“Should Millie still be working this hard? The baby is coming really soon,” I said, starting to worry about Millie.

David twisted the lid off the vinegar, dumping a generous amount on his food. “You try telling her to take it easy.” He grumbled. “I’ve been trying to get her to slow down for weeks. She is determined to work right up until the delivery.”

“Pfft. Women,” Sean said.

I chucked a fry at him. He just grinned, his mouth full of fried fish.

The door opened and I saw Wiley searching the crowd. I stood up and waved to get her attention. She moved quickly though the bar toward us.

“Lexie!” She called, using that dreaded nickname. Drew lifted an eyebrow at me and mouthed, “Lexie?”

“Shut it,” I told him.

I loathed the name Lexie. I am so not a Lexie. Wiley knows it bugs me, but she uses it with such affection, I let it go. Sean stood when she reached the table and offered her his seat. He went to grab a spare chair from the hallway leading to the restrooms.

My boys are such gentlemen. He set the chair at the end of the table, straddling it and folding his arms on the back of the chair. His eyes roamed up and down Wiley as he thoroughly checked her out, and he wasn’t being at all subtle. I just shook my head. I guess I should have had the no-screwing-my-work-friends talk with Sean too.

“This is Sean, David, and Drew.” I pointed to each guy as I said his name. “Papa Jack is behind the bar.” I gestured toward him and he nodded a response.

“Guys, this is Wiley,” I said as she gave an enthusiastic wave.

“As in Wile E. Coyote?” Sean piped up.

Drew almost choked on his beer. I bit my lip to stifle a laugh. I didn’t want to embarrass Wiley. I elbowed Sean in the ribs, causing him to wince at the contact.

“Not exactly.” Wiley giggled. “I had the misfortune of my parents naming me Willimina. I shortened it to something more me.” She shrugged her shoulders, not seeming bothered at all.

Bridget stopped by our table, standing silently next to Wiley, waiting not so patiently for her order. Bridget was a strange bird. She didn’t say much, but we regulars didn’t notice much anymore. Bridget knows what we like and makes sure our beers are never empty, so no one complains.

Wiley looked up at her with a bright smile and Bridget raised an eyebrow. David leaned toward Wiley, offering her a quick lesson in reading Bridget’s facial expressions. “What do you want to drink?”

“Oh!” she said. “Black and Tan, please.”

Bridget moved on, and Wiley turned her attention to us. She looked around the table, appraising the guys. She glanced at David, then back at me. “He’s hot,” she mouthed. I sipped my beer and wiggled my ring finger at her. Her smile faltered and she nodded her head when she got my point.

I never really thought of David as hot. He’s good-looking, of course. Clean-cut and polished, whereas Drew is usually a little rougher around the edges. David just always felt more grown up, like we were all pretending to be adults but he really was one.

“So, this is the trivia group,” Wiley said to no one in particular.

Drew set down his beer. “Pretty much. We’re missing David’s wife, Millie. Unlike the rest of us slackers, she actually has a work ethic.”

We all nodded. There was no denying that one. Millie works herself like a dog. She’s going to go crazy on maternity leave.

“Everyone has their specialty,” Drew continued. “David handles sports and European history. I handle geography and music.”

“He thinks he does,” I interrupted.

“Smart ass over here handles literature and pop culture,” he said, hooking a thumb in my direction with a smirk. “Sean is here for the beer.”

Sean put a hand on his chest, pretending to be wounded. “I’m hurt. I have a plethora of useless knowledge in my pretty little head.”

I leaned across the table to Wiley. “Useless is the keyword.”

Sean looked at me, feigning shock. “I expect this crap from him,” he said, gesturing toward Drew, “but Alex, for shame. Besides, what I lack in actual knowledge, I make up for in enthusiasm.”

“Yeah, Mr. Enthusiasm here is why we always lose. He likes to yell out the wrong answer.” I took a long drink of my beer as Sean pouted in his seat.

“Since Millie isn’t here, think you can handle fashion and movies?” David said to Wiley.

She smiled. “I will give it my best shot.”

As the night went on, Wiley turned out to be a major asset to the team. She picked up the slack by answering questions from all of our categories, including one about what animal the Canary Islands were named after. We would have had that one if Sean hadn’t jumped up and yelled, “Canaries!” FYI, it was dogs. Who knew? Well, Wiley knew, but seriously, dogs?

Between questions, I noticed Wiley watching Drew and me. I could feel her eyes on me as he pinched the skin on my hip when I wasn’t looking and again when I laid my head on his shoulder while laughing at something Sean did. At one point Drew pushed a piece of hair away from my face and smiled. To me, this gesture felt natural, something he had done a hundred times, but when I glanced at Wiley, her eyebrows looked like they were trying to escape into her hairline. I took a long swig of my beer, feeling a little self-conscious.

At the end of the night, we humbly accepted our fourth place appetizer coupon, even though there were only four teams playing. We all said goodbye to Papa Jack and filed out of the bar. I said goodbye to David as he headed to his car. Sean wrapped me in a hug and dipped me back ballroom style, kissing my cheek. I laughed, my body tightening, afraid he was going to drop me. Drew shook his head and laughed as Sean gave Wiley a goodbye hug.

Sean and Drew started talking about work, and Wiley pulled me a little away from the guys and gave me a hug.

“I was wrong,” she whispered. I pulled back, completely confused. “You don’t want him.” She smiled. I started to tell her I told you so, but she held up a finger to stop me. “You don’t just want him. You’re in love with him.”

I just stared at her. What? How could she say that? Drew was my best friend. I was not in love with him. She was crazier than I thought. She smiled, having already made her point, and walked over to Drew. She gave him a quick hug and headed out toward her car.

My mouth was still agape when Drew slung an arm around my shoulder. “You ready?” he asked. I was too stunned to speak. I nodded my head and let him lead me home.

Chapter 7

Drew (Then)

“What are you doing this weekend?” I asked, dropping down on the bench next to Red.

She turned to look at me, a pen stuck between her teeth as she reviewed her notes. Midterms were in full swing and Red was stressing about her chemistry midterm. She never worried like this about her design classes, but chem was a killer.

She took the pen out of her mouth and sighed. “Drinking.”

“That bad, huh?” I chuckled.

“Why do I need to know this? I’m not pre-med.” The frustration was written all over her beautiful face.

I picked up her notebook and looked over her complicated notes, but it just looked like code to me. “Beats me. I barely made it through myself.”

I dropped her notes back into her lap and focused back on Red. She had her textbook open in her lap, her red hair hanging down like a curtain to shield her face as she read. I reached out, tucking the soft waves behind her ear, and froze when I realized what I had just done. The gesture was small, but intimate.

I waited for her to react, but she was so engrossed in her last minute study session that she didn’t seem to notice. I instantly relaxed, scolding myself for the involuntary slip up. If I kept doing shit like that, I would just end up chasing her away. She had gotten under my skin in a way no other girl had, and I wasn’t about to screw it up.