I know Mila has told her friends that we’ve slept together, but I don’t know if there’s anything else. Have they spoken about how she feels or what she wants? Neither of them look remotely surprised to see her hanging off my arm.
The bar is quiet for a Friday night, but there’s a new club opening in town, so it could be that. Either way, I’m happy that I can still hear and flirt unashamedly with Mila without feeling like I’m a pensioner.
Tomorrow, we’re off to my parents’ for my birthday weekend. I don’t know how she’ll be with me there.
She places her hand on my chest. “Drink up, nerd. I want you good and drunk. You’re almost twenty-five!”
I raise my brow. “Nerd again?”
Her big eyes widen. “It’s really sexy.”
“Would you like me to get some glasses? Black frames?”
Her lips part. “Yes, please.”
“How cliché, Mila. I thought you had a better imagination than that.”
“Hey, you suggested it.”
“I thought you’d come back with something else.”
“Well, aren’t you a little game player?” She leans forward and presses her chest to mine. “I have a much better game for you.”
I wrap my hands around her back, resting just above her arse. “What’s that?”
“We can play ‘who can get away with the most inappropriate act’.”
“I’m listening.”
“It’s exactly as it sounds, Reid.”
“Rules?”
She brushes her lips against mine, and a low moan rumbles from my throat. “Loser is the winners bitch for a day. Loser is the one who gets us caught.”
“Christ, Mila. I’ll lose right now. Let’s go back to mine.”
“Are we done?” Wren asks, laughing behind her blue cocktail. Mila has the same one and it tastes awful.
Mila’s cheeks turn an adorable shade of pink. “Yes, all done, Wren. For now.”
I pull Mila to the table we’re standing near, and we sit with Wren and Brody.
Brody is smirking at Mila when she sits down. I want to know what that’s about, but I can probably guess.
She narrows her eyes at him, and I know they’ve spoken about me.
“It’s so nice to do this when Mila isn’t the third, sometimes fifth wheel,” Wren says.
“Thanks, babe.”
I don’t want to mention Liam’s name, but I do want to know why he never went out with them.
“You have to admit that it’s more fun.”
“Yes, fine. We all know it’s better this way.”
Is she talking about the fact that she’s not alone or that she’s with me and not Liam? I wish they would be clearer.
“I can’t imagine you as an extra anything,” I tell her. “Besides dramatic, maybe.”
“Ha ha, Reid.”
Wren and Brody laugh for real.
“I hate all of you,” Mila say, sipping her cocktail.
“Erm, Mila?” Wren says, looking at something over Mila’s shoulder.
We all turn. I look back at Mila just in time to see her reaction to Liam being in the same bar.
Her eyes narrow a fraction, like she’s annoyed to see him here.
“Do you want to go?” Wren asks.
“Hell no. I’m not leaving. It’s fine. We’re bound to run into each other at some point, right? I’ll say hi if he comes over, but we’re here to have fun and get me drunk.”
“He’s coming over,” Brody says, arching his eyebrow at me, as though to tell me we’re in solidarity. I don’t think we’re going to be fighting. And if we were, I wouldn’t need backup with Liam. Still, I appreciate that Brody would take my side.
Mila groans and mumbles under her breath, “It hasn’t been a year, dipshit.”
She stands and turns around just as he approaches. “Hi, Liam.”
He smiles and stops just a smidge too close. “Mila, it’s good to see you. Really good.”
I roll my eyes, and Wren laughs at me.
“Yeah,” Mila replies, not shooting that sentiment back. “You here with the gang?”
The way she asks that is almost teasing. Like they actually refer to themselves as ‘the gang’ and she finds it amusing.
“Erm, not tonight. I’m actually on a date.”
Now I turn. I can only see Mila’s profile, but she doesn’t flinch. In fact, she looks pleased, and perhaps a little relieved.
“Yeah? Good for you. Though, if I can give you some advice, it might not be the coolest thing to chat to the ex during your date. Girls kinda hate that.”
He shakes his head. “Right. I’m new to this.”
Mila doesn’t have a poker face, so the pursed lips and wide eyes hide nothing.
“Well, don’t screw this up. Go, go! Enjoy your evening.”
His eyes tighten. “All right. Bye, Mila.”
“Bye.” She waves Liam off and sits down.
I can see from her expression that she is ready to explode.
It takes two seconds.
“Who the fuck approaches their ex for a chat on a date? What is wrong with the guy? She must feel really shitty watching him walk off to speak to another woman. I hope she throws her drink on him. Inconsiderate fool,” she rants.
“You good?” I ask.
Her head turns slowly—slow enough that I sense danger.
“Am I okay? Seriously?”
I raise my palms. “All right, you’re fine.”
She looks at Wren. “Men are stupid today.”
“As if he came over,” Wren says. “I can’t see them well enough to lip read but the date is looking our way.”
“Subtle,” Mila mutters. “If there’s drama tonight, I’m not holding back on the kebab later.”
“What?” I ask.
“I’m trying to be good but if that chick causes any drama, I’m having one.” She picks up her drink. “Maybe I’ll go over there and start something. I fancy a chicken kebab.”
“Mila, eat what you want,” I tell her.
“You don’t understand. I need a reason, because if there’s a reason, the calories don’t count. Like, I can eat what I want next weekend because it’s your birthday.”
“The reason can’t just be because you want to eat it?”
“That’s right,” she confirms. “Calories, remember.”
“What?”
“Let me stop you right there, man,” Brody says, slapping his hand on the table in front of me. “What you’re doing right now, trying to understand the breed with the boobs, is never going to happen. They make the rules up as they go, and they can change them in an instant. Smile and nod, mate.”
Mila grins and leans closer to me. “Smile, nod, and kiss me.”
I do just that, but I feel daggers in my back from the ex the whole time my mouth is connected to hers.