“It’s your funeral,” Bart muttered and drained what was left of his beer. He lifted the empty bottle and gave me a pointed look. “We need another round. Are you going to go get it, or do you want me to add it to your tab?”
“I’ll go,” I said.
Jeremiah and Shawn finished their drinks too, and I took the empties with me to the bar. After I deposited them in the recycling bin next to the counter, I slid into an open spot and waited for one of the bartenders to finish with the customers they were busy serving.
“You look like you need a drink,” a feminine voice said from beside me.
I turned my head toward it and found myself facing a pretty girl with strawberry-blonde hair and huge blue eyes. She was smiling at me flirtatiously, twirling a lock of her silky hair between her fingers as her gaze swept over my face.
I chuckled, but I shifted back on my feet to put some distance between us. The woman was attractive, and she was definitely my type, but I wasn’t interested. “I do need a drink, but I guess we all do. Why else would we be at a bar?”
“Well, some of us come for the company,” she said. “Do you want to talk about why you need a drink? I’m a good listener.”
I smiled politely, careful not to do anything that might lead her on. In the past, I would have invited her back to our table to sit with us. Then I would have gone home with her. But even though she was beautiful, I didn’t have any interest in pursuing her.
“Thanks for the offer, but I’m okay.” The bartender approached us, and I motioned toward the girl to signal that she’d been there first.
After she ordered some fancy cocktail, she turned back to me. “My friends and I are at the table in the corner over there.”
She pointed at the one she was talking about. “You’re welcome to join us if you want. It’ll be a squeeze to fit you and your friends in with us, but we can make it work. I sure wouldn’t mind the close quarters.”
“Thank you again, but we’re going to have to pass.”
Disappointment flashed in her eyes, but she shrugged. “You seem nice. Polite, at the very least. If you change your mind, you know where to find me. The offer will still stand.”
The bartender delivered her drink, and she raised it at me before turning around and walking back to her table. I didn’t watch her go. Instead, I put in my order with the bartender and carried our drinks back to my friends.
It was funny when I realized how much Larisa had already changed me. And she didn’t even know it.