Scars Like Ours | Red View Romance #2

🍂 Eighteen

Various conversations filled the apartment as Annie served her guests the main course and they worked on their appetizer of a zesty, bright salad. Cliff watched her scoop out the perfectly shaped rounds of eggplant parmesan, which were mouth-wateringly cheesy and covered in little herbs. She worked so delicately, seemed to float around the table. It wasn't until she passed him and got to Gabriela, who looked up at her, that she took her eyes off the task at hand.

"Have you decided on a dress for the bachelorette party yet?" She smiled as Annie placed a serving on the plate in front of her. "Thank you."

"No. I think I'll need to buy something, but I don't know what to buy," Annie said as she moved around to serve Layla.

"What's planned for the party?" Cliff found himself tuning into their conversation instead of Dawson's story about Frank's new dog.

Gabriela grinned wickedly. "A wild night of drinking and dancing. And taking away Annie's nightclub virginity."

Annie's spatula clanged loudly against Layla's plate, and he watched as her cheeks flushed with color. "Sorry."

Layla looked up at her, lips pressed together to hide a smile. "We'll take you shopping, help you find something."

"Thanks." Annie filled the last empty plate for herself, and hurried back to the kitchen to discard the now-empty dish.

Gabriela picked up her fork, raising her voice so Annie could hear. "But not in Red View. They don't sell the type of dress you need in Red View."

Annie came back, sitting down with a sigh. "And what type of dress is that?"

"A sexy one."

Like she needed the help, Cliff thought. She looked sexy to him in her current outfit, which hardly showed more than her forearms. If he saw her in the type of dress Gabby was talking about, he'd probably lose all his motor functions. Rolling up his sleeves, he stifled a sigh--he really was in deep, wasn't he?

Annie sliced into her food, keeping her gaze trained on her plate. "It'll clash with my glasses."

"It will not. Glasses can be sexy." Gabriela reached for her cup of water and looked over to Cliff. "Don't you think so?"

If he'd taken a bite yet, he surely would have choked on it. Instead, his mouth went dry, and his gaze shot to Annie, who was staring at him with those big blue eyes.

They quickly moved over to Gabriela. "Gabby--"

"Yes," Cliff cut Annie off before he could stop himself, overtaken by something he couldn't identify as either stupidity or bravery. Hell, at least he was being honest.

"See?" Gabriela gestured to him, raising an eyebrow. "And you should know better than to think I'd pick out anything that clashes with you."

Annie took a bite, face nearing the same redness as the sauce on her plate. He prayed he didn't say the wrong thing. Should he not have answered? Maybe he shouldn't have said anything. God, he was overthinking everything--how was being around her both so much easier and so much harder than it was with everyone else?

"I'll have you looking so good we'll find you twenty dates for the wedding."

Annie laughed, shaking her head. "That's not what we're going out for. And I don't think I'd want my wedding date to be some random guy I met in a nightclub, probably when he was drunk."

Gabriela hummed. "That's true. And you wouldn't have anything in common with a guy like that." She looked over to Layla, fork hovering over her plate. "Do you know any eligible bachelors?"