Page 51 of The Last Goodbye

He offered me a shot of tequila, but I declined. I’d already had champagne this morning, and I was going to stick to beer.

“No tequila for the new girl in town, huh?” Cannon said, and you could tell the man was very used to getting his way. He was charming and brimmed with confidence, and I didn’t miss the way several women kept walking by and smiling at him.

“No, thank you.” I reached for the bottle of beer I’d ordered.

“You sure about that?” he pressed.

“She said no, you dicknugget,” a deep voice said from behind me.

Cannon burst out in laughter, a big grin spreading across his face. “I had a feeling you’d jump in there, brother. I saw you beelining this way.”

I turned around to see Bass standing right behind me, and holy hotness. The man was wearing a pair of dark jeans, cowboy boots, and a white tee. His hair was tussled on top and a bit shorter on the sides, and his dark blue eyes locked with mine.

“Hey, Magpie,” he said as he moved to stand beside me at the table.

Gracie wrapped an arm around him, giving him a half hug, and Tatum smiled and greeted him.

Cannon handed him a shot glass, and I watched Bass take it. His big, tattooed fingers wrapped around the tiny glass like it was nothing, and for some reason I couldn’t look away. He tipped his head back, and I tracked the movement without meaning to…the line of his throat as he swallowed it down in one smooth pull, the way his neck flexed as he finished. When he set the glass back down, there was a lingering drop of tequila at the corner of his bottom lip.

His tongue flicked out to catch it.

And I realized, a beat too late, that I was still watching him, before I forced myself to look away.

“Tough night?” Phoenix asked, just as Brody returned and set a beer bottle down in front of Bass. These guys were all very close, that much was obvious.

“It wasn’t too bad, and I was able to get out of there earlier than planned. But it’s been a long week.” He rested his forearms on the table, and I tried to read the ink that was there, but I couldn’t make out the words without asking him to lift his arm for me to read it, and I wasn’t about to do that.

“Chicken Fried” by Zac Brown started playing, so Tatum grabbed my hand and shouted to Gracie, and the three of us were soon back out on the dance floor.

I had my hands over my head as we danced our asses off, and I glanced over at the table to find Bass’s eyes on me.

Our gazes connected briefly before I quickly turned away.

We danced. We laughed. We took breaks, and I continued to nurse my beer.

They introduced me to tons of locals I hadn’t met yet. It was probably the most fun I’d had in a very long time.

“So, what’s the deal with you and Bass?” Tatum asked as we made our way to the bathroom. Gracie had gone back to the table to join the others.

“Nothing. He despises me most of the time,” I said as I moved into the stall and closed the door.

“That’s certainly not how it appears from an outsider looking in.” She chuckled from the stall beside me. “I noticed the way he was watching you out on the dance floor.”

“You know the saying, ‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.’”

I tried to make light of it, because I didn’t know what it was. Something had shifted between us this morning. Maybe it had happened even sooner, but then we’d have these arguments and I’d be convinced that he hated me again.

“Nope. I’ve known Bass a long time, and there’s something going on there.” She met me at the sink while I washed my hands.

“You’re making something out of nothing.”

“I do tend to do that sometimes,” she said, giggling. “But I don’t think that’s what I’m doing this time.”

We made our way back to the table, and the only open spot for me was beside Bass once again. He was relaxed and laughing when we walked up to the table, and I liked this side of him. His large hand wrapped around his beer bottle as he took a drink.

My God. The man could do a beer commercial without even trying.

Women would be flocking to buy whatever brand he was selling.