four girls were chair dancing to the music. Five chairs. I opened my mouth to say I didn’t want to intrude, but she got there ahead of me.
“Don’t worry,” she eyed the crowded bar. “I’ll go crack heads and get another chair.”
“That’s not—”
“Oh, it’s gonna be fun. Don’t worry.”
My new friend had long pale hair braided back off a plain, if pleasing, face. She carried a few extra pounds for her frame but knew how to dress herself well. She wore well-loved blue cowboy boots, a flippy little black skirt, and a white peasant blouse with embroidery around the collar. The effect was bohemian and girlish, although I put her age at about thirty.
Her friends were an odd mixture of business casual and I’m-with-the-band—low slung jeans, camisoles, and wild hair for days.
We introduced ourselves while G&T girl scouted and came back with a chair. I barely heard them, and I wasn’t going to remember their names, but we made the kind of throat-melting small talk you make when you’re seated near a speaker. Half-shouting, half-sign language, mostly ending in the gesture for, “I can’t hear you.”
“I’m Robin.” G&T girl shouted as she put her chair next to mine. “We’re harmless.”
I pointed to myself. “Me too.”
“You live here?”
I shook my head. “Central Valley.”
“Just here for the holiday?”
I nodded before taking a sip of my beer. I motioned toward them. “You guys?”
She nodded. “We get away when the band has a gig in a town we like.”
“Which one’s your friend?”
Robin pointed at the lead singer. “That’s him. Ari.”
The man she pointed out was young and pretty easy on the eyes. Midlength wavy dark hair, multiple earrings, tats. He had pretty blue eyes and cheekbones he could wield in a knife fight. I couldn’t tell how tall he was, but he ticked a lot of my boxes.
He gripped the mic stand and leaned hard into Blink-182’s “All the Small Things.”
“He has a very nice voice.” I turned to meet her smirking gaze.
“That answers that question.”
“What?”
“You totally checked him out.”
“Did not.”
“You so did. Like, from head to toe, lingering just a little too long on his package.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but honesty prevailed. “God, I’m out of practice if it was that obvious.”
“I was watching pretty carefully. I doubt anyone else saw.”
“I don’t really want to get my ass kicked tonight.”
“You’re in luck actually.” She shot me a smug grin. “You’re just my baby brother’s type.”
I gasped. “You said he was your friend.”
“My brother’s my best friend.” She winked. “And I know he’d like you.”
“I feel like I should be outraged, but after the last couple months, you’re a breath of fresh air.”
“I like to think so.”
We listened to two more songs before the band took a break.
As house music replaced live, the decibel level lowered significantly.
The girls with Robin left to meet their guys at the bar, but Robin’s brother Ari joined us. Without asking, he picked up my second beer and took a good long swig.
“I’ll buy you another, I promise.” He unleashed a pretty damned engaging grin. “I’m parched.”
“Your sister bought me that one. It’s all good.”
“Robin.” He scrubbed his face with both hands. “Tell me you didn’t drag this man over here for me.”
Well, that was one way to respond to meeting someone new.
“She didn’t drag me. She engaged me in witty conversation, so I followed.”
“Oh, so”—he eyed her—“he’s not here because—”
“Because your sister’s pimping you out?” Unlike most people, I really enjoyed this kind of thing. I was always socially awkward, and it was nice to know I wasn’t alone. “Actually, I’m here because I genuinely wanted to get to know her, but then she pointed you out, and—”
“He totally checked out your package.”
“Don’t say things like that.” He put his head down and covered it with his arms. “Never, ever.”
“I have equally annoying siblings,” I said. “So I get this whole dynamic you’ve got going.”
He raised his head and held out his hand. “Ari.”
“Luke.” I took his hand and shook it.
“Do you have sisters? Are they obnoxious know-it-alls?”
“Just one, but that’s plenty.”
“She tries to set me up with every guy she meets.”
“That could get you in trouble pretty quickly. Like, medical emergency trouble.”
“Oh, it has.” He turned his head and showed me a scar on the side of his jaw, near his ear. “See this?”
I turned my shocked gaze on Robin, who narrowed her eyes.
“You got that from riding on the handlebars of Levi Larson’s bike after Hebrew school.”
“But who introduced me to Levi in the