Her smile went from pleased to brilliant. “Yes, I am,” she replied.
“Krit?” Linc asked, reminding me that he was there beside me.
“Krit and Green are roommates,” I explained to him. I turned back to Krit’s sister. “Linc has only met Green.”
The blonde flicked her gaze to Linc then back at me. “I’m Trisha. It’s nice to meet you, Blythe.”
“This is about to get f**king interesting. I need another beer first.” A deep drawl from the guy at the back of the table caused Trisha to roll her eyes as she shot an annoyed glare in the guy’s direction. I took a quick glance and saw a well-built guy with dark eyes and thick lashes. He had dreadlocks pulled back in a ponytail that hung down the back of his neck. Intimidating wasn’t even a strong enough word for him. His face was striking, but the rest of him was terrifying.
“Shut up, Dewayne. Don’t start shit,” Trisha snapped.
“I was gonna leave, but I think we might need to stick around for a few minutes,” the beautiful blond guy said.
Amanda gave me an apologetic smile and then elbowed the guy still holding her close. He only chuckled and then bent his head to whisper in her ear. The pink blush on her cheeks had me turning away from them to look at Linc.
He took that as his cue. “Well, it was nice to see you, Amanda,” He looked at the blond guy. “And Preston. We need to get a drink and grab this table before it’s snatched up,” Linc said politely.
I smiled at Amanda and then at Trisha before giving them a small wave and following Linc to the table beside them. I didn’t want to talk about Krit just yet, and I had a feeling Linc was going to ask me about him. I had seen the look in his eyes when Trisha had recognized my name. Which gave me a secret thrill. Had he told his sister about me?
“Did you go to school with all of them?” I asked, curious to know more about Trisha and her friends. I hadn’t seen any of them at his parties.
“Yeah. But we didn’t run in the same crowds. Amanda and my sister were friends. Her older brother, Marcus, is a part of that group. I hadn’t heard that Amanda was dating Preston Drake.” He lowered his voice. “I’m surprised her brother allows that. Preston isn’t known to be a one-woman guy. And Marcus, being his best friend, knows that better than anyone.”
I felt like I was watching an episode of Dawson’s Creek, listening to this. “He seemed like he was unaware of any other female in the world,” I said honestly. That good-looking blond guy had spent the majority of his time staring at Amanda while holding her close to his side.
“I noticed that. Little Hardy must have managed to tame the beast,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m gonna get a Coke. You want anything?”
I wanted a sweet tea, but I wasn’t sure they had that here. “Um, sure. A Coke will do,” I replied.
He nodded and stood up. “Be right back.”
Linc hadn’t gotten far when someone moved back his chair. It was Trisha. She sat down on it. “Hello again,” she said.
“Hi.” I wasn’t sure why she was at my table. Then I took a quick glance back at the stage and noticed Green announcing that they were taking a break and would be back in fifteen minutes.
“I don’t have much time before he gets down here,” she mumbled.
Who? Krit? Would he be mad that she was talking to me?
“Anyway, Green told me you were new in town, and I wanted to invite you to lunch one day.”
Green told Trisha about me. Not Krit. My stomach knotted up. I managed to nod. “That sounds nice.”
She beamed at me, and I felt even more insecure. Why would someone like her want to spend anytime with me? And did I want to take the chance that she would see the true awkward me the way Krit had? Trisha would drop me just like Krit did. Green was still friendly, but he wasn’t asking me to hang out with him either.
“Perfect. What day is best for you?”
“Tuesday. I get out of my last class at eleven, and I don’t have to be at work until one thirty.”
Trisha grinned then glanced up and scrunched her nose. Even that looked good on her. “Here he comes,” she said.
I turned to see Krit walking our way. His eyes were locked on me, and he was smiling that dimpled smile that meant he really was happy. Good. He had meant what he’d said in the text message.
“You came,” he said to me while ignoring the table beside me, the one full of his sister’s friends.
“You asked,” I replied, unable to keep the silly smile off my face at seeing him again after two weeks without his visits. I had missed him.
“I thought you had a date.”