She nodded and let Colton know she was waiting on her ride.
“While you’re waiting, why don’t you come inside with me and my kid brother?” Colton asked with a smirk aimed in Gavin’s direction. “Our treat, of course.”
Gavin quelled the sudden urge to knock him clear across the street.
With mild trepidation crossing her features, the woman smiled. “That actually sounds good. I could definitely use a drink, that’s for sure.”
Turning to open the door, Colton sent Gavin another wicked smile. “I know quite a few people that need a drink today.”
Gavin shook his head and followed them into the lounge. The melodious notes of a saxophone player belting out Louis Armstrong’s “La Vie en Rose” hummed through the air. Jazz was something that Gavin couldn’t help but come to love over the years. It was a constant entity throughout his childhood, being his father was a huge fan. The barest of smiles crept over Gavin’s mouth when the memory of his parents swaying on their back porch to the exact same song flooded his mind. With the words fitting what he felt for Emily, this particular song was one he’d imagined dancing with her—pressed close against his body and nestled tightly in his arms. The illusion he had created of them possibly being together couldn’t have been further from reality now if he tried. Like a slow fire burning, the ache for her—and now the need for more than a few shots of bourbon—curled through his thoughts.
After finding a table next to the dance floor, the woman that had introduced herself as Stephanie retreated to the restroom to fix her appearance. Promptly ordering three shots of bourbon and a beer to top it off, Gavin descended into what he hoped would turn into the numbness he so desperately sought. Within seconds of the waiter delivering the liquid comas, he downed two of those shots with grace.
Gavin glared at his brother. “Don’t even go there tonight.”
Smiling, Colton casually leaned back in his seat. “I didn’t say a word.”
“Right, you don’t have to,” he replied, his voice holding a heavy warning. “Your face is reeking of it, and I’m seriously in no fucking mood right now.”
With a proper arch of his brow, Colton chuckled. “So, let me see, you’re choosing the road that will inevitably leave you wallowing in your own self-pity?”
“You really have no fucking clue, do you?”
“No, brother, I do. Like I told you earlier, either fight for her or just let her go.”
Shaking his head, Gavin downed the third shot. “I don’t need you schooling me on what to do, Colton.”
“I know you don’t, little man. However, you can try and drink Emily away all you want,” he noted, giving a leisurely shrug, “or you can take advantage of the beautiful damsel in distress who’s wiping mascara from her pretty eyes right about now inside the restroom.”
“So now you want me to take advantage of women, huh?” he huffed as he cracked open his beer. “Not only are you annoying the fuck out of me, but you’re a walking contradiction.”
Colton laughed. “You know what I meant. Take a chance on something that’s more solid than what you’re running after right now.”
The nonchalant remark hit its target dead on, but Stephanie approaching the table saved Colton from being told off by his brother.
She took a seat across from Gavin and smiled. “I apologize for taking so long.”
“No need,” Gavin replied. “What can I get you to drink?”
“I’ll take an Absolut and cranberry with a twist of lime.”
Gavin motioned for the waiter and gave him her drink order.
Upon closer inspection, Gavin found her to be as beautiful as Colton said. Her rich chestnut hair was glossy despite being slightly mussed, and her light almond-shaped eyes edged with thick lashes would’ve normally had him pulling out a line or two—but not tonight. Unfazed and unaffected, Gavin kept the conversation with her to a minimum, instead focusing on the internal battle he was currently having with himself over Emily. Colton made sure to keep her entertained though, occasionally throwing a jab of humor directed at Gavin every so often.
As the evening wore on, Gavin noticed that Stephanie was staring in his direction more intently. Wanting to crucify himself for paying her no mind, he ordered another few drinks and tried to focus on her a little more. He learned that she was in school for journalism and would graduate the following May. Along with an older and younger brother, she was the middle child in her family and grew up in Lindenhurst, a moderately sized town on Long Island. She enjoyed fine arts, music, traveling, good food, family, friends, and lazy summer days.
Still, with all of the fine attributes that she clearly possessed, Gavin couldn’t stop comparing her to what he wanted the most, craved the most, and what he unequivocally needed the most.
Emily…
There was no chill running down his spine when Stephanie spoke. Nothing lit up inside of him when she laughed. Even the slight touch she grazed on his arm every so often while she was talking did absolutely nothing for him.
Nothing.
For this, he felt like a total asshole for even carrying on a conversation with her because it was clear to him that she was interested.
And more clear to him that he wasn’t.
Nonetheless—whether from the alcohol that had accomplished its purpose or because he’d finally convinced himself that having Emily in his life was a bad idea—by the end of the evening, Gavin found himself exchanging numbers with Stephanie.
“Did she really have to come with us?” Olivia asked, her face coiled in disgust.