I Never Planned on You (I Never 1)

My sisters notice something has caught my atte

ntion. Kate and Lauren both flip their heads around to see what or who I am staring at. Dani is standing there talking to the hostess, who turns around and points in our direction. My eyes meet hers, and she smiles and waves.

“Holy shit.”

“I can’t believe she came! She must be something special, Ky.”

“Will you both shut up, you promised,” I manage to spit out as Dani reaches the table.

I stand up and pull out the chair next to me for her. “You came.”

She smiles at me. “I did.” She shrugs her coat off and places it on the back of her chair.

As we both take our seats, I lean in to her. “To be honest, I didn’t think you were coming.”

She leans toward me and whispers back, “To be honest, I didn’t think I was either.”

A throat clearing across the table draws both of our attention in that direction. I laugh, shake my head, and give the twins a stern look.

“I’m sorry, my brother here seems to have forgotten his manners,” Lauren chimes in.

“You’re right, how could I have been so rude. Dani, this is Lauren.” I extend my hand to indicate which twin is Lauren. “And this is my other sister, Kate.” I do the same to point out the obvious.

Dani smiles weakly; I can tell she is nervous. “Nice to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you both.”

“So have we, darlin’,” Kate mumbles under her breath, almost low enough so that no one was supposed to hear her, yet based on Lauren’s expression, my own look of embarrassment, and the redness of Dani’s cheeks, I think it’s safe to assume that everyone heard.

This is going to be a long night…but all that matters to me is that she is here.

T he waitress approaches the table. “What can I get everyone to drink?”

Kate, Lauren, and Kyler all place their orders.

“And for you, miss?”

“Oh, umm.” I frantically look around for a drink menu.

“Here you go.” I look up and see Kyler holding it in his hand. I reach for it, and our fingers quickly brush one another. A shock spreads through me as our skin touches. I quickly grip the menu and yank it out of his hands. I didn’t mean to do it so quickly, but that shock sent something through my body that I haven’t felt in a long time.

I browse the menu knowing that the waitress is waiting for my answer. My lips curl upward as I spot my favorite wine on the menu. I hand her the drink menu. “I’ll have a glass of the Kim Crawford Pinot Noir and a water.”

Silence takes over the table after the waitress leaves. My leg starts to bounce anxiously. Maybe coming here was a bad idea. It’s a little late to make an excuse to leave though. Maybe I can run to the bathroom and come back and say I was sick. I look around the restaurant for the bathroom, and my gaze catches Kyler. He’s staring at me with his head tilted to the side. Maybe he can see right through me.

Kate and Lauren are whispering their own little conversation, not paying attention to us. “Are you okay?” he asks softly, his eyes full of concern.

I press my lips together and lightly nod.

The waitress returns with our drinks, my wine, a cosmo for Lauren, beer for both Kyler and Kate — along with shot of some sort of brown liquor that she places in front of Kate.

Kate holds up her glass. “A toast. To new friendships.”

“To new friendships,” we all respond in unison. I take a sip of the glass of wine, and it settles the butterflies in my stomach.

Ky mumbles something and shakes his head as he brings his beer to his lips. My eyes wander to his lips as they press against the glass. He takes a swig of the amber colored beer, and my eyes linger as I watch his Adam’s apple bob when he swallows the liquid. Jesus, Dani, stop staring. I bite my lip hard enough to wince at the pain and direct my attention away from Kyler. I grab the wineglass so quickly that a little splash of wine spills over the top of the glass. I take a large gulp, and as I place the glass down, my eyes meet two pairs of chocolate-brown eyes just like Kyler’s staring at me before giving an obvious look at each other and smiling. Shit! They so caught me, didn’t they?

“Kyler, you told us she was beautiful, but you didn’t say she was gorgeous.” Lauren smiles at her brother and gives him a wink.

Kyler sprays his beer all over the table and rushes to the stack of napkins at the edge of the table. I blush at the compliment. Did he talk about me to his sisters? I mean, I figured he did since he admitted earlier that me joining them was their idea, but he called me beautiful? What else did he have to say? I'm not sure why that matters, but I want to know everything he said.