Until Alex - J. Nathan Page 0,18

shook his head. “No chance in hell I’d get up there and sing.”

The waitress returned, claiming the spot beside him. The tables in the bar were close, but not close enough to warrant her cushy body pressed into his side. But, alas, there it was. “Decide if you want anything yet?”

Hayden peeked at me before his gaze fell to the waitress, his eyes roaming over her face for far longer than necessary. “Any chance we could do some body shots?”

She definitely groaned as her eyes squeezed shut for a long moment. Someone needed to save her. I gripped her arm. “He’s kidding. We’ll have another round and two tequila shots.”

The waitress shook her head slightly, undoubtedly clearing away the Hayden-induced haze. Then with a quick nod, she hurried off.

“That was cruel.”

Hayden lifted a shoulder. “What? You gave me the idea.”

I brushed a wave of hair away from my face, tucking it behind my ear. “Yeah, well, she was about to take you up on the offer.”

“You think?” He glanced over his shoulder to where she stood. He couldn’t be that oblivious to his charm. When he looked back with a giant grin, I knew he wasn’t. “Would that have embarrassed you?”

“You taking shots from her belly button?”

He nodded.

“You said it yourself. We barely know each other.” It came out nonchalantly, but the truth created heaviness in my chest and disappointment in my heart. But why? We didn’t know each other.

Hayden lifted his bottle to his lips. “Just so you know, I never said I wanted to do body shots with her.”

A vicious quiver rocked through me, rattling my bones. Keeping my unaffected mask in place, I turned toward the man on stage, needing to collect myself and get my muddled emotions in check.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a guy enter the bar. What held my attention were his sunken dark eyes, shaved head, piercings in his face, and sleeves of tattoos. The guy was downright creepy.

His eyes jetted around the crowded room with purpose. Then they landed on Hayden. Since Hayden was busy watching the man on stage, the guy’s eyes shifted to me. They narrowed for a long moment while he clearly tried to place me. To no avail.

Then as if he’d never been there, he turned around and walked back outside.

Applause for the man on stage and our waitress returning with our drinks pulled my attention from the door. Once she moved to another table, I pushed Hayden a shot. “I want to make a toast.”

His eyebrows bunched together. “A toast?”

I lifted my glass a few inches from the table. “People do make toasts, don’t they?”

He shot me one of those shrug-nods.

“Okay, so it might sound kind of cheesy. But I swear, it’s the truth.”

Hayden tilted his head, eyeing me in both amusement and intrigue. He lifted his shot. “Well, let’s hear this cheesy truth.”

I’d never felt so inclined to throw up in my entire life. And not from the alcohol. From the words I was about to utter. “Obviously, I brought you here—or you brought me—to thank you. And I don’t think you understand why.”

He stared at me across the table, his narrowed eyes giving nothing away.

I inhaled a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Clearly I’ve been going through a really tough time.”

Hayden nodded, even though he had no idea what happened back in Austin.

“And then out of nowhere, you show up. Not once, but multiple times. And every time, you help me in some way. And I’ve got to tell you. I’ve thought about it a lot, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence…It’s like you were sent to me or something.”

Hayden stilled. His shot dangled in the air. And though his eyes remained fixed on mine, he wasn’t seeing me. He was seeing anything but me.

Ah, crap.

The room suddenly felt too small, like the walls were squeezing in on the two of us. “To you,” I mumbled, before throwing back my shot and wincing as it burned a prickly path down my throat. I chased it with my beer, finishing the entire bottle in a few solid gulps.

Hayden still hadn’t downed his shot when I jumped to my feet.

But I didn’t care. I needed to get away from him.

Far away.

CHAPTER FIVE

HAYDEN

As if being chased by a chainsaw toting murderer, Alex wove her way through the tables. She clearly felt embarrassed by her toast. Her words. Her feelings. It took guts to be so open. So truthful. I admired her honesty.