I creep away as he talks to the girl, a smile growing bigger on his face as he animatedly shares in whatever she's saying. She looks too young for him. Who is she? Why the hell do I care?
I huff and groan inwardly while doing a pretty damn good job at staying unaffected on the outside. Julie is curled up in Maverick's lap when I rejoin the table, and their lips are locked in a kiss that will forever scar my mind.
"Way to go," Kode scolds, scooting over for me to join him in the booth.
"Sorry. I couldn't let her think the worst of him. Come to find out, it's not just him she thinks poorly of."
I eye him expectantly, waiting on him to explain. Julie is too busy shoving her tongue down Maverick's throat to even try to hear over the music, but Kode's eyes narrow questioningly.
"What do you mean?"
"She thinks all of you are major jerks—except for Dane and Dale. What's been going on while I've been gone?"
I cut my eyes toward Corbin who quickly averts my gaze.
"We're guys. We're jerks sometimes," Kode says with a shrug while tossing his arm over my shoulders. "It's about time you came back to slap us upside the head when we do something stupid."
His dazzling smile infects me, and I lean into him. I'll deal with their issues later. I need to enjoy my drink. Oh shit. I never paid—
"Dane," Maverick says in delight when he tears himself away from the torrid kiss.
My heart thuds loudly in my chest as I peek out from under my golden locks to see Dane not looking at me.
Thank God.
"Thought I'd come by and bring these. I'm sure you're all celebrating," he says, motioning to a girl carrying a tray of shots.
No tequila. Please don't be tequila.
A whiff of the liquor graces my nose, and it takes all my strength not to snarl. Tequila. Damn it.
"Hell yeah," Corbin gushes, leaning forward to grab one of the numerous shot glasses littering the tray.
The pretty girl dressed in too-short shorts scurries off, and Dane turns to leave as well. "Hey no, man. Chill with us," Maverick whimpers, and I stiffen.
Kode traces an invisible pattern on my arm, and I lean against him more for support. He'll make Dane go away. Surely he knows I can't handle him. I should have explained why, but it's just too damn scarring and embarrassing.
"Please, dude. It's been so damn long," Corbin adds.
"It'd be nice to have us all at one table again," Dale chimes in, joining in
on the betrayal.
Dane looks somewhat bored as he shrugs, and then he slides in to be directly across from me.
"Hell yeah! Definitely need some more shots now. Honey, I'll call you later," Maverick says to his blonde bombshell. She frowns, but nods before kissing him softly one last time.
Kode and I move out of the booth to allow her a way out, but my heels don't feel like supporting me. With the wrong twist on the wrong crack in the floor, I twist and start to fall.
Warm hands rush my sides, slip around my waist, and draw me back as my breath catches in my throat. I don't have to see his face to know the feel of his breath, the burn of his touch, or the taste of his scent. Without thinking, I put my hands over his as he draws me back toward the booth, and I tremble against him. It's been so long.
He releases me quickly, leaving me bereft, and returns to his place beside Corbin as I shakily clamber back in. Kode's hand grazes my back as he guides me, and the whole table sits there under a thick, silent veil of absolute awkwardness.
Maverick finally breaks the uncomfortable silence with a ridiculous and perverted joke, something my distracted mind doesn't fully follow, and all the guys join in. From there, I just sit quietly, listening and letting them chat about things I've been left out of.
It slowly sinks in how long six years has been. I'm not in on all the inside jokes, the funny stories, or the hottest new gossip. Dane is just as perfectly comfortable as he always was. He never had a problem fitting in, and right now, I feel like we're a divorced couple and he's been raising the kids.
They're not my boys anymore. They're full grown men with fun and new stories to tell, and I'm not a part of those stories anymore. I was able to live in my bubble in New York, believing things were the same as they were in high school. But they're not. Not at all.