Incidental Fate Book 1

4

I hustled to Calor Comida, trying to calm my nerves as I walked, finally feeling relief once I saw the crowds already gathered outside the restaurant. Crowded was a good thing, a quiet, intimate dinner with Kirk was not. This date had seemed like such a good idea the other day; now, not so much.

The doors swung open, a group heading out while I slipped in, finding it just as packed inside as out. It was loud, everyone drunk yelling, fighting to be heard over the music while I fought to see in the dim lighting. I scanned left to right, nothing but a sea of people, so I walked in deeper, weaving through the bar height tables, spotting Kirk in the back, scrolling on his phone. Think positive, maybe he'd surprise me, and we'd hit it off.

I continued through the maze, squeezing by another table filled with rowdy guys—when an arm flung out, grabbing mine. "Hey!" I jerked my arm back, whipping around to the ass who thought he could touch me. "Oh." Gavin towered over me, his fingers cuffing my arm, the heat burning right through me. "Gavin?"

His smile crept up, fingers curling tighter. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm—" I flashed my eyes to his hand, my arm suddenly throbbing from its weight. "I'm on a date." I gestured to the back table and the guy still staring down at his phone.

"With him?" he scoffed, following my eyes.

"Yes." I wiggled my arm, trying to free it from the cuff his hand had made.

He popped his fingers off, sliding his hand away, straight into his pocket. "You're too fucking hot for him."

And you shouldn't be talking to me like that. "Looks aren't everything."

"No," he said with a chuckle, shaking his head side to side. "But I can tell just by looking at him that he's boring as fuck."

He was drunk, I had a date, and I shouldn't be here, in public talking to him. "I have to go." I walked away, taking the deepest inhale while rubbing my arm, the scorch from his fingers still burning.

"Sadie!" Kirk flashed his eyes up, sliding his phone away. "Want a drink?"

"Yes, please!" I met his light eyes, dull eyes that held no secrets, no desire... unlike the... stop! "A margarita!"

His chair was already pushing back. "I'll go put the order in; what do you want to eat? I was thinking the Taco Tuesday platter? We could share," he suggested as if I cared.

Just get me alcohol! "That sounds great."

He took off into the crowd while I turned my attention to the window beside our table, staring out at anything, and everything, trying to find a distraction.

The chair suddenly screeched across from me. "That was fast!" Shit! I practically jumped, grabbing at the edge of the table to steady me from the scare. "What are you doing?"

Gavin rested back in the chair, eyes smiling with his lips. "Nothing." He shrugged, staring intently at me. "I wanted to see how the planter was coming along."

Liar. "You need to go before Kirk gets back, and it's still sitting next to the front door."

"Kirk?" he spat the name, huffing under his breath.

"Yes, Kirk, the guy from work that I told you about." I looked towards the bar, spotting him near the counter.

"You look good tonight." He leaned in, lips curling up at the edges, eyes bold—so hot.

So damn hot, but so damn young."Thank you."

"You two drove separately?" he asked, taking a sip of a beer I didn't realize he was holding.