Cam smiled up at her. “Hey, nice to meet you.”
Adrienne smiled back. “You too. You used to work at Shady’s with Sarah?”
“Yup — she took my old job.” Cam cocked her head. “Wait, are you the Adrienne that went to ComicCon with Sarah last year?”
Sarah lit up. “Yes! I wish we’d gone on the same day so you guys could have met then.”
“Ugh, me too, trust me.” Cam turned to me, smiling brightly. “Guys, this is my roommate, Tyler.”
I stood, smiling as I extended a hand. “Nice to meet you two.”
“You too,” they said at the same time a little dreamily, and my smile stretched up on one side.
“Need a drink?” Cam asked.
Sarah grinned. “Aww, come on Cam. Guess.”
She laughed. “Okay, last time.” Her eyes squinted in concentration. “Whiskey sours.”
Adrienne’s mouth opened in surprise, and Sarah elbowed her. “See? I told you.”
We all moved to sit, and in the shuffle, Cam ended up at the far end with Martin, a fact she didn’t look thrilled about, but she smiled and made conversation all the same.
Adrienne sat next to me and Sarah on the other side of her. Sarah leaned on the bar, her gold cuffs resting on the surface.
“So, Tyler, what do you do for a living?”
“I’m a sports agent.” I noticed Adrienne sit a little straighter next to me. “And you run Shady’s now that Cam’s gone?”
“Yeah, living the dream,” Sarah said with a dry laugh. “At least I get all the comics I can read and discounted passes to ComicCon.”
“How about you, Adrienne?”
She waved a hand. “I don’t want to talk about work. Work is stressful and wouldn’t approve of my walking around New York dressed like Catwoman.”
Sarah chuckled. “She’s kind of a big deal — she works for Nike.”
My eyes narrowed in thought. It couldn’t have been the same Adrienne. This girl was nothing like the ball crusher I’d talked to on the phone earlier that day, but I said her name anyway. “Adrienne Christie?”
Sarah gaped. “How’d you know that?”
Adrienne sighed. “Tyler Knight?”
I laughed. “Well, how about that.”
“Only I would do this,” she said, shaking her head as Bayleigh dropped off the new round. Adrienne picked the glass up with long, dark fingers and took a sip.
I watched her curiously. “You’re not what I expected.”
She laughed “Yeah, well, I’m off duty.”
“Or on,” I added, motioning to her costume.
Her smiled curled up in amusement. “So, how’s it going with Pharaoh?”
“Good question. I haven’t heard from Jack in six hours, so that’s probably a bad sign,” I joked.
“I’m pretty confident he’s got it in the bag. But don’t tell Work Adrienne I said so.”
I chuckled. “Deal.”
“He’s in Atlanta?”
“He is. We’re waiting to find out more, but he’s been released.”
“Well, at least there’s that. But let’s leave work at work for tonight, all right, Steve Rogers?” She raised her glass, and I raised my bottle, touching the rim to hers.
“Whatever you say, Selena Kyle.”
Cam
I leaned on the bar, trying to listen around Martin to whatever the others were talking about, but Tyler’s back was turned, and I couldn’t hear anything. With every passing second, my curiosity — and frustration — grew.
“So,” Martin started, “how do you like working here?”
I broke my gaze — which was locked on the back of Tyler’s head — and smiled at Martin. “It’s my dream job. I get to run a bookstore, which makes my nerd heart sing Disney songs. I’m lucky Cooper chose Shady’s to visit for his comic needs.”
He nodded. “That’s right, Tyler told me Cooper Moore owned the place with a friend of his.”
“Rose,” I added. “I was actually Cooper’s comic dealer before all this. Now he helps me order for the store.”
The conversation lulled, and I trained my ears toward Tyler, catching him laughing.
“Bayleigh seems cool,” he said and took a drink.
I sighed and looked back at Martin, mustering a smile. “She is.”
“Have you known each other long?”
“Just since she started here, a few months ago,” I said shortly, not meaning to be short, but Adrienne was smiling widely at Tyler, and I wondered what they were talking about.
He smiled, a warm expression that transformed his face into something a little more handsome than it was before. “Does she, ah … have a boyfriend?”
My smiled tightened. “Sorta.”
His smile fell. “Oh. Yeah, I mean, that makes sense. I would have been surprised if someone hadn’t snapped her up.”
“Me too,” I muttered absently as Tyler laughed. Adrienne did too, and with that, I found myself unable to keep still any longer. “I’m sorry, would you excuse me for a minute?”
“Sure,” he said amiably, if not a little crestfallen.
I smiled and touched his arm, relieved, thinking again about a proper match I could make for him. “Thanks, Martin.”
I slipped off my stool and walked around to the back of the bar to check the sales on the computer in an effort to look like I actually had something to do, then made my way to Greg and Bayleigh to check on them. Once my fake-important walkabout was complete, I headed back over to the group, though instead of taking my seat next to Martin, I stood just behind Adrienne and Tyler, who had angled in to face each other while Sarah checked her phone on the other side of her. She smiled gratefully at me for saving her from the third wheel seat and swiveled around on her stool.