I glance over at Aiden and notice him staring at me. His girlfriend's eyes are on her phone. Pete's talking to Griffen and John.
I look away and pick up the bar menu that's on the table.
"Can I get you something?" Tanner asks.
"Um, yeah, I'll have a glass of merlot. But I can get it."
"Let me. I'll be right back."
"No Manhattan tonight?" Aiden says as Tanner heads to the bar.
"I don't usually drink those. I was just stressed that night after everything that had happened. I needed something stronger than wine."
Aiden's eyes are still on me. It's like he can't look away, but he should because his girlfriend's going to notice. Why is he staring at me like that? Do I have something on my face?
"It's the house merlot," Tanner says, appearing with my drink. "Is that okay?"
"Sure. Thanks for getting it."
"No problem."
Celine looks up from her phone. "The boys insist on coming to this disgusting rat-trap of a bar."
"Because we can relax here," Pete says, "And we don't have to spend half a paycheck to buy drinks."
"The wine selection is worse than you'd get at a gas station," Celine says, her eyes returning to her phone.
"So what are you doing this weekend?" Tanner asks, turning to me again.
"I have an event to work at Saturday night. And on Sunday my boss wants to meet for a couple hours to go over some planning."
"Have any interest in rock climbing?"
"I don't know. I've never tried it."
"I don't mean on an actual rock. It's one of those rock climbing places. I'm going there on Saturday. Would you like to go with me?"
I'm pretty sure he's asking me out, which is what I said I wanted. I told Aiden I needed to meet someone, and here I am, sitting next to a cute guy who seems nice and is interested in me. The only problem is, I'm interested in the guy sitting across from me. The guy with the girlfriend.
I glance over at Aiden. His arm is resting on the back of Celine's chair as he takes a drink of his beer. Celine leans over and gives him a peck on the cheek, then looks back at her phone. A twinge of jealousy courses through me and I yell at myself for it. I need to stop this. Aiden is taken. And I'm here to find someone new.
I look back at Tanner. "I'd love to go. It sounds fun."
"Great!" he says, sounding surprised. "I was thinking we'd go in the afternoon. Could I take you to lunch first?"
"Sure. I just need to make sure I'm back to my apartment by five."
"No problem. We can leave whenever you want." He smiles at me. "So tell me more about Kansas."
Tanner and I continue to talk as the other guys have their own conversation. Occasionally I look over and see Celine leaning over to kiss Aiden or whisper something in his ear. He's not doing the same to her. In fact, he isn't affectionate with her at all.
A half hour later, Celine gets down from her chair. "Babe, I need to go."
"Okay, see you later." He gives her a peck on the lips.
"We're both going," she says, picking up her purse. "Hurry up."
"I'm staying. I'm not ready to leave."
"Aiden, it's Thursday," she says, lowering her voice.
"I'm staying at my place tonight. I need to do some work when I get home."
"Are you serious?" she says, getting angry. "You'd rather do work than—" She stops, noticing we're all listening.
"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
She glares at him.
Aiden gets up. "I'll walk you out."
As they leave, Tanner says to me, "They have kind of a volatile relationship."
"It's shitty if you ask me," Griffen says, taking a swig of his beer.
"I can't believe they schedule it like that," John says. "And that Aiden goes along with it."
"Schedule what?" I ask.
"Just forget it," Pete says, his eyes on his phone.
I look over at Tanner to see if he'll tell me but he doesn't. Instead he gets up. "You want another wine?"
"Yes. Thanks."
When he's gone I turn to Griffen since he seems the most likely to answer my question.
"What was Celine talking about? What's on Thursday?"
"It's when they're..." He laughs a little. "Intimate."
"Oh." I glance back at the door and see Aiden talking to Celine. She looks furious, which I'm assuming is because it's their night to have sex and Aiden turned her down. Why would they designate a night to be intimate? Are they that busy they have to schedule it?