Chapter 5 #2
“I bet you two lost your cherry with each other. Shit, it’s probably been like the blind leading the blind.” Natasha shook her head.
“A little,” Neil agreed.
I bit my lip. It’s not that I knew nothing. I read, and I looked up things. With more hands-on experience, I’d keep getting better, but Neil never wanted to try anything new.
“We’ve given each other a hall pass tonight,” Neil was telling her. “We came together to help pick someone out for each other.”
“Did you now?” Natasha was looking at Neil, and her smile was the one she’d used on Jack. “Did you have a certain type of person in mind?”
Neil was turning red, his eyes skimming over Natasha. “Not really. Someone as beautiful as you would be out of my league, though.”
I wondered if he realized what that implied about me, my heart sinking as they smiled at each other.
“I meant for her. What kind of guy would you pick out for her?”
Even his ears had turned red. “I’m not sure.”
I liked Natasha, and he was attracted to her. I swallowed the lump in my throat. “You said you normally do casual. Would you be interested in something like this?”
Natasha studied me. “Depends. Are you really okay with it?”
I pictured the two of them together, and there was less swirling in my stomach. Somehow, that I had talked to her and liked her made the idea seem easier. “I think you’d have a lot to teach him.”
“And you would reap all the benefits from that.” She laughed. “I get it. That’s actually pretty smart.” She eyed Neil again. “Switch seats with me?”
“Sure.” It felt strange to sit in a different seat. Without my back to the door, I could see Sean at the entrance. His gaze was on Natasha and Neil, who were turned toward each other and leaning in. When Sean looked at me with his eyebrows lifted, I shrugged. He shook his head, frowning.
I finished eating all the pineapple chunks from the umbrella as I tried not to eavesdrop on my boyfriend with another woman.
Listening to their soft murmurs was more awkward than I thought it would be.
With nothing else to do, my drink was drained quicker than usual, and I sat there twirling the little umbrella between my fingers.
“Here, try this one,” Jack said, slipping a new drink in front of me. This one had a green umbrella poked through cherries instead. The yellow was a lighter color, and bubbles clung to the side of the glass.
“Thank you,” I said, straightening a little. I took a sip and ended up humming a little because it was so good.
“A winner, then,” Jack said, smiling at me. He glanced at where Neil and Natasha were talking. “You okay?”
“Yeah, of course.” I pushed the last of my unease down.
Choosing someone for him made up for messing up his time with Lexi, even if it hadn’t been intentional, and I was fairly confident Natasha would make sure it was good for them both.
“What band is coming in tonight?” I had to look over my shoulder to see the stage, which already had people setting things up.
I missed being able to see it more easily, but I pushed the complaint down.
Jack leaned on the bar. “I think you’ll like them. The sound is similar to last week, but there’s also…”
I enjoyed listening to Jack talk about music. His cheeks would flush and his eyes got warmer. He talked with his hands when he got excited, and his quick air guitar riff made me laugh.
When I pulled off a cherry from the new umbrella and dropped the stem onto my napkin, Natasha pointed at it. “Aren’t you going to tie that in a knot with your tongue?”
I flushed at the suggestion, staring at the straight red stem.
“Hailey can’t do something like that,” Neil piped up.
“Well, not yet,” Natasha said with a wink. She gestured toward the umbrella I still held that had more cherries. “Give me one, and I’ll show you.”
I hesitated, my stomach swirling as my mouth went dry.
“No, I meant Hailey can’t physically do it. She’s tongue-tied.”
That he’d said it out loud made me wince. He knew I felt insecure about it. Heat spread along my arms and up my neck, and there was a clamminess to it that made my heart thud too loud.
“What do you mean?” Natasha asked with a frown.
“Go ahead, show them,” Neil urged.
Jack had been glancing between us and frowning. I shifted in my seat, all the joy from a moment ago flooding away.
Still nervous, I opened my mouth, lifting my tongue as far as I could so they could see. It wasn’t very far. A piece of tissue held my tongue down in the front, and it hurt if I stretched it too much.
“Show them how far you can stick it out, too,” Neil said with a laugh. “It’s hilarious.”
My mouth clamped shut. I swallowed, setting the umbrella with the cherries down because my hand was shaking.
“It’s called ankyloglossia. Doctors normally look for it in babies and fix it, but no one caught mine.
It can cause speech issues, but since it didn’t with me, it never came up, and I didn’t realize it was different until I was already an adult.
” My shoulders hunched. I hadn’t realized until Neil had complained about my kissing technique.
“Huh. I thought being tongue-tied was just an expression,” Natasha said. “Does that mean you can’t give as much tongue action when you’re kissing?”
I bit my lip.
Neil laughed again, staring at Jack. “Yeah, well—”
“Let’s stop talking about this,” Jack cut him off. His gaze flicked to my face as he straightened.
My hands had slipped to my lap, and they ached from how hard I clutched them together. “It’s okay,” I mumbled, but it really wasn’t.
“Hey, can I get my check?” Natasha asked, pulling the attention to her.
Jack nodded. My stomach sank a little more when he moved away.
I stared down at the cherries. Maybe I should again look into getting my tongue-tie fixed.
I read online that it was usually a simple procedure, but the doctor had told me to talk to my dentist, and the dentist had referred me to an oral surgeon.
It had just seemed complicated for something that didn’t bother me much.
“We’re going to go now,” Neil said, suddenly standing at my side.
I blinked at him. “What, already? You’re not going to listen to the band any?”
Neil rolled his eyes. “Really, Hailey? You think I’d be more interested in that than in…” He glanced toward Natasha, who was signing her check. Her hair had swung forward, brushing her cleavage.
She really was beautiful. I had somehow picked out the perfect woman for him. I should probably feel prouder about that.
I realized he hadn’t even tried to pick out anyone for me yet. “You can’t leave!” I said in a panic.
Neil’s jaw tightened.
“No, I mean, you can, but you’re supposed to pick someone for me.”
Neil’s eyes widened, and his hand rubbed at the back of his neck. “Right.” He started scanning the bar.
My stomach sank, and a chill crept up my neck.
“Him,” Neil said, nodding toward the far side of the bar.
The man sitting there was older than us, probably in his forties, his dark hair sprinkled with silver.
He had a strong, square jaw, close-set eyes, and a pert nose that pointed up.
He wasn’t looking our way, at least, so he didn’t catch me staring at him.
“Oh, well—”
“Are we ready?” Natasha asked, pressing close to Neil’s side.
“Yes,” Neil said, eager to go with her.
Natasha was studying my face, and she leaned closer. “You’re sure you’re okay with this?”
I swallowed. “Yes.” The word came out firmer than I was expecting.
“Good luck with the bartender,” she murmured before straightening.
The bartender? She must mean Jack. I opened my mouth to tell her it wasn’t like that, but she was already following Neil to the door.
I stared after them, and Sean looked back at me, his eyebrows drawn together.
I forced a smile, shifting my glass to my original seat and switching barstools.
My spine felt less tight there, and I could see the stage better.
“You really okay with that?” Jack asked, frowning toward the door.
“Yeah, it was the plan for tonight. To pick out people for each other.”
“Hailey, you—” He pressed his lips together, shaking his head and looking away.
“I did pretty good, didn’t I? Natasha seemed nice, and she’s gorgeous.”
Jack sighed. “And who did he pick out for you?”
I flushed, glancing toward the older dark-haired man, but he looked back in my direction this time and our eyes met. My chin dipped to the bar.
Jack made a sound in his throat. “That’s a terrible choice.”
“What? Why?” I chanced a glance down the bar, and the man in question nodded toward me, making my eyes drop again.
“Trust me on this,” Jack said.
“I do, it’s just…” I swallowed. My hands ached, and I forced them to relax. Here I was, slouching again when Natasha had warned me about that. I straightened my back but couldn’t quite meet Jack’s gaze. “Don’t you think the practice would be good for me? Even if he shoots me down?”
“I wasn’t saying he’s going to shoot you down,” Jack muttered. He sighed, leaning on the bar, his hands settling in my view. “You really want to try this?”
I lifted my gaze. He was looking at me steadily, not frowning, but there also weren’t any of those laugh lines by his eyes.
“I wouldn’t even know what to do. How do I get him to notice me?”
“Oh, he noticed you,” Jack muttered, but then he sighed. “You could always send him a drink to let him know you’re interested.”
I felt stupid for not thinking of that myself. “Right. Let’s do that. I’ll add another of whatever he’s drinking to my tab.”
“Right. I’m definitely charging you for this one.” His lips tilted up.
I laughed. “You should be charging me for all of them.”
He shook his head, straightening. “Wendy has been taking care of him. I’ll have her do it, and she’ll let him know it’s from you.” I watched as Jack walked over to the other bartender, leaning in to talk to her.
The cherries caught my eye again, and I picked up the umbrella, popping the rest of them in my mouth and putting all the stems on the napkin. I curled it up in my hand so I wouldn’t have to see them anymore.
“Hey,” a deep voice said from my side as the dark-haired man took the barstool. “Thanks for the drink.”
I choked on the cherries, forcing myself to swallow them before I coughed them all out. I pressed a hand to my chest, turning my face away from him to finish coughing and reaching for my drink to hopefully stop making a fool of myself.
“Sorry. You startled me,” I admitted, glancing back at him.
His square jaw seemed to have tightened, and he didn’t smile. He tilted his head. “Are you okay now?”
“Yes, I am. Thank you,” I said. A silence fell between us. I’d been so worried about getting his attention, and then about the cherries, that I hadn’t thought about what to say to him.
Jack’s voice came from the stage; he was introducing the band. They thanked him, and then there was a nice distraction of music. He’d been right. I liked them as much as I did the last band, and my head bobbed to the beat.
The dark-haired man leaned in closer. “What’s your name?” he asked.
“I’m Hailey!” I had to shout to make sure he heard it. He tried to tell me his name, but I couldn’t catch it over the music. I leaned in closer so I could ask him to repeat it, but he was already talking.
“Do you want to get out of here?” he asked. “Go somewhere quieter?”
I blinked. He wanted me to leave with him? After only exchanging names or, I guess, attempting to?
“I want to listen to them play,” I said, gesturing toward the band.
The man’s jaw tightened. “You like this crap?”
Okay, so maybe Jack was right about this guy. I looked toward the band, my heart thumping in my chest. It was fine. I didn’t even have to try to talk to him with the music playing.
When the song ended, I risked glancing back, but he wasn’t there. I found him across the room near the pool table, talking to a couple of women.
Jack set a basket of fries in front of me as the next song started up. I picked up one of them, but it was too hot, and I dropped it back in. “You were right,” I admitted, but I didn’t shout it to make sure he heard.
His smile meant he likely had anyway, but he didn’t rub it in.