Brian was nervous. He was so nervous he was shaking. There was no way he was going to mess things up with Kassy. Not again. He, Howie, Nick, and AJ were sitting at a large table in Il Primavera waiting for Kassy, Kristin, and Kevin to arrive.

It had taken almost the whole day to convince Leighanne to go visit some of her relatives in New York. Actually, she had agreed readily, but she’d also insisted that Brian come with her. He’d had to make up some story about interviews all night long and most of the next week. If he was lucky, she would stay in New York until they had to leave for Florida.

Hearing a long whistle, Brian looked over at AJ, who was staring at something behind him. Turning around, he froze. She was beautiful. The way her sleevless satin dress clung to just the right places on her body, the low neck and back showing off her lightly tanned skin. The way the tiny clip on one side of her auburn hair made the other side fall lusciously over her face. The way the silver-blue color of the dress made her eyes sparkle with color . . . and the way she blushed when she noticed him looking at her.

Finally able to move his body, Brian stood up. Straightening the jacket of his black suit, he slowly walked over to her. Taking her jacket from her hand, he smiled.

“You look beautiful,” he said, his voice low. Kassy blushed and looked down, unsure of what to say. “Really.” When she looked up, her eyes were full of confusion.

“Before we go over to the others,” Kassy said, flicking her hand over towards the table, “I want to ask you something. Why did you ditch me today?” Before Brian could answer, she continued. “I had a lot of fun today with Howie and AJ, but I’m doing this to be with you. It’s okay if I’m with them, too, but I thought we were trying to fix our relationship.”

“Kas, I’m sorry,” Brian apologized. “I just wanted tonight to be all about us and I didn’t want Leighanne to interfere. I guess I went about it the wrong way.”

“You didn’t even pick me up, Brian.” He smiled sheepishly.

“I thought you’d slam the door in my face,” he said, blushing slightly. Kassy smiled at his shyness.

“I probably would have,” she said, truthfully. The two of them laughed as he led her over to the table. “Hey, guys.”

“Kas, you look even more amazing than you did in the store,” Howie said as she sat down next to him. Brian sat down on her other side and smiled at her.

“Thanks, D,” she said. She looked at AJ and he wiggled her eyebrows at her. She laughed. “You guys don’t look too bad yourself.”

“Damn! You look hot!” AJ exclaimed to Kassy. Kristin looked at him expectantly.

“What about me?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“You do, too,” AJ explained, smoothly covering his fault, “but if I’d said it before, Kev would have killed me for even looking at you.” Everyone at the table erupted into a fit of laughter. Everyone except Kevin. Brian stopped abruptly and raised an eyebrow at AJ.

“What makes you think I won’t hurt you for looking at Kas?” he asked, defiantly. AJ shrugged.

“Because you’re not going out with her.”

“Oh, right.” Brian blushed and the table turned quiet. The silence being too much for him to take AJ finally spoke up.

“Anyway, you wanna come home with me tonight, Kas?” he joked, growling. Both she and Kristin rolled their eyes.

“Sorry, Jay, but I don’t go for younger guys, not matter how close to my age they are,” Kassy said. “I’ve had a bad experience with all of them.”

“You go for older guys?” Kristin said, her look obviously implying a certain blonde sitting on her right.

“What other kind are there?” Kassy joked. She looked at Nick, who was sitting across Brian. “You haven’t said a word since I got here. You okay?” He nodded.

“Yeah,” he said, shyly. He was obviously a little uncomfortable under Kassy’s gaze, even though it was a sympathetic one. “Just a little tired, I guess.” Kassy nodded and decided to leave the guy to his peace.

“C’mon, Nicky,” Brian teased. “There’s no reason to feel shy around Kassy. She’s cool.”

“Leave him alone, Bri,” Kassy said. Brian sighed and cast Nick a look before turning to Kassy. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the youngest man give her a grateful smile. She smiled back.

“So, what do we eat here?” she asked, opening her menu. “Snails? Octopus?”

“Basically,” Howie said, wrinkling his nose in disgust. Kassy turned to Brian.

“Please tell me there’s something else on this menu,” she begged. “You, of all people know how much I hate anything that use to walk, talk, or slither.” Brian, Kevin, and Howie laughed while the others were too intrigued by their menus.

“There is,” Brian said, pointing to something on his menu. Kassy peered at it and smiled. Her classic Caesar salad.

“A Caesar salad?” AJ asked, taking a peek at Brian’s menu. “What’s so special about that?”

“Kassy’s the pickiest eater on the East Coast,” he explained, laughing. “Whenever we go out to eat, there’s rarely anything on the menu she likes so she always eats a Caesar salad.”

“Then she complains about how bad it is,” Kevin remembered, smiling. Kassy glared at him and kicked him under the table. Grimacing in pain, he narrowed his eyes at her while Kristin laughed. A few moments later, a man in black suit-pants, a white collard shirt, and a black vest and tie walked up to their table.

“Good evening,” he said, his British accent appealing enough to make both Kassy and Kristin pay full attention to the man. He wasn’t bad looking either, his black hair and chocolate-colored eyes. In his late twenties, maybe. “My name is Antwan and I’ll be your waiter tonight,” he continued, smiling at the ladies. “May I get you anything to start off with? Maybe a drink?”

“I think we’re ready to order,” Kristin said, her eyes still focused on the man. The waiter nodded. Starting with Kristin, Antwan made his way around the table, taking everyone’s order and writing them down on his notepad. After taking the drink orders, he smiled and left. Kevin slowly turned his head towards Kristin, his eyes wide.

“What was that?” he asked. Kristin looked at him confused.

“What was what?” she asked, innocently.

“That!” Kevin motioned towards the departing waiter. “You’re eyes were practically bugging out of your head.”

“They were not!” Kristin argued, shooting Kassy a knowing glance. Kassy only smiled slightly and looked down at the table.

“Hey, Kas.” Turning her head to the left, she saw Howie smiling at her. “Would you like to dance?” Kassy peered over his shoulder to see a band in the corner of the room.

“I’d love to,” she answered. Standing up, he held out his hand to her, palm up. Smiling, she accepted his outstretched hand and let him pull her up off her chair. She was completely oblivious as Brian’s eyes followed her out onto the dance floor.

“Yo, Bri, drool much?” AJ snickered. Quickly moving his gaze off Kassy’s back as Howie delicately put his arms around her, Brian’s face heated up as he stared at his napkin.

“Brian, you like her,” Kristin stated. “It’s obvious.” Brian shook his head.

“You’re nuts, Kris. I can’t like her,” he said. “I’m in love with Leighanne. Besides, Kassy’s my best friend. She would never be my girlfriend.”

Obviously, Brian hadn’t chosen his words too carefully. Kristin noticed how he had said that he “can’t like her” and how “she would never be his girlfriend.” He hadn’t said he didn’t like her and that she could never be his girlfriend. Kristin had a feeling that there was a hidden meaning under Brian’s words, but figured now was the best time to press for it.

“C’mon, Kris, let’s dance.” Standing up, Kevin held out his hand towards his girlfriend. Smiling, she took it and waved her fingers at the other guys as Kevin helped her up and led her to the dance floor.