Chapter 10
Jacob
“Cheers to you, ya old fuck,” Blake said, clapping Darren on the shoulder and tapping his glass against ours. I took a long gulp of the beer, swallowing back a laugh.
Darren rolled his eyes, but the grin that stretched his cheeks betrayed him. He was loving every minute of it. “Are you going to say that with every drink we have?”
Blake nodded proudly, setting his glass down harder than necessary and causing some of the beer to slosh over the side and onto the already somewhat sticky table. “Probably!” He laughed loudly. “You’re the one who wanted a guy’s trip for your birthday. You asked for this.”
“He’s right, you know.” I nodded. Blake looked shocked when I agreed with him.
Darren scoffed when Blake half bowed, his head swelling with obvious pride. “See? We’ll go back to calling you old without the celebration when we head back to Chicago tomorrow.”
“Wonderful.” Darren took a drink to hide his smile. “You guys are assholes.”
“You love us.” Blake winked at him, slapping him harder than necessary on the back.
I set my glass on the table, resting my elbows on the edge. “Speaking of going back to Chicago tomorrow,” I said, earning a raised brow from both of my friends, “I’m going to hang back a couple more days.”
“Why?” Darren asked, suspicion thick in his voice.
“It’s because of Liz’s sister, huh?” Blake added. When Darren nodded, it was like they had already answered their own question.
I shook my head. “It has nothing to do with Erin or with Liz.” I scanned the room, my eyes landing on the Minnesota Wild jersey that hung on the wall. “I got tickets to the game tomorrow.”
My friends exchanged looks, debating whether or not to believe me. When the door opened behind me, they both looked amused, and I could tell by the way my hair stood on end that Erin had walked in behind me. “Speak of the devil,” said Darren.
I casually turned in the seat, scanning the old barrels and local artwork that lined the perimeter until my eyes landed on Erin. She stood in the doorway next to the same man that was with her at check-in, and she didn’t appear to see me. Her face was content, almost a mix of excitement and relief. She looked towards the bar, listening to the man next to her. Then she nodded, and he made his way to an open table off to the side.
Erin’s auburn hair flowed down her back when she walked, and when she got to the bar, she popped one of her legs behind her, balancing on her toe while she waited. I looked back at my friends, realizing too late I was smiling, and they were staring at me.
“I’m getting another beer,” I said, standing up and walking away from the table before they were able to point out the obvious irony. They mumbled and laughed behind me, and I knew if I turned around, I would have seen them watching me. I didn’t care.
She didn’t see me when I stepped up next to her, and when I cleared my throat, her back stiffened. “Hey, red. You know, you don’t have to keep following me.”
Erin took a deep breath, holding it for a second before exhaling and turning towards me. “I’m not.” She turned back towards the bartender, trying to get his attention with a wave of her pointer finger.
“You just happen to be here at the same time.” I nodded at the bartender, and he walked over towards us. Erin groaned next to me.
She looked at me from the corner of her eye. “It’s a popular brewery. We wanted a drink.” I looked back in the direction she pointed, seeing the man she walked in with. He sat at the table in a suit that was way too nice for a craft brewery in an old run-down building. The man looked out of place.
“Who is the dude?” I asked her. I didn’t have any right or reason to, but it didn’t stop me.
“Demetri. He’s my boss.” Erin was unamused, and when the bartender turned towards us to take our order, she chimed in, “Two pale ales, please.”
“Make that four pale ales and a lager.” I patted the counter next to her. “Put them on my tab.”
Erin rolled her eyes but smiled. “Thank you,” she said.
“My pleasure.” I smirked at her, feeling satisfied when her cheeks turned a dark pink. She tucked her tongue in her cheek, and the blush on her cheeks traveled to her neck. “I’m having dinner at Twin City Bistro tomorrow night at seven. If you’re still following me then, I’ll see you there.”
I grabbed the three beers I ordered. “I’m not following you!” she snapped, sucking in a sharp breath. “And I’m busy.”
“Sure, if you say so.” I winked, and Erin swallowed hard.
She quickly reached for the beers in front of her. “See you around, Jacob.”
“See ya, red.”
When Erin made it back to her table, the man she was with looked stern. He said something, and when she looked at me and nodded, his gaze followed. The man narrowed his eyes, and he tilted his head in a mildly threatening way, as if to suggest I keep my distance from Erin. I looked at him, noting the way each hair on his head lay neatly in place. I could take him.
“So you’re sure you’re not staying longer for her?” Darren asked when I set the beers down in front of them.
I shook my head. “I’m not staying for her. You’re trying to make something out of nothing.”
Blake chuckled. “You’re sure? I wouldn’t call it nothing. You could almost feel the sexual tension between the two of you all the way over here.”
Was it tension? I couldn’t tell if it was or if it was just hot in the bar. Remembering it was February in Minneapolis, I swallowed. I imagined bending Erin over the table we sat at, and my cock stirred in my jeans. I adjusted, taking a long gulp of beer.
“Fuck off,” I grumbled. “I’m staying for hockey. If she’s here, she’s here.” I didn’t tell them I hoped to run into her as often as possible in the next forty-eight hours.
My friends exchanged a look that told me they already knew I was lying—they knew it before she walked in the door. “So what happens if Liz finds out you fucked her big sister?”
I tried not to think about it. Liz had always been jealous, and she wasn’t particularly nice about it. She was the type of girl that sunk her claws in and didn’t allow another woman near me without throwing a fit. The irony that she had no problem spreading her legs for another man—maybe more—was too much.
“She’s not going to find out.” The beer I drank tasted bitter. It wouldn’t be pretty if she did. I was determined to make sure she didn’t. I was also determined to make Erin scream.
“If you say so, dude.” Blake lifted his beer, looking pointedly at my half-empty glass. Then he turned to Darren and held his up. “Cheers to you, ya old fuck!”
“Cheers to being old.” Darren laughed, clinking his glass with ours before he looked pointedly at me. “Or cheers to being dumb enough to revenge fuck your ex-girlfriend’s hot older sister.”
“Yeah, cheers to that one!” Their laughter echoed off the open-vaulted ceilings and drew attention in our direction. “To fucking your ex-girlfriend’s hot older sister!”
I groaned but hit my glass against theirs anyway. “You guys are idiots.” I glanced over my shoulder, and when my eyes met hers, she quickly turned her head away. How long had she been staring? I debated if she was able to hear us over the mumbling roar of the brewery. When she blushed but stared at me from the corner of her eye, I suspected she had been able to hear me. I smirked.
Cheers to being dumb enough to revenge fuck your ex-girlfriend’s hot older sister.