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From the corner of my eye, I spot Krystal as she smiles to herself and walks out from behind the bar to head toward them. Probably to say hi to Angela, I think. She likes giving Angela grief about the time she drunkenly stroked her cheek and gushed over her “beautiful face.” Angela still counts it as the most mortifying thing she’s ever done while under the influence.
But all of Alice’s friends going out on a Monday night, at the same bar as Theo and me? This has the unsettling feeling of a bad omen. A sneaking suspicion grows in the back of my mind.
“Incoming.” Theo’s head turns when I gesture toward the entrance. Alice spots us and waves, that same knowing glint in her eyes. We wave back, watching as she sinks into a plush, upholstered lounge chair big enough to seat Christine and Angela on either side of her. I study Theo’s face, but he barely reacts. He sits up a little straighter, a wall closing over his easy expression.
“Hey.” I almost reach out for his hand but hesitate at the last second. “Are you okay?”
“Sure,” he says, but his voice is toneless. His silence is making me antsy, but I’m not sure what I can say to comfort him. My phone lights up with a notification, and since Theo’s attention is directed glumly at draining his drink, I check it.
A slew of messages from Angela confirms my suspicions.
I’m so sorry
Christine convinced everyone to come and spy on your date with Theo. I couldn’t convince Alice to stop them.
Btw is this a real date??? If so, I need DETAILS, girl!
I thank her for letting me know and assure her that this is far beyond the realm of a date. She texts back three sobbing emojis, and I roll my eyes before sending her a digital one. I’m about to remind her, in great detail, why dating Theo would be a monumentally bad idea when a warm presence beside me makes me turn my head. Theo is glancing down at the screen from over my shoulder.
I lock my phone and turn it over, cheeks reddening.
“Isn’t it rude to check your phone during a date?” Theo asks, smirking as my face heats further. I count my blessings he can’t see how red my cheeks are in the dim, artificial red lighting. His tone takes on a teasing quality that makes me want to cover my face with both hands. I barely manage to resist as it is.
“Come on, Marcela. Give me a fair chance. We’re supposed to be getting to know each other, here.” He knocks the tip of his shoe with mine and smirks. Is he teasing me?
“According to everyone at the engagement party, we already got to know each other plenty.” Oh god. Did those words actually come out of my mouth? Theo coughs, eyes shifting away from mine in embarrassment. Is he being sheepish, or does the thought of us together disgust him? Just as a bucket of shame washes over me, his face turns back to me.
His eyes are shining beneath the red light’s glow, mouth spread in a ridiculously large grin. I’m pretty sure it’s the first genuine smile I’ve seen on him. He lets out a deep, rumbling laugh, straight from his diaphragm. The tension in my shoulders from accidentally letting slip such a risqué remark dissipates, and I find myself laughing with him.
“This is so much worse than brunch,” he says, still laughing. “They actually came here to spy on us, didn’t they?”
“Yeah. That’s all your fault, by the way.” He has the audacity to crease his brows in confusion. I roll my eyes, not buying it. “Christine wants you. It’s all she can talk about whenever you’re in town.”
“Oh.”
There’s something like disappointment in his slumped shoulders, in the way the corners of his mouth turn down suddenly. I recognize the expression for what it is. It was only a few minutes ago that I was reveling in Ben’s possible jealousy that I was going out with his brother. I’ve inadvertently burst Theo’s bubble that Alice was jealous of us, and that that’s the reason she summoned her troops to the bar to do her recon.
“She’d make a good rebound, you know. Christine.”
He looks back at me, eyes cloudy. “Right,” he says, distracted. “Maybe. If she can get over that I chose you first.”
And just like that, the flash of vulnerability is replaced with something sharper. His mouth pulls up in a flirtatious grin, eyes scanning me up and down with the subtlety of a beacon. My heart thumps, and I’m sure my cheeks redden all over again as his eyes slowly trail down my body.
He’s Ben’s brother.
Ben’s older, sexier, NFL player brother. Up until we met up today, I’d been comfortable around him knowing there was no chance he’d want me, and because he’s eons out of my league, his attractiveness was a blip on my radar. Maybe it’s the atmosphere making me see him this way. Or maybe it’s the way he’s looking at me now, one brow arched, full mouth curved up on one side in the hint of a grin, blue eyes glittering. Is my attraction to him… reciprocated?
Before I dare find out, I turn my head away from him to catch my breath. The longer I’m around him, the faster common sense seems to leak out of my brain. Only, in my attempt to regain some of it back, I end up meeting three pairs of eyes from Alice’s table. They all dart away as soon as we make eye contact, and I turn back to Theo with a knowing look. He’s far too amused for my liking.
“You didn’t correct anyone after brunch, did you?”
“No,” he says, eyes glancing away from mine in an apologetic look I don’t believe for a second. Maybe I’m not the only one who wants to piss his brother off. “I thought it’d work in my favor if everyone just assumed. Sorry.”
I don’t say anything. It might work in my favor, too.
A hand on my shoulder makes me flinch, and when I turn around Alice is standing in front of me. She maneuvers between Theo and me, not bothering to face him as she says, “Theo, could you give me a minute with Marcela?”
He looks down at his feet with a mumbled “Sure” before seating himself three spots down from us. I glance across the bar at him before returning my attention to Alice, gulping down the sudden fear.
