Ready or Not (The Love Game Book 4) by Elizabeth Hayley (i wanna iguana read aloud txt) 📗

I’ve never been to the place. Just meeting some people at a bar downtown. I don’t need to be there until nine or so, though.”

“Is it a surprise party or something?” Xander asked. When I didn’t answer right away, he added, “Because they said you have to be there at a certain time. Or do your other friends just keep you on a really short leash?”

I knew he was kidding, but I also knew the whole thing probably did seem strange. “Just some people I haven’t seen in a while, so I want to make sure I get there close to when they do.”

That sounds plausible.

I caught a glimpse of Brody, who was bringing his glass to his mouth and wiggling his eyebrows at me. After he took a sip, he pressed his lips together as if to say my secret was safe with him. I was glad Aamee had already gone back home to her new job because she definitely would’ve picked up on Brody’s reaction and asked about it later. Or now.

With our drinks in hand, we moved back from the bar a bit to allow some other people to order, and I was thankful when Drew spotted some pictures on the wall of celebrities who’d been customers. How Paris Hilton knew this place existed when I didn’t was a question I’d probably never know the answer to.

“What?” I asked when Brody was still staring at me.

“Pretty smile,” he said.

The fuck? “Dude, did you just say I had a pretty smile? That shit’s weird, even for you.”

“No! That’s what you said, not me.”

“I definitely did not say you had a pretty smile. Did you drop acid before you came here?”

“You said it about Taylor, you big, stupid idiot. When you were describing her to the hostess.”

“Oh. So?” I tried not to make eye contact with him even though I’d just asked him to explain the implications of something I had no interest in hearing about.

“Sooo…” Brody said slowly. “You like her,” he practically sang.

“You’re high. She does have a pretty smile. It’s an objective statement. Straight white teeth that fit her mouth perfectly. I’m sure nine out of ten dentists would agree with me.”

“You like her,” he sang again.

Fucker. “Would you keep your voice down, please? I don’t like her, like her. I just…” Sighing heavily, I said, “I don’t know what I feel or even if I feel anything at all, so just don’t tell anyone, okay?”

“Dude, you and your secrets. I feel like I’m working for the CIA here.”

“Well, then enjoy it because this’ll probably be the closest you ever come to being trusted with important information.”

Brody looked like I’d just slapped him. “Um, you do realize that I’d make the best secret agent mainly because no one would ever expect that I am one.”

“Keep telling yourself that, buddy.”

“I will.” Then he gave me his dopey Brody grin and said, “For as long as you keep telling yourself you don’t have a thing for Taylor.”

T A Y L O R

Other than one table of thirty-something hipsters who’d brought their newborn and toddler with them, most of the tables I’d waited on had been relatively easy. The majority of the customers were content to sit for a while without my checking in too many times. I ran the apps out as soon as they were ready and kept the drinks coming as best I could, and since I’d told everyone I was new when I’d introduced myself to each table, most were pretty understanding.

The other servers helped too by running out a few drinks here and there if they had time, so overall, the night had been going pretty smoothly. I was glad I’d been scheduled for my first shift on a Wednesday afternoon, though, because the place had still been pretty crowded. I would’ve been completely overwhelmed if I’d had this weekend level of demand on my very first day.

I barely had time to breathe, let alone take an actual break yet tonight, but so far I’d made some decent tips, which was more than I could ask for considering I had no experience waiting tables. I was feeling pretty confident as the night progressed, but it still surprised me that the hostess would seat a large party in my section. The manager, Jeremy, had told me he’d keep the limit to tables of four for my first Saturday night, but I’d just been given a table double that. Fuckers.

I grabbed some napkins and coasters from the bar and headed over to get their drinks started, praying I could keep up with the rest of whatever they ordered. From what I could tell at a distance, it looked like the group already had some drinks going from the bar and were studying the menus closely. I hoped they wouldn’t have too many questions I couldn’t answer, like when one person asked if we had vegan cheese for our pizzas.

As I approached the table with my friendliest smile and got ready to introduce myself, I realized why I’d gotten such a large party seated in my section on my first busy night.

“Aww, you guys. I didn’t know you were coming.”

Sophia, Drew, Brody, Ransom, Xander, Carter, Toby, and Aniyah surrounded the table.

“This is such a great surprise.” I leaned over to give Sophia a hug from behind. “This was your idea, wasn’t it?”

“Actually, no. I’m not sure who brought it up first, but it wasn’t me. I’ll still take the hug, though.”

“Well, thank you to whoever thought of it. It’s been a crazy night. Good, but crazy. So it’s nice to see some familiar faces.”

“It was Ransom’s idea, I think,” Brody said.

“Really?” I hoped my question didn’t reveal my surprise, but with the exception of Aniyah and Toby, I probably knew Ransom the least out of all of them.

I looked over to see him combing his wavy, light-brown hair with his fingers. “Yeah, I figured you could use the support. We tried to come sooner, but we had