Say You Love Me(6)
“Sorry, that was inappropriate. I shouldn’t have gone there.” I gave her my most apologetic smile and bowed my head. “But you know us guys, sometimes we don’t think properly.”
“That’s okay.” She nodded and gave me a small smile, her face still looking confused.
“But yeah, you can drive first,” I said to her, trying to diffuse the situation. “I’m sure that you’ll be good and if you’re not, I can show you how it’s done.”
“Uh huh.” She laughed and shook her head. “Sure you can.”
“Sure he can what?” Mila walked back into the room and looked at us curiously.
“I was saying I don’t need his help driving a car quickly,” Sally said and laughed, throwing her head back, and I watched as her long black hair moved back and forth. She looked at Mila and then she looked at me, her brown eyes gazing into mine softly for a few seconds as she laughed and I was struck at how innocent and youthful she looked. Something in me stirred as I watched her face, and I smiled back at her, unable to stop myself from sharing in her happy moment.
“Oh yeah, don’t let Cody drive.” Mila laughed and I watched as Sally looked away from me and at her, and the moment was broken. I felt a sense of loss for a few seconds and frowned. I wasn’t sure what that was about.
“I think I need to eat,” I said and rubbed my stomach. “My head is feeling funny due to lack of food.”
“I’m hungry myself,” Mila agreed and rubbed her stomach too. “What are we eating? Chinese?”
“No Chinese tonight.” Sally shook her head. “What about Indian?”
“I had Indian last night.” I shook my head. “What about Thai?”
“We had Thai last night.” Mila laughed. “What about Italian?”
“I can do Italian,” Sally said, and I grinned.
“Can you now?” I winked at her and she blushed.
“Cody!” Mila growled at me and laughed. “That was so inappropriate.”
“I’m an inappropriate guy.” I shrugged. “What can I say?”
“If you say you’re an Italian stallion, I will slap you.” Mila glared at me and I opened my mouth and winked at her.
“I’m an Italian…” I paused and looked at Sally. “Well, maybe one day you’ll find out.”
“Cody.” Sally’s face went bright red and I watched as she started fiddling with her hair. Her nails were painted a bright red and I was curious as to whether her toenails were painted the same hue—so bright and flirty.
“Yes?” I said with a wink and she just shook her head. I could see Mila and TJ looking at me and I turned to them with a huge grin, knowing I was going to have to answer some questions later if I didn’t slow it down right away. “I’m just joking, guys. Seriously, jeez.” I shook my head and pulled out my phone. “Now, let’s get going, I’ve got to make some calls to some ladies tonight.”
Chapter 3
Sally
“How did you know TJ was your soul mate?” I asked Mila, my best friend, as we waited for TJ and Cody to grab our drinks from the bar. The car racing had been fun and I’d thoroughly enjoyed teasing Cody before our races. His eyes had sparkled as we’d joked around and I’d thought that we’d really had a connection. Only then I’d noticed his eyes following a hot blonde every time she’d walked past us and my heart had sunk in jealousy. I’d tried to keep a smile on my face, instead of letting my sadness show. I mean, what sort of loser would I be if I expressed my jealousy to him? He’d think I was crazy. Men didn’t like jealous women they were in relationships with, let alone jealous women they weren’t even dating. And just because I’d thought he’d been flirting earlier didn’t mean anything. Because maybe that was just his way and it didn’t actually mean anything to him.
“I’m not sure.” She shook her long blond hair and looked at me with a tentative smile. “Are you asking me because you want to know about me and TJ or because you want to know about you and Cody?”
“You’re too smart.” I laughed at my best friend and leaned my head back on the red leather couch. I was surprised at how comfortable the seating was in the bar. I was used to cheap plastic and vinyl and this was a pleasant change. “Why can you always read my mind?”
“Because I am in your mind.” She handed me a bottle of water from her bag and sat next to me. “Plus I was in your shoes just a few months ago. Drink this while we wait for the boys to bring our drinks.”
“Water?”
“I know how you get when you drink too much.” She nodded. “We don’t need you telling Cody anything you’ll regret in the morning.”
“True,” I agreed and opened the bottle of water and took a sip. “I shouldn’t get drunk. I’ll either tell him I love him or that I hate him, and neither of those statements sound like a good idea.”
“Yeah, no.” Mila laughed and I watched as she rested her head back and smiled at me. She had such a look of contentment on her face and as I smiled back at her, I realized just how much I envied her, her peace of mind and happiness. And that made me feel horrible. I loved Mila, she was my best friend, I wanted nothing but the best for her, but seeing how happy she was with TJ sometimes made me feel like my own life was even more of a mess. I felt like I was living in daydreams. I wanted so much to be with Cody that every little smile he gave me meant something more than it did. I needed to get out of my head, but I just didn’t know how to do that.