Elsie

“I swear, Cassie, this better not be a set-up,” I groan.

I am heading out with my best friend for dinner and drinks, but we weren’t going out alone.

“I promise, there will be a group of us. This is not how I expected my first date with Barry to be, but things keep getting in the way,” she sighs.

Barry and Cassie work together. They have been trying for weeks to go on a date with no luck. That is why we were going tonight. It was his birthday, and he had arranged plans before he and Cassie had tried to set them.

“The two of you will get your date soon, I am sure,” I smile, “I hope so,” she replies.

The cab pulls up outside of the restaurant where we were meeting everyone. We paid the fare and headed inside. Cassie looks around, looking for Barry. I did too, but it was pointless since I don’t know what Barry looks like. I watch a huge smile grow on her lips, which tells me she has spotted him.

“There he is.” Her voice is full of excitement as she said it. I look to where she was looking and see a table with three guys and two women. Cassie took my hand and me towards the table.

“Hey,” Cassie announces as we approach, “Cassie, you made it. I am so happy that you did.”

I assume that is Barry with the dorky smile on his face. He stands and wraps her in a tight hug, and she happily hugs him back.

“I told you I would. Happy Birthday,” she responds and kisses his cheek.

I watch his face heat when she did it. I think that may be the first time I have seen a guy blush. It tells me, though, that he likes her as much as she likes him.

“This is my best friend and roommate, Elsie.” Cassie introduces me.

I give everyone a smile and an awkward wave. That was just me. I am weird and awkward. I am not the best in social situations either. I have never been.

“It is nice to meet you, Elsie. Let me introduce you both to everyone. I am Barry. This is my best friend, Oliver. My sister Rosie, my brother-in-law Joseph and my friend Anna,” he says, “Everyone, Cassie and Elsie.”

His entire face lit up when he said Cassie’s name. Once introductions were made, we sat down at the table to join them.

“We are still waiting for our brother Kellan and Anna’s girlfriend Sophia, and then we can order food, but for now, drinks,” Rosie grins.

Everyone liked the sound of that idea. We put our drink orders to the waiter, and it didn’t take long for them to arrive at the table. Sophia, Anna’s girlfriend, soon joined, and we all got to chatting.

“Maybe we should order. I don’t think Kellan is coming. You know he hates these types of things. He isn’t the most social person in the world,” Rosie says.

“He will be here. He promised, and you know he never breaks his promises,” Barry says firmly, “No, I do not break my promises.”

I heard a voice say from behind me. It is deep and sexy. And the sound of it causes a shiver to run down my spine.

“Kellan, you made it,” Barry grins, “I told you I would be here, little brother.”

I turned my head to see who the voice belonged to. The moment I did, I swallowed hard. The man in front of me was the most beautiful man I had ever laid my eyes on. He had dark, slicked-back hair and the most stunning deep brown eyes. An expensive-looking grey suit covers his muscular body. He is like the real-life version of most women’s fantasy.

He turns to me, and the second his eyes fall on me, I feel my cheeks heat. He smirks and then turns away.

“You are late, big brother,” Rosie says and raises her brow at him.

“Sorry, little sister, I got held up at work. You know I have a new business,” “Yeah, yeah, always excuses with you,” she laughs.

Kellan says hello to the ones he knows.

“Kellan, this is Cassie, my, um, date, I guess, and her best friend, Elsie. Ladies, this is my brother, Kellan,”

“It is nice to meet you, Kellan,” Cassie smiled.

He gave her a polite nod and then returned his attention to me.

“Hello, Elsie,”

The way my name came from his tongue wasn’t normal. His tone sounds almost seductive. He offers me his hand.

“Hello, Kellan.” I stammer out.

I lift my hand to him, which he happily takes to shake it—his hold a little tighter, a little longer than needed. He made direct eye contact with me as he did. I swear it was like the man was staring straight into my soul.

“Should we leave you two alone?” Anna laughs.

I quickly pull away and felt my face heat once again. Kellan stood, straightened himself up and sat down next to me. God, he smells good. I like a man who smells good. I need to pull myself together.

“Happy birthday, bro, by the way,” Kellan says

“Thanks. Where is my present?” Barry chuckles, “I will drop it off to you tomorrow.” Kellan winks.

“What did you get me?” You will have to wait and see,” he chuckles.

Barry rolls his eyes which made us all laugh.

“Now, can we blooming order? I am starving,” Rosie whines.

“Yes, we don’t need you to get cranky.” Kellan laughs.

She flips him off, and we all decided what we wanted to eat. A waitress came over to take our orders, but she seemed more interested in Kellan than in taking our orders. Finally, she took them.

Cassie gushes over Barry as we wait for our food. He didn’t seem to mind, though. They were cute together. Everyone was chatting happily with one and another. I, on the other hand, was silent and sip my drink. I wasn’t much of a talker when I was in a group. But get me one to one, and I don’t shut up.

Suddenly, I feel Kellan’s fingers brush against the side of my leg, a simple touch that makes the heat rise on my skin.

“Sorry,” he whispers.

I turn my head slightly to look at him, which was a bad idea. A strange squeak-like sound escaped from my lips.

“It-it- is alright,” I stammer out.

“You seem nervous. Are you OK, Elsie?”

I am nervous, more than I should be, and he was the reason. I couldn’t tell him that, though.

“I am fine. I just don’t do great in groups,” I answer honestly.

“Not a social butterfly?”

“No, not really,” I shrug, “Me neither,”

“You aren’t a social butterfly? You don’t seem like the butterfly type,” I giggle.

I soon regret what I say. How shit is that line? He must think I am some strange woman now. This is why I don’t talk in groups because I come out with stupid things like this. The next thing, a loud laugh fell from his very kissable lips. Did he find it funny? Now that was a surprise. His laugh drew attention to him from the others.

“Did I just hear you laugh out loud?” Barry asks, surprised.

“Yes, why do you seem surprised? I laugh,” Kellan responds.

“Not like that, you don’t. Are you high?” Rosie adds, “No, now the both of you hush and get back to what you were doing,”

Kellan sounds annoyed when he speaks to them. Why do his siblings seem so taken back by him laughing? Doesn’t he laugh often? Rosie rolls her eyes at him but does get back to talking to the others.

“Come with me,” he whispers.

“Um, to where?” I ask nervously, “Back to mine,” he smirks.

“Excuse me? What do you take me for?”

I am offended he would ask me such a question. What does he think I am? I am not that type of girl.

“I am messing with you, Elsie,” he chuckles, “I mean to the bar for a drink,”

“Lucky for you, or you may have earned yourself a slap,” I laugh.

“Kinky,” he winks, “Do you want me to join you for a drink?” I question with a raised brow.

“Yes,” “Then stop being a creep,” I warn.

He chuckles and nods. He stood first and excused himself from everyone, and I did the same. Cassie smirks at me, but I brush it off. Kellan rests his hand on the small of my back and leads us to the bar.

“It will need to be a quickie because dinner won’t be long,”

I soon regretted my words the moment they fell from my lips.

“Sorry, I don’t do quickies,” he says, a cheeky smile on his lips.

I shake my head, pull myself away from him and go to the bar. He comes up behind me, his front to my back.

“Can I help you?” I ask, looking over my shoulder at him.

“Nope,” he answers simply.

“Then why so close?”

“Because I can. And I think you like me close,” His voice was raspy when he spoke.

“I, I, don’t know what you mean,” I breathe out. My voice did not sound convincing, not even to me, “Yes, you do, kitten.”

He steps away from me and stands at the bar to get someone’s attention to get us a drink. While he wasn’t looking at me, I took a moment to pull myself together. This man should not be having this effect on me. I don’t know why he is acting the way he is with me. I am sure I am not his type. A man like him doesn’t look at women like me.

“What would you like to drink, sweetness?”

“Um, gin and tonic, please,” I smile.

“OK, then come here. I don’t bite unless you ask me to,”

I giggle and shake my head but take my place next to him as he orders our drinks. I don’t know how the rest of the night will go, but I have a gut feeling it will be completely different from what I expected, mainly if Kellan sticks around.