“Hey, bitch,” Raelynn called as soon as I stepped through the door of the glitzy restaurant.
The host waiting to greet us, merely raised a brow at her loud greeting. Not that Raelynn cared. It didn’t matter that we stood in one of the top restaurants filled with soft jazz and light conversations. She came barreling through like she had when we first met in college.
Loud and uncaring of what others thought, she was everything I never knew I needed in a friend. She took my proper slacks and had me switch them out for holey jeans. Needless to say, my father wasn’t her biggest fan, but tolerated the friendship.
“Hey, bitch,” I said much quieter once she was in my arms.
She smacked loud air kisses next to my cheek and declared, “Let the drinking commence.”
People stared as she walked by in her fitted nude dress, barely staying up with thin spaghetti straps. Once we reached the table, we both waited for the host to help us into our seats and hand us our napkins.
Raelynn grew up in the same kind of world I had. The one of etiquette schools and charity galas and an extra house in the Hamptons. The only difference was that she was born with her freedom. She had zero expectations of who she needed to be as long as she didn’t shame the family beyond repair.
“Can I get you ladies anything to drink other than water?”
“We’ll take a bottle of Dom Perignon.” She winked. “To start.”
“I may not be up for the night you have planned,” I said once the waiter walked away.
“You never are. Although you look like it in that jumper. All white looks good on you. And look at those shoulders. You pull off strapless well.”
“And it has pockets,” I joked.
“Even better.”
The waiter came back with our champagne, filling the slim glasses until the bubbles almost overflowed.
“You know…” Raelynn started, the devious glint in her eyes. I tried to brace myself for what would come next, but I could rarely prepare for whatever came out of her mouth. “You should just start boinking everyone you can. Be the ho you want to be.”
I almost choked on the drink I was taking.
“Oh, my god. I do not want to be a ho.”
She sighed with disappointment. “I know. You’re miss goody-goody. Missing the cardigan you love so much, but rocking the pearls still.”
I wanted to argue with her. I wanted to adamantly deny and list off all the ways I challenged the rules, but I couldn’t.
I was the rule follower of our group. Even Nova, the quietest of our tripod, broke more rules than I did.
“You know, you could still let loose even if you don’t go full ho.”
“I don’t know,” I said, fingering the pearls she’d mentioned. “You know I’m not great at one-night stands.”
“Yeah, you tried it once and ended up dating him for almost a year. And when that ended, you slapped your chastity belt on and threw away the key.”
“Oh, my god. Keep your voice down,” I said, glaring but still smiling.
She topped of her champagne and leaned back in her seat, looking around the restaurant.
“What about him?” she suggested, nodding her head to the back corner. “The one in the blue suit and no tie. Talking to the man in tweed. Who wears tweed in summer? Ew.”
I covertly lifted my glass to my lips and slowly looked right before turning left to see who she pointed out.
The champagne I’d been drinking almost slipped from my dropped jaw.
Holy. Shit.
Holy, sex on a stick.
“Jesus…”
“Right? God, what I wouldn’t do to feel that scruff between my thighs.”
I couldn’t even look away long enough to reprimand Raelynn.
“You should go talk to him.”
“Absolutely not.” I shook my head and faced her again. But adjusted my hips in my seat, so I could still sneak a few looks without being too obvious.
“Why not?”
“Because he looks…busy. I don’t know. I can’t just go up to someone in the middle of the restaurant and…and…what?”
“Please, sir,” she said in a British accent. “Can I have some more?”
I laughed, watching his hand drag through his black hair. His long fingers driving through the thick strands. When he turned enough for me to get a more direct look, I melted a little more at his full lips. They were lush and even more pronounced from the surrounding scruff. How could a man look so unbelievably masculine with lips like that?
“I can’t.” I shook off any ideas Raelynn tried to convince me to follow through on, coming back to reality. “Besides, he’s probably taken. He’s not exactly putting off welcoming vibes.”
She rolled her eyes. “You and your vibes.”
“You can tell a lot about a person based on the energy they put off. And not in an aura kind of way, but just the personality they portray. He hasn’t even smiled.”