Avoiding her gaze like my life depends on it; I feel Meghan’s eyes on me everywhere I go.
The next moment I turn around, I see it. She’s leaning away from the hipster-bearded tool as he crowds her. A possessive rage bubbles in my gut. At the same time, I see the signal: Meghan’s forefinger hooks around the chain from the inside, and she slides that finger slowly back and forth.
She can’t be serious.
No way she’s going to ditch everyone, not while all our mutual friends are here, witness to everything.
NINE
Meghan
Herc is working so hard to ignore me.
His jaw ticks while he wipes down the bar, pretending he doesn’t see.
I keep going, sliding my gold M back and forth along the chain with the tip of my finger while Carson talks about himself.
I’ll keep signaling for as long as it takes; Herc is the one who taught me patience, after all.
Finally, he turns, his expression dark and glowering like a high school principal who just caught me smoking behind the gym.
Our gazes lock together for the briefest of seconds. He turns and disappears into the kitchen.
Moisture pools at my core, and my nipples grow hard.
It’s playtime.
Hopefully.
I turn to Leela, and she meets my gaze with a silly smile over something Crosby just said. “Babe. I’m so sorry, but I’m exhausted. I think I’m going to go home and rest.”
“Do you want to take my car? The rest of us can squeeze in with each other.”
Shaking my head, I mumble something about having already ordered an Uber on my phone.
Leela’s expression is unreadable then, but she doesn’t push.
“Alright, girl. Go get some rest. We’ll meet you up at the house.”
I’m gone before I change my mind.
A moment later, I’m climbing the grassy slope behind the tavern. I don’t know this particular terrain, but that’s part of the fun. I stop at the tree line and look at the rounded top of the old familiar Bald Mountain.
And here, I wait.
I wonder if Herc remembers how he used to give me a five-minute head start so no one would know what we were up to. Or if he’ll make me wait longer. Just to be a pill.
The lump that clogged my throat earlier has returned with a new worry: what if Herc doesn’t show at all?
In the twilight, it’s difficult to make out shapes, especially back here, when all the lights are coming from the deck that fronts the lake. I can hear people laughing and talking, enjoying this perfect evening.
Am I really going to do this? It’s not too late. I could ditch him the way he ditched me. Just go back inside and finish eating dinner with our friends.
My body wouldn’t let me retreat now, even if I wanted to.
The back door opens, and the fluorescent light from the kitchen spills out on the small wooden landing. The shape that fills the doorway is unmistakable. Herc. I watch as he reaches behind him, closes the kitchen door, and then turns back to look at me where I wait just at the edge of the trees. He’s perfectly still, not moving a muscle. Watching me like a predator. Okay. So we’re starting this now.
My entire body thrums in anticipation and need. One more time, and then we can get it out of our systems, right?