Free Mirage by Ashley Suzanne

squints Skylar’s direction and the other guys at the table. Her eyes go big and I know she recognizes him.
    “Skylar McBride? Holy shit, it that you?” Kylee asks as she leaves me on the dance floor and runs over to the table.
    “Well if it isn’t Kylee fucking Anderson, in the flesh,” Skylar says has he picks her up in a giant hug. He spins her around once before setting her back on the ground.
    “Mira, get your ass over here. It’s Sky,” Kylee yells.
    Skylar looks at me and his eyes go from excited to angry so quickly I was scared to go over to the table. Knowing I couldn’t back down, I place my empty glass on a nearby table and walk over towards them.
    “Hey Sky, how are you?”
    “I’m good, Mira, how are you?”
    “I’m doing good. Working a lot, but I can’t complain,” I say.
    I really wasn’t in the mood to re-hash all that went wrong with Skylar and me, so I decide to take drink orders and head towards the bar. That was a thankful reprieve from what could go terribly wrong. But the more I thought about it, I begin to panic. I left an intoxicated nosey Kylee alone with Skylar. There is no way she’s not going to get the dirt on me now. Shit.
    As I make my way back from the bar, drinks in tow, I recognize another familiar face.
    “Jacoby, is that you?” I say walking towards a guy that looked almost identical to my boss from his side profile.
    “Hey Mira, how are you? Are you and your friend out for a night on the town?” Jacoby asks with a little bit of a slur in his voice. Someone has had a couple drinks, I think to myself as I get closer and can smell the whiskey on his breath.
    “Yeah, my girlfriend Kylee and I, who’s around here somewhere, decided to come down for dinner and drinks,” I say as I turn back to get the drink orders.
    “Why don’t you and your friend come and have a drink or a shot with me and my friend?”
    “Um, are you sure we wouldn’t be imposing?” I ask, a little unsure of the situation. In a professional social setting, it’s okay to have a drink or two with a co-worker or a boss, but this is not professional. I am dressed a little too sexy for this to be professional.
    “Really Mira? Get your friend and come on back. We never pass up an opportunity to have drinks with beautiful women such as yourselves.”
    Well, hell. This night out just took another unexpected turn.
    “Yeah sure, let me run and find Kylee and drop these drinks off. I’ll be right back,” I say before my brain can process that I just agreed to have casual, non professional drinks with my boss who just inadvertently called me beautiful.
    I carefully carry the drinks back to where Kylee and Skylar are standing. Placing the drinks on the table, I turn to Kylee who gives me a puzzled look. I really don’t like when Kylee gives these looks. And even more than the looks, I hate that I know what the looks mean. That look means ‘yeah bitch you’re busted’.
    “Kylee, I have some friends on the other end of the bar who want to have a drink or two with us. Do you want to go or do you want to stay here?” I ask her, not making eye contact with Skylar.
    “What friends? Like from college?” Kylee asks.
    “No, friends from work. Jacoby is here with one of his buddies,” I tell her.
    “Which ones are they?” she asks while peaking around me to get a better look.
    “Jacoby is wearing the blue button down dress shirt and has the dark hair,” I tell her, pointing towards Jacoby’s table.
    “Um, hell yes. That man is so fucking sexy. I’ll have a drink or two with him and his pal. Shit, let’s do some body shots,” Kylee says.
    I guess it might be time to cut Kylee off. Kylee always had a habit of becoming rather slutty when drinking. Okay, I lied. Kylee is always kind of slutty; it just comes off less subtle when she’s drinking.
    Kylee says her goodbyes to Skylar, who looks like he’s gritting his teeth together and continues to stare at me, but I refuse to make eye contact. This