Restless (Relentless Series Book 2) by Alyson Reynolds Page B

everything going on in my personal life, I was distracted. Amanda’s name popped up on the screen and I smiled.
     
    Drinks tonight at Crossfire?
     
    Anywhere but there. I wanted to go somewhere we wouldn’t run into anyone we knew. Rhys owned the bar; chances were high that he would be there, especially since he was still trying to get the place set up on his system.
     
    How about Flint?
     
    I shot the text back and hoped she agreed. Amanda's pretty laid back, so she wouldn’t have an issue, but I didn’t want to explain why I wanted to switch everything through text.
     
    See you at 8.
     
    Four hours later, and a completed article submitted on time thank you very much, I met Amanda at the bar. She already had a table when I showed up. Perks of being a movie star I guess. It happened to Stephen and Violet all the time. You would think I might get used to it, but even now it still weirded me out.
    “Sorry I’m late.”
    She sighed. “You aren’t. I was early. It was one of those days and I wanted a drink.”
    "It seems like every time you come out we keep missing each other."
    The waitress brought over two vodka tonics and set them down in front of Amanda. I raised an eyebrow, and she shrugged. The waitress took my order, and I refocused my attention to my friend.
    “Okay, so what’s going on that you’re double fisting it before I even sit down?”
    “Men suck.”
    I laughed dryly. “Oh honey, I know.”
    “I’m so sick of dating assholes.”
    “What happened with Scott? You guys were all hot and heavy for a while.”
    “He's nice and sweet and I liked him, but we just sort of drifted apart. It was hard when I was filming in Canada because we only saw each other every few weeks.”
    She downed half of her glass in one drink. Apparently, it was going to be one of those nights. Fine by me. The waitress set my drink down in front of me, and I asked her to bring me another. She smiled and winked, fully aware that we planned to be here awhile.
    “So do you want to hear a story that will make you cry and laugh at the same time?”
    “Sure, I need to think about something other than my own issues.”
    I told her all about Stephen and my impromptu trip to Vegas, Georgia, and finally New York. When I told her about my guy trouble coming from Vegas she laughed. Then I told her about sexy bartender boy showing up at Crossfire, and I thought her drink might come out of her nose.
    “Oh my, Taylor. You always have something going on, don’t you?”
    “I wish things weren’t so fucking complicated. On top of everything I’ve slept with Stephen twice since I’ve been back.”
    “It’s a freaking clusterfuck.”
    “No kidding,” I scowled. That set her off laughing again, and I tried not to join in. After drinking both of my whiskeys things didn’t seem quite so bad. My fucked up life was hilarious.
    “We should have had Vi come with us. She would only talk about how great Jax is though. It’s not fair. I want someone to look at me like he looks at her,” she said pouting.
    “You’ll get that one day.”
    “So will you.”
    “Maybe,” I said quietly. I took another sip of whiskey and pasted a smile on my face. The problem was I had that, and I pushed it away. Suddenly everything didn’t seem quite so funny anymore.
     

     
    I tried to wait patiently, but patience and an un-caffeinated Taylor were working against me. It was probably a bad idea to be here, but I wanted to straighten things out between me and Rhys. He did a double take when he saw me sitting on the small deck outside his apartment. He looked amazing. Apparently he’d been running because he was shirtless, covered in a light sheen of sweat and dressed in only a pair of mesh basketball shorts. It took everything I had not to lick his tan skin.
    I needed to focus.
    “Hey.”
    “What are you doing here?” he asked with a guarded smile.
    “I thought we should talk.”
    He cocked his head to the side. “Come on inside. I’ll grab a