Noah was so fucking thrilled when we arrived.
He did a double take when he first saw me, then his eyes widened when he spotted Jules and Morgan in my wake. He’d held his arms out to either side, a big grin splitting his beard. “Having a party without me, ladies?”
“Just a bit of a girls’ night,” Morgan teased.
All evening, he’s taken special care of us. He’d bent over our table with his hand curled around my shoulder as he walked Morgan and Jules through the menu—“And that’s Sadie’s favorite, Sunshine Spirits”—brought out a gigantic pretzel with six different dipping sauces, recommended a few nonalcoholic options when Morgan told him she was our designated driver for the evening, and generally kept us company whenever he had a couple minutes to spare.
“Morgan,” Jules whines, her fingers laced around her glass of Sunshine. “I feel bad that you aren’t getting to have anyfun.”
“What do you mean? This is the most fun I’ve had in weeks.” Morgan had gently nursed her own beer for the first hour but hadstuck with sweet tea since. Jules and I safely left our cars at the bookstore to be picked up after tomorrow’s game. “I don’t mind, Jules. We’re celebrating Sadie’s new art job anyway, and your…” Morgan shares a look with me that has me biting the inside of my lip to keep from giggling. I suppose Jules isn’t actually celebrating anything, but it’s clear to us that she doesn’t get a lot of opportunities to go out on her own without her kids in tow. She should enjoy her night off to the fullest.
“Anyway,” Morgan says with a laugh. “It’s getting late, ladies. Tell me what you want, and the last round’s on me.”
I hesitate, but eventually order a half pour of Jar of Bees, a honey ale Noah had recommended. “Made with honey from real local bees!” he’d buzzed. Jules orders the same.
Morgan strides inside to where Noah waits behind the bar. I prop my chin in my hand and watch them through the wide windows of the brewery, their bodies warped by the thick glass and hanging lights. Morgan’s animatedly chatting about something, gesturing with her hands, but my eyes are on Noah as he pours. On the way his long fingers wrap around the handle of the tap, how his wrist swivels dexterously as he fills the glass underneath it, how his biceps flex under the fabric of his—
“Look at you,” Jules says. I snap back to attention as she nudges me with her shoulder. She’s got her chin propped just as I do, and behind the lenses of her glasses her gray eyes are big and round and soft. It takes me longer than it should to realize that she’s imitating me.
“You’repining.” She lets out a dramatic, wistful sigh for effect.
“I am not!” It comes out louder than intended. “I am simply…admiring. I am simply—tipsy, okay?” I am simply full of excuses.
“Okay, Sadie.” She regards me with a small, knowing smile.
Morgan finally returns and passes two glasses to me and Jules, the beer inside richly gold and glittering. As the evening winds down, Jules questions Morgan about why she chose to play a dwarf,but I lose track of the conversation as I stare up at the budding stars in the sky.
I’m reminded of how many times in New York I would close down a bar with my co-workers, sipping at the watered-down tequila dregs in our margaritas before we swayed out into the night and onto the subway home. Although I’m just as tipsy now as I had been a dozen other times with them, tonight feels nothing like my old city happy hours. For one, hanging out with Jules and Morgan is…fun.We aren’t drinking to forget our boss’s terrible pettiness, or to numb the stress of an overlong day. We certainly aren’t bitching for hours on end, either, which is all I ever did with my co-workers, our complaints about our jobs, bad dates, rent prices, and roommates tasting more sour than our mojitos.
Morgan and Jules’s company feels easy and comfortable. With each new sip from my Jar of Bees, I allow myself to sink into the warmth of it, half listening to their debate about dwarves versus elves while rocking my head along with the music.
Morgan notices the dreamy, sleepy smile stretched across my face at the same time that the brewery’s lights come up, signaling that they’re now closed. “I think that’s our cue, girls.”
Jules yawns her affirmation.
As Morgan stands and threads her arms through mine and Jules’s, Noah comes to flank my other side. “Can I walk you all out?”
Of course I offer him my arm.
Stumbling slightly over our four pairs of feet, we snake out toward Morgan’s car in a line, our kind sober friends patiently steering me and Jules despite our giggles.
“You’ve got a really great place here, Noah,” Morgan finally says. “I’m sure you’ll see us again very soon.” Our linked arms fall as she reaches for her car keys, but I keep my arm entwined with Noah’s. There’s no rush to let go. He’s keeping me steady.
“Oh, I do hope so!” Jules gushes. “I want to see every step of Sadie’s mural.”
For once, I welcome the blush that warms my cheeks.
Morgan’s gaze pans across the three of us but pinballs briefly between me and Noah. I watch an idea form in real time: for an instant, her eyes narrow, and then her lips press into a sly smile. She nods to herself, and she reminds me so much of Liam in this instant. He wears the same exact poker face every time he throws a complete plot twist at us in D&D. “Well,” she says with a sigh. “I suppose we should get on the road. We’ve got a long way to go, with Jules on one side of town and Liam on the other…”
I’m too slow and tipsy, and I don’t see it immediately. Morgan’s trap is well laid, and Noah’s ever-present kindness—or genuine interest, if Morgan and Jules are to be believed—ensures that he takes the bait.
“I live close by Liam’s. I can take Sadie home,” he offers. Then, to me: “If you want.”
“Oh, are you sure?” Morgan rocks from one foot to the other. “It’s up to you, Sadie.”
Jules is so drunk she can’t hide her shit-eating grin. She hiccups a laugh as she climbs into Morgan’s car.
“Okay,” I say, turning back to Noah. “If you don’t mind.”
