honey and the vanilla.
“Why don’t more people drink tequila like this?” I ask. “This is really intriguing. And delicious.”
“That’s because it’s good tequila,” Henry says. “Bad tequila doesn’t taste like that.”
“Oh?”
He shakes his head. “It kind of tastes like rubbing alcohol combined with burned rubber.”
I wrinkle my nose. “It’s good in margaritas.”
“Anything is good when you mix it with lime juice and sugar,” Henry says.
I suppose he has a point there.
I take another sip of the tequila, let it flow over my tongue a bit and swallow. I wait a moment before taking a sip of limeade.
“You two should try it like this,” I say to Angie and Sage. “The limeade tastes even better after you let yourself savor the tequila.”
Angie nods, but Sage shoots hers. “Not my jam,” she says. She then tops off our limeades. “Time for burgers.”
We all take a seat at the table. The table is huge, so we sit at one end. Angie and Sage sit side by side, which leaves me sitting next to Henry.
Did they plan this?
No. Angie and Sage are twins. They’re probably used to sitting together.
“You’re the guest.” Angie hands me a platter of burgers.
I take one and set it on my plate. Then she passes me a platter of buns, followed by the veggies.
I love onion on a burger. Especially a sweet onion, which these are. But I’m sitting next to Henry, and he did almost kiss me in the kitchen…
I forgo the onion and take a slice of lettuce, a slice of tomato, and a few pickle chips. Then a little bit of ketchup and a tiny dot of mustard.
I’m surprised there’s no cheese on the table.
As if reading my thoughts, Sage pops up. “I forgot the cheese.” She heads back into the house.
“What’s a burger without cheese?” Henry asks.
“I don’t know,” I say. “I kind of like my burgers without cheese. I like to be able to taste the meat.”
Angie laughs. “No cheese will cover the taste of Steel meat. All of our beef is grass fed, and it’s savory to a fault. It’s always the main focus of any burger, no matter what you put on it.”
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard Angie sing the praises of Steel beef.
I’m not quite sure how to tell her that the few times I’ve had it, it tastes just like regular beef to me.
Then again, I’m certainly not a meat connoisseur.
I grew up very modestly compared to Angie.
I’m a child of the suburbs. My father is an insurance risk manager, and my mother’s a teacher. Needless to say, I’m in debt up to my eyeballs for medical school. Even though I had a scholarship for my undergrad.
Sage returns with the cheese, and Henry grabs a slice to slap on his burger.
He also has a giant slice of onion.
My heart falls just a little as I look at his plate.
Guess he wasn’t planning on kissing me after all.