One Night

Chapter 46

Audrey

Pushing open the front door of the bar, I was met with the scent of smoke and alcohol in the air. The place was positively packed despite the fact that it was a Wednesday night, but my friends and I managed to find a table in the corner once we got our drinks.

“Welcome to the team, Betty,” Tina said, raising her glass. “We’re all looking forward to getting to know you.”

Betty grinned and clinked her glass with ours, foamy beer spilling over the top. Taking a sip, she replied, “And I’m glad to be a part of the team that’s going to win this fashion show.”

I couldn’t help but grin. Earlier that day, we had put Betty through a similar hazing to the one that Gavin had to endure-creating a quality piece out of ugly fabric. Only this time, Betty had blown us all out of the water with her quick thinking.

“When you started rifling through the recycling bin, I thought you had gone crazy,” Avis laughed, pushing a blonde curl out of her eyes. “But then you started using the bottlecaps to make a bodice, and it all started coming together.”

Betty beamed and waved Avis away with her hand. “It was nothing, really. I’d like to showcase what I can do when I have an actual supply of recycled objects.”

“You’ll get plenty of chances,” I assured her. “Really.”

Our little group now totaled five: me, Tina, Avis, Gavin, and now Betty. I had been apprehensive at first, but Betty’s test today proved that we had made the right decision.

“And,” Gavin said, leaning across the table, “now we have a big enough team to qualify for the fashion show.”

The table dissolved into excited chatter at that. Tomorrow morning, we would be attending the announcement ceremony for the teams that had been chosen for the fashion show. I had a good feeling that our team would be picked, and I couldn’t have been more excited-but also nervous.

Tina, noticing my tight smile, nudged me with her foot under the table. “Hey. Why don’t we play a drinking game?” she asked. “Take our minds off of fashion show stuff

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Chapter 46

and just focus on the present.”

Avis nodded quickly. “How about truth or dare?”

Tina smiled and turned to me, topping off my beer with the pitcher in the middle of the table. “Audrey, since you’re the leader of our team, you should go first. Truth or

dare?”

I paused, thinking for a moment as I licked the foam off the edge of my glass. Finally settling on a choice, I replied, “Dare.”

“Ooh! Starting off strong.” Tina cooed. Her eyes narrowed mischievously as she thought of a dare, and then, grinning, she pointed behind me. “Isn’t that Professor Brooks over there?”

My head snapped around, and instantly, I felt as though both my chair and the floor might disappear out from under me. Tina was right; there, sitting at the bar, was none other than Edwin. He had his head bent, his eyes fixed on his drink with a look that could kill. But it was him.

Yeah,” I said slowly, swallowing. “What about him?”

Tina’s grin widened, if that was even possible. “You should see if you can convince him to buy you a drink.”

The table went silent, save for Avis’s gasp. I felt every muscle twitching in my body, my fingers instinctively moving to my glass to drink instead of accepting the dare. But when I met Tina’s gaze, I knew she wouldn’t let me off the **k.

“Come on, Audrey,” she said, nudging me under the table again. “We have to start the game off strong. Set a precedent for the rest of the game?”

Goddess, I wanted to throttle her; Tina wasn’t usually this much of a fire-starter, but I knew her angle here. Despite everything that I had told her, she wanted to push me and Edwin together. I was certain of it.

Before I could refuse, however, Gavin was nudging me with his elbow. He met my gaze, and I felt my stomach twist into a knot-there was a knowing look behind his eyes.

“You should do it,” he said quietly. “It’s just one drink.”

“No, I couldn’t possibly-“I began, only for my voice to cut off abruptly when Edwin’s eyes snapped up and met mine. D**t, I thought to myself as I quickly looked away.

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He saw me looking, which meant he would likely be wondering why I

was staring.

Finally, with a huff. I pushed I

growled, tuming on my hair back and stood. “Alright, fine, you’

no promises.”

By the time I began to make my way over to Edwin, his eyes had already averted and he was finishing his drink. I saw him grab his jacket off the back of the chair, indicating that he was trying to leave-and quickly. But I caught him in time, clearing my throat as I sidled up to him.

“Hey

Edwin frore, staring at me for a moment before responding. “Were you and your friends talking about me? I heard my name.”

I swallowed, glancing over at them, before I shook my head. “I just wanted to say hello. And I was wondering. Despite myself. I took a shaky step closer. I reached one finger out to touch his arm, leaning across the bar as I did so. “…Would you buy me a drink?”

At that moment, it felt as if all the air had been sucked out of the room. Leaning there, with my back arched and my finger touching the sleeve of his jacket, I felt like I was two things at once: an utter m**n and a seductress. Or maybe it was just the way his gray eyes flicked over my waist, my skin slightly exposed beneath my crop top with my low waisted jeans, that made me feel like the latter.

Edwin stared at me for a moment before he tugged his arm away. “Are you insane?” he hissed.

My eyes widened. “I-I just-

“Someone could see this, Audrey. Anyone could be watching.”

Instantly, my face flushed so hot I thought steam might start coming out of my ears. I quickly straightened and pushed a strand of hair out of my eyes, looking away. “I’m sorry. It’s just My friends dared me to do this, and…”I shook my head, clearing my throat. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you ashamed.”

Edwin huffed and gestured for the bartender to come over. “I’d like a refill,” he said, then gestured to me. “She’ll take a gin and tonic.”

As the bartender walked away to fill our order, I could only blink in surprise at Edwin. Here I was, embarrassing both of us, and yet he was buying me a drink anyway.

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Chapter 46

“You know,” he said as we waited, “it’s not very polite to admit to flirting with a man on a dare. Especially when those actions could cause the man to lose his job.”

My

eyes widened. “I didn’t mean it like that,” assured him. Honestly, I thought he would have laughed at the whole idea.

Edwin merely huffed again. A moment later, the bartender returned and Edwin pi**ed my glass into my hands. “Go on back to your friends. And don’t do that again.

Especially not with so many people around.”

I paused, my fingers tightening around my glass. For a moment, I just stared at the side of his stubbly jawline, and felt my chest clench painfully. I knew that I shouldn’t say what I was about to say, but I said it anyway..

Blame it on the atmosphere, or the few sips of alcohol in my system, or the way that I had seen nothing but Edwin’s face in my dreams that night that I had rejected Gavin. Maybe all three.

“What if no one was looking? Or if no one knew who we were?”

Edwin was still for a moment, his eyes not leaving his glass. I thought he might just stay like that until I gave up and left. But just as I was about to turn away, he caught the belt loop of my jeans beneath the bar and tugged me closer-ever so slightly, hardly enough for anyone but me to notice. His icy eyes met mine, and I felt my heart stop entirely.

“Perhaps things would be different then, wouldn’t they?”

With that, he released my belt loop and looked away-effectively ending our interaction without so much as another word.

What happened next was a blur: my legs moved mechanically, every fiber of my being urging me to get away before I did or said something else that I would regret, and yet

all the while yearning to go back and ask him what he meant.

By the time I returned to my friends, my face was deeply red.

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