Jade and Ryan are dancing. Phoebe and Alex are dancing. John and Maggie are dancing. Ava and that fucking drummer are dancing, his hands a little too low on her hips and his lips on hers.
Hell no.
I’m about ready to walk over and grab him when Tessa grabs my arm.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
I point to T, who glances over at me. “Right there.”
“Lucas, leave them alone.” She laughs.
“That boy rubs me the wrong damn way.”
“I could always have Liam cut in.” She smirks.
My jaw drops, and then I snap it shut.
“Go ahead. Say whatever you wanna say.”
“You knew about Liam and Ava?”
“Sort of.”
“Then you owe me, Ross—”
“Abraham.” She frowns.
“Same girl. You haven’t changed.”
She lets out a deep breath then looks up at me.
“You’ll be okay, girl, I promise. But you do owe me.”
Her lips curve up a bit. “And why do I owe you?”
“You knew about Ava and Ash and never told me.”
“I really wanted to. I told Collin he had to tell you.”
“Well, apparently, he did via letter from Jade. But you still owe me, because the letter came six months ago and—”
“No.” She shakes her head back and forth. “He told me the night before …” She stops and closes her eyes.
“It’s okay. Stop, okay? We don’t need to talk about it. You’ve done so well today. Every day—” I stop and take her hand, dragging her behind me to the dance floor right next to my daughter. When I turn around, Tessa rolls her eyes.
“What?”
“You should let her have fun.”
“She’s had a rough night. I don’t want her thinking that sucking face will make it better.”
“There’s worse ways to deal with pain.”
“Oh yeah? Like what?” I ask as I pull her just a little closer.
“Smoking pot?” Tessa laughs, and so do I.
When Toby, Tessa’s family friend and the boy she ran to when I fucked up the first time in high school, died in a tragic accident, she went to a party and smoked pot for the first time.