“Fuck that,” Katie blurted. “She put this out on the table for all of us. We’re discussing it together.”
Then, she looked at Rome who hadn’t said a word. She elbowed him and said, “Right, Rome?”
He glared at her. “There’s nothing to discuss.”
Katie’s eyes widened. “Are you kidding? You slept with her for over a year and you don’t have an opinion about her sleeping with the guy that wrecked her?”
The left side of his mouth turned up but he didn’t look happy. “Sleeping with someone doesn’t mean I have an emotional investment in who else they sleep with, Kate-Bait.”
She glared and didn’t say anything.
Vick broke up their silent-glaring conversation. “Okay, aside from the mess happening between those two,”—she gestured between Katie and Rome—“can we focus on what Brey is going to do to keep Jax around?”
Katie started to respond but I slammed my hand on the table. “Stop.”
Jay’s hand fell from my neck as he eyed me warily.
“Rome is right,” I announced as Katie blew a raspberry. “There’s nothing to discuss.”
Jay started to object.
I cut him off. “No. I’m serious. We’re keeping it casual. You’re all right. I never got over him. I didn’t get closure. So, I need this.”
They were all silent, none making eye contact.
Vick was the only one brave enough to ask the question. “Is closure really what you want? To keep it casual and let him go?”
“I think it’s what I’m capable of right now.”
Jay sighed and I think that sigh was how the table universally felt.
He raised his glass. “I guess we’ll toast to you getting closure and us getting seriously fucked up tonight.”
Rome lifted his beer bottle, fully on board. “To that last part.”
We all lifted our glasses and downed our drinks.
Jay took over then, salvaging the night by announcing we all had to do a round of shots. We drank probably the same amount we ate before we left for the club. The decisions didn’t get any better as the night continued on.
The club Jay took us to couldn’t compare to a small-town bar or even a college town’s best night spot. It radiated money, luxury, and a loss of inhibitions. The crowd of clubgoers moved in waves to the beat of the music. They let the music consume them, flow through them, it owned their bodies. With alcohol in my veins, I felt myself move with them rather than shrink away.
Once we made it to the stairway to get to the VIP section, security took over pushing away some fans of Jay’s. We entered a room that was wall-to-wall glass panels, giving us a perfect view of the crowd. We felt a part of it but were above it, literally and figuratively.
People in the VIP area were recognizable figures in one way or another. Jay waved us over to introduce two tall, gorgeous men, both with dark curly hair and brown eyes.
“Caden, Bastian, meet my crew from back home.” He lifted his chin to introduce all of us. When he got to me, his arm wrapped around my shoulders, “Brey's my on-and-off lover according to tabloids.”
I tried not to roll my eyes as I reached my hand out to shake both of theirs. “I'm a childhood friend. Probably the only one he'll have left soon enough with his personality.”
Bastian's hand held mine while he searched my eyes for something. I wasn't sure what. “It's a pleasure to meet someone who knocks Jay, or any Stonewood, down a notch for a change.”
Rome snorted near me and grumbled, “Or all Stonewood men.”
I glared at him and glanced back at Bastian who still inquisitively looked at me like I had the answer to a question he hadn't bothered to ask me. I smiled and pulled my hand away, his gaze remained on me as we moved on to meet others and get a drink.
Vick and Katie immersed themselves in conversations, but I found myself staring out at the waves of strangers, moving, flowing, partying together.
Bastian walked up behind me. “A sight when we're up here and they're down there, huh?”