I laughed. “I know. I know. Let’s go. I’m not even going to try to argue about it.”
As Shawn and I headed to the bar, I realized that this was a nice reminder that even though my life had changed a lot, some things would always remain the same. The last of our group to arrive having to buy the drinks was one of those things, and right now, I was damn grateful for it.
CHAPTER24
SERENITY
Shawn ended up convincing the guys to go over to his place to hang out after the bar. “Come on. It’s been ages since we’ve had a boys’ night. I’ve got a bottle of good tequila and a deck of cards with our name on it.”
One by one, Tanner, Jeremiah, and eventually Bart, gave in to his needling and agreed to go. Steph leaned over to kiss Jeremiah sweetly before she got up. “Have fun, guys. I’m going to go relieve our babysitter and hopefully have time to read a page or two of a book I’ve been trying to get through for months before I crash.”
Jeremiah glanced up at her. “You’re sure it’s okay? If you need me—”
“Go with them,” she replied immediately. “Please, for the love of God, go with them. We’ll be fine at home and you desperately need to blow off some steam. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He pulled her in for another kiss, a much more passionate one this time, then whispered something in her ear that made her blush and smack his arm. Larisa and Tanner were already saying goodbye too, and while both of them seemed fine with the boys going over to Shawn’s, I couldn’t say that I wasn’t disappointed.
Bart and I needed to talk about that kiss at the stadium, and I’d been looking forward to possibly repeating it when I dropped him off at his place, but I had a feeling that was the exact reason why my brother suddenly wanted them all to come hang out. Shawn was crazy instinctive, especially when it came to me.
He’d probably invited them all over just so that Bart wouldn’t have an excuse to go home with me. He met my gaze as the others said their goodbye to everyone else, and I saw the flash of victory in it. I rolled my eyes at him.
He winked in response, and I sighed, knowing I was right about his intentions. As a little girl, I’d needed him to be protective of me. Now, however, it was just the slightest bit annoying.
Cock-blocked by my own brother. That’s just great. I can’t wait to return the favor.An evil plan for revenge was already starting to come together in my head, but I’d have to hang onto it until he met the girl he wanted to spend time with as desperately as I wanted to spend time with Bart tonight.
At least I knew I’d be seeing him again early tomorrow morning, but still, it really had been the perfect day, and the perfect way of capping it off would’ve been another kiss. Maybe even a talk that could’ve changed things between us, but that wasn’t going to happen now and maybe it was for the best.
If things were working out this way, it meant we weren’t supposed to have that talk just yet. We all left the bar together, and Steph and Larisa immediately waved before hopping in the cab they were sharing. Tanner and Jeremiah glanced back at me and Bart, bringing up the rear of the group, then pulled Shawn on ahead to flag down a cab of their own.
Thankful that they were buying us a minute together, I turned to smile at him. “I hope you had fun today. Try not to show up too hungover tomorrow. We wouldn’t want you to be too nauseous for skydiving.”
He chuckled, green eyes alight with humor as he gave me a firm nod. “You got it. I’ll see you in the morning. Skydiving, here we come.”
“Skydiving?” Leah’s voice piped up behind us. “I’ve tried to get Serenity to come skydiving with me before and she absolutely refused.”
Bart smirked as he tore his gaze away from mine. “It was her idea this time, actually. I’d like to think I had a hand in it, but it was probably just the realization that heights weren’t so bad after all.”
When he aimed the smirk at me, I shoved his shoulder playfully. “Oh, just go already. I’m not admitting that you may or may not have had any influence on my decision. Have fun tonight.”
“Thanks for an amazing day,” he said, the smirk melting away as he looked back at me so intently that I almost just blurted out exactly how I felt about him.
Shawn called his name just in the nick of time, and he took off after them with a final smile at me as he walked backward before spinning around when Shawn called out again.
“I’m coming,” he shouted back. “Jeez. The cab will wait for one fucking minute.”
The guys roared with laughter and piled into the back of the waiting car, leaving me on the sidewalk with Leah. She came to stand next to me as I watched them drive off, almost envious that I wasn’t going with him.
“Since we’re leaving the guys to do their own thing, do you want to come hang out with me?” I asked her before she could say any of the things I knew she wanted to. “We could have a couple of drinks at my place and maybe watch a movie later?”
“Sounds good,” she said, biting her tongue until we were back at my apartment, sitting on my couch, each with a beer in our hands. “Okay, spill. You’re going skydiving with him? How? I thought you said the thought terrified you. If he pressured you—”
“He didn’t pressure me,” I said, interrupting her, but she really didn’t need to go down that path. “It was my own stupid idea. We were in the hot-air balloon, and I got so caught up in the moment that I turned to tell him that I didn’t want the money. That I only wanted him and that I didn’t want anything to stand in our way anymore, but I wimped out at the last minute and told him that I’d changed my mind about skydiving instead.”
“That makes more sense,” she mused, toying with the label on the bottle as her eyes filled with worry. “You could just tell him that you changed your mind again if you’re still scared.”
“No, I want to do it.” I let out a long breath as I tried to get my thoughts in order. “I can’t explain it, but I feel like it’s something I have to do. For myself, not for him. I need to break through all the barriers that have been holding me back, and my fear of heights has always been this annoying thing that I’ve wanted to conquer. He’s just giving me the opportunity to do it.”
Her eyes lit up as she smiled. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with wanting nothing holding you back so you’ll have the courage to go for him, would it?”