Free Winter (Four Seasons #1) by Nikita Rae

my
shoulder to find Noah. He’s leaning over the bar, talking to the
bartender who just so happens to be a smoking hot chick with a
ridiculously low cut top. She’s biting her lip, an openly slutty
indication that she’s interested in more than just his drinks
order. Her eye catches mine, a smug grin on her face, as she
removes the caps off two beers and leans over unnecessarily far to
place them in front of Noah. He pays her and is smiling when he
turns around and makes his way back to the booth.
    “ Forget the
menus?” I ask as he places a beer in front of me.
    He shakes his
head. “Nah. I just ordered you a veggie burger. You said you were
vegetarian, right?”
    I burst out
laughing, picking up my beer bottle. “Very funny.” We seriously
talked about my addiction to rare steak only minutes ago as we
walked over here, so I know he’s joking. Only when I take a drink
from my bottle and put it down, I see that he’s not. He’s not
joking at all. There’s an awkward look on his face.
    “ Oh God, I’m
so sorry. You’re gonna think I’m such a dick now aren’t
you?”
    Man, the
bartender’s rack must have really distracted him. I give him a
smile—an it’s no big deal kind of thing even though it sort of is. “It’s
okay. I’ll just go ask to change the order.”
    Noah flinches.
“Sorry, Avery. I’ll go.”
    “ No,
seriously. It’s fine.” I get up, beer bottle in hand, and head over
to the bar. There are way more people waiting for service now that
the musician’s taking a break, and a group of five college girls
stand at the end of the bar placing tequila shots and sliced up
lime wedges onto a small tray. They really weren’t kidding about
the body shots.
    “ What can I
get ya?” the woman asks me, still smirking, like she thinks I’ve
come over here to give her a piece of my mind about flirting with
my man. Another perfect opportunity for an eye roll, but instead I
smile sweetly. No point in being a bitch when Noah isn’t my man at
all, and this woman is in charge of whether the chef spits in my
food. I’ll be nice as pie. If she doesn’t want to be nice back,
then that’s her problem.
    “ My friend
just ordered me a veggie burger. Could you please see if there’s
any chance I could change it to a regular hamburger?”
    The bartender
looks puzzled. She clearly expected something else out of me. She
pouts, her lip-gloss a completely over the top shade of pink.
“Order’s already gone into the kitchen, sweetheart. Boyfriend
obviously doesn’t know you that well, huh?”
    I don’t rise
to the bait. “Yeah, actually we’re just friends. And no, we don’t
know each other all that well.”
    “ Well, either
way, there’s nothing I can do about it now. As soon as the order’s
put in, that’s it.”
    “ Claire,
surely you can stick your head through the door and change the
order.”
    I start at the
familiar voice beside me. Luke Reid tips a bottle of water to his
lips, sweat beading on his forehead. My knees buckle like someone
just took a sledge hammer to them. His dark hair is damp and messy,
ruffled in that I don’t give a fuck style only a few guys can pull off
convincingly.
    “ Luke?”
    He screws his
mouth up to one side, raising his eyebrows. How the hell does he
make that rued look so…so…
    “ Hey,
Beautiful.” He sets the bottle down on the bar and frowns at
Claire, evil slut bartender from hell. “Greg’s not even in the
kitchen right now.” He points over to a tall guy in a motorhead
t-shirt, talking to a group of girls, legs clad in checkered pants,
the kind only chefs wear. Claire tucks her hands into the back
pockets of her jeans, thrusting her chest out. She twists her torso
from side to side, pouting like a little girl.
    “ I was only
playing, Luke. Of course it’s no problem.”
    My mouth falls
open as she literally skips over to Greg the chef. I turn to Luke,
who is he rubbing a green guitar pick furiously in between the pad
of his thumb and his bent