The Promises We Keep (Made for Love Book 1) (83 page)

When Gray catches me looking at him, a sly grin tugs at his lips and I shake my head at him.
“
Addie!
”
he calls out, pointing directly at me. I groan and laugh at the same time, knowing it was bound to happen sooner or later.

Grayson doesn
’
t drink. Everybody knows that. Even still, when the guys on his team thought they could convince him to do
one
shot, in honor of the occasion, they were disappointed to find out that he wouldn
’
t bend
—
that is, until he assigned the shot to someone else. In the last hour and half, birthday shots have been consumed by at least half of the crowd. At this point, it
’
s a game I
’
m sure won
’
t stop until the bar is closed. I have no idea how I got away with not being spotted this long, but it appears my luck has run out.

A big guy
—
defensive lineman big
—
pushes his way through a crowd of people to get to me and then places the small shot glass on the table.
“
For the birthday boy,
”
he cries, and the room erupts in a united cheer. Since I don
’
t plan on driving later, I don
’
t have an excuse to refuse. Instead, I raise the glass to the man of the hour, who dips his head in amused acknowledgment, and throw back whatever clear liquid is inside. I feel the burn all the way down to my stomach and I can
’
t help but make a face, showcasing my opinion of the taste. The round of applause I receive for being a good sport encourages me to shrug it off.

“
You took that like a champ.
”

I turn and spot Roman squeezed into the space beside me. I haven
’
t seen him in at least an hour and I was afraid he
’
d left.
“
Where
’
ve you been? You disappeared on me.
”

“
I
’
ve been helping behind the bar. It
’
s crazy in here tonight; I thought I
’
d lend a hand for a little bit.
”

I notice that he
’
s a little more wrinkled now than he was when he came in. The skinny black and blue striped tie around his neck is loosened and the first couple buttons on his sky-blue shirt are open. His cuffs are undone and the sleeves are rolled and pushed up to his elbows. He
’
s untucked the bottom from his jeans and I can
’
t deny that he looks wonderfully disheveled.
I wonder if Sarah has caught a glimpse of him like this.

“
That was nice of you,
”
I comment.

“
It wasn
’
t a big deal,
”
he says with a shrug as he slides a glass filled with a bubbly golden drink toward me.
“
I got you this. I know hard cider is your preference.
”

“
Oh, thanks, Roman,
”
I reply, nudging him with my shoulder.
“
You shouldn
’
t have.
”

“
I might have seen you working a little, too. You deserve it.
”

“
It wasn
’
t a big deal,
”
I say, mimicking his previous response. He grins at me and I take a sip of my beer.

“
Think he
’
s having fun?
”
he asks, nodding behind him.

When I peek back over my shoulder, I see Gray whispering something in Avery
’
s ear. She blushes before delivering a kiss on his cheek.
“
Yeah,
”
I tell Roman.
“
I think he is.
”

“
Looks like Avery
’
s hard work paid off. Those cupcakes were
amazing
. Thank you for insisting that I have one, in spite of my usual distaste for such sweets.
”

“
You
’
re welcome. Though, Sarah really deserves all the praise.
”

“
Hmm? What? Is someone blaming me for something?
”
Roman and I turn and find Sarah approaching our table. Claire is with her, their arms wrapped around each other as they stand hip-to-hip.

“
I was just telling Roman that
you
are to thank for the cupcakes.
”

“
You liked them?
”
she coos. I could spot the twinkle in her eye
across the room
if that
’
s where I was. She is
totally
smitten with him. Yet, even after an entire summer of hanging out with him, she refuses to admit it.

“
Yeah! They were great.
”

“
Well, thank you, handsome,
”
she replies with a tiny curtsy.

“
Hey, where
’
d you get that drink?
”
asks Claire with a pout.
“
I could have sworn you were empty handed a second ago. Sar-bear and I were coming over here to snag you away and take you to the bar.
”

“
Blame this guy,
”
I instruct, nudging Roman with my elbow.
“
He brought me something.
”

“
Did he?
”
Claire arches an eyebrow as her gaze shifts to Roman.

“
Did you guys want something? I can head back that way.
”

“
Sure. Thanks,
”
says Claire, without a moment
’
s hesitation.
“
We
’
ll have what she
’
s having.
”

“
You bet. I
’
ll be right back,
”
he says, squeezing my shoulder as he goes.

“
What the hell?
”
scoffs Claire as soon as he
’
s out of ear shot. She pulls away from Sarah and presses her fists against her hips.
“
I know I was gone for the summer, but I feel like I
’
ve come back to the Twilight Zone.
”

“
What are you talking about?
”
I ask, furrowing my eyebrows in confusion.

“
When I left, he was the guy behind the bar.
Now
? He
’
s the guy buying you drinks.
”

My jaw drops as I draw meaning from her words.
“
I hope you
’
re not implying that you think there
’
s something going on between us. We
’
re just friends.
”

“
Yeah. Okay. Except, I have a feeling Sarah and I just interrupted something
—
like
him buying you a drink
.
”

“
Claire,
”
I can
’
t help but laugh at her assumptions. It
’
s ridiculous for her to read anything into what
’
s going on between Roman and me, since there isn
’
t anything going on.
“
It
’
s just a drink. Need I remind you that he just left to buy
you
a drink, too?
”

“
Please!
”
she scoffs, again.
“
He knows that
’
s what he
’
s got to do to win you over; buy your girlfriends drinks.
”

“
What? No. Sarah, help me out, will you? Have I not been trying to talk you into going out with him the whole summer?
”

“
Yeah. Umhmm,
”
she answers distractedly, looking everywhere but at me.

“
So, he
’
s into
Sarah?
”
Claire asks, clearly not convinced.

“
No,
”
Sarah answers before I can.
“
And I
’
m not into him. So. That
’
s that.
”

I eye her suspiciously, curious as to why she
’
s acting so weird. She
’
s starting to fidget with her fingers and her cheeks are turning a shade of light pink as she blushes just the tiniest bit. Knowing Sarah only blushes when she
’
s intoxicated, I wonder how much she
’
s had to drink.

“
She
does
like him,
”
I tell Claire.
“
She just refuses to admit it. Although, I
’
m having a really hard time figuring out
why
.
”

Claire looks from me to Sarah and then back at me.
“
Maybe it
’
s because it
’
s obvious that
he
likes
you.
”

Sarah lets out a relieved sigh.
“
You see it, too?
”

All of a sudden, my brain feels like it
’
s been scrambled. I shake my head before I ask,
“
What?!
”

“
Newsflash, babe,
”
says Claire, giving my shoulder a squeeze.
“
He wants to be more than friends.
”

I gape at them for a moment, completely at a loss for words.
They
’
re wrong. They are
so
wrong! Roman and I are
just
friends. There
’
s no way that he likes me. He knows about Beckham and me
—
he wouldn
’
t fall for me knowing that my heart belongs to someone else.
“
No,
”
I tell them.
“
You
’
re wrong. It
’
s not like that between us. We
’
re just friends.
”

Sarah sighs, once more; only this time, I sense more frustration than anything else.
“
Twinkles,
”
she begins to say, looking straight at me.
“
We
’
re not wrong. I mean
—
I
’
ve been hoping that there was a chance that I was wrong, but Claire just confirmed it. She took one look at the two of you and she could see it. He likes you. I get it, you know? You
’
re still totally into Beck so you can
’
t see it, but he likes you.
”

“
No,
”
I repeat dumbly.
“
You like him. He
’
s supposed to like
you
.
”

“
I don
’
t like him,
”
she says softly
—
so softly that I
know
she
’
s lying. Even worse, I know
she knows
she
’
s lying.
“
I try not to crush on guys who have the hots for my best friend.
”