Page 111 of The No Try Zone
I turn a grateful look to my brother. “Ollie. Yes.”
Neesha smiles as well. “My HR hat was about to come on.”
Ollie waves us ahead and we walk out.
“I could use a night cap,” Neesha says as soon as we’re down the hallway.
Our footsteps are unhurried, the plush carpet absorbing my soft laugh. “Famous last words,” I mumble.
Ollie’s sharp eyes and ears miss nothing. “Need me to stick around?”
“Absolutely not,” I insist, waving him back to the ballroom. “I’m sure you’d like to get a taste of Sin City while you have the chance. Get out of here. I don’t need babysitting.”
We both know the words have double meaning, but after a moment of carefully studying my face, Ollie leans down and places a kiss on my cheek. “You’re the best.”
“I know.”
Neesha side-eyes me as he jogs down the hallway. “What was that about?”
I press the elevator button. “Something between us siblings, Neesha. Nothing to worry about.” As we step in, I wave at all the options. “Where to?”
She hits a floor and my chest constricts. I know where we’re going. “You don’t get enough sports as it is?” I tease.
“It’s March Madness,” she says, as if that’s enough of an explanation for why I’m being marched to the very bar I first met Colin.
Blue eyes meeting mine in the bar’s mirror. A dip of his chin in a silent promise that he’ll leave me alone.And he did. Until he laughed at the asshole bothering me.
My gaze travels over the bar as we enter, memories finally coming back in absolute clarity.
“Do you have rules like me?”
“Something like that.”
Then later,“I’ve got an idea. Heads, we have another drink. Tails, we call it a night.”
“There’s a table over there,” Neesha says, leading the way.
I follow, ordering a soda water with lime from the server when she appears.
“We have a good selection of mocktails here if you’d like to see them,” she offers, pointing at a not-insignificant chunk of the menu.
“I appreciate that,” I tell her, and I mean it. “The soda with lime is perfect.”
Neesha orders something I don’t recognize, and we settle into our seats a few minutes later when we have our drinks.
“People watching is something else,” Neesha observes, watching two women in full-length glittery gowns move through the bar. “Is this your first time in Las Vegas?”
“No,” I admit honestly. “I came here before I started with the Granite.”
“What’d you do?”
Got married after fifteen coin flips.“Did some hiking nearby, caught a few shows, the usual tourist stuff.”
“I’ve been up here a couple of times. Sorority meet-ups with my sisters from college, that sort of thing.”
“You’re still close with people you went to college with?” The concept is completely foreign. Except for Kari, I’ve moved on from any old friendships. Not on purpose, exactly, but more or less because we all just…moved on.
Neesha smiles. “Yeah. It’s a sisterhood for life.”
