Page 26 of Licks

“Exactly.”

Jimmy lifted his wineglass, studying its garnet color through the light. A sophisticated move for such a rough guy. “If this is how you guys talk while we’re at the table, what do you say when you’re alone?”

“Nothing,” Rachel blurted.

Ainsley tipped up her chin. “We’ll never tell.”

I snickered. I doubted he’d want to hear how we’d discussed his cock in detail, a fun topic we brought up with Rachel as often as possible. Anything to make our friend blush.

“Anyhoo.” Ainsley was on a roll, intent on making me crack. “What’s soccer man’s name again?”

“August.” Owen took a healthy pull on his beer. “We played with him, weekends and evenings in the California Regional League. Went to different schools, but we hung out plenty.”

The soccer guys. The coincidence still astounded me.

Jealousy would sting me every time August would go out and have fun with his friends, while I’d break my brain over calculus and science. My mother’s strict rules had also included a curfew. Another barrier to tagging along with August. I’d never ask for details about his nights, hadn’t wanted to know who he’d seen, what he’d done. Hearing about his fun would only have enflamed my envy.

But I had attended his odd soccer match, would watch from the sidelines with his family. Back then, I’d only had eyes for him. Hadn’t paid the other players a lick of attention.

Now we were all friends.

“Right. August.” Ainsley nodded at Owen like she’d forgotten the only guy I’d ever mooned to them about. The actress was being a sneak. “Was he as hot back then?”

She also had a one-track mind.

Owen’s brown eyes swirled with amusement. “Emmett asked him out once. No. Wait…” He shook his head and smiled. “Twice. It was definitely twice.”

Ainsley hitched her shoulders, hands clutched together excitedly. “Does that mean August’s gay? Is that why he and Gwen never hooked up?”

Owen’s brother was in a relationship now, but I’d heard stories about his rampant dating prior, how much of a player Emmett had been. Learning he’d hit on August when younger wasn’t a surprise. August’s hot factor had been just as high back then.

What was a surprise was having August turn up right as Ainsley asked that mortifying question.

“I’m not gay,” August said, sidling up to our table. His eyes were trained on me, skewering me with enough heat to spark a wildfire.

My breath stalled as I attempted to douse those rising flames, because wow, did he clean up well.

His worn jeans hugged his narrow hips, a few threads at the seams escaping. His plain black T-shirt accentuated his wide shoulders and sinewy arms. His dark hair was still damp, my favorite cowlick swimming against the current. A hint of minty aftershave wafted from his clean-shaven cheeks, and I ached to run my nose along that smooth jawline.

Until he answered the latter of Ainsley’s questions. “Gwen and I didn’t hook up because we had a misunderstanding in college, and she slept with my brother.”

Owen and Jimmy froze. Rachel and Ainsley’s eyes filled half their faces. My world tipped upside down, like I’d bungee jumped, my stomach remaining sky high while the rest of me plunged.

Ignoring the statue game going on around the table, August leisurely pulled out the chair opposite me. He slid my wineglass toward him and took a sip, licking his lips as he swallowed. He grinned at me.

Grinned.

At me.

If he were closer, I’d twist his nipple so hard, he’d see the Milky Way.

“Glad you could make it and turn my friends into stone,” I told him, my voice rising in pitch and aggravation. “The girls and I are going to the bathroom now. Together. Like girls do. We might be a while.”

My chair screeched on the concrete floor as I used my head and thumbs to gesture toward the back of the bar. Rachel and Ainsley picked up on my game of charades lickety-split and followed my hurried strides into the bathroom.

The space was decorated like a country porch, complete with cushioned seat, barn-style stalls, and sunflowers. “He’s insane,” I said as I fell onto the yellow cushion.

Rachel covered her mouth with her hand. “I can’t believe he blurted that.”