It was just him and Cade at the bar now. Gage was still nursing his first beer. He and alcohol enjoyed a careful and dangerous relationship. He didn’t cut it out like the junk because people needed vices. And it was only slightly less dangerous than junk. There were points though, after too much whisky and not enough blood, that his resolve wavered in the haze of alcohol. But he never gave in. Not in seven years. But the hangover was that much worse because the pain of how close he’d come was lingering.
And since he was with Lauren, he didn’t want to seek solace in a bottle. Not when he had her.
Brock was readying himself to come with him, though he’d had to go home and check on the baby. The fucker was more maternal than Amy. Though that wasn’t hard.
“She’s too good for me,” Gage clipped, his words razors, cutting only as the truth could.
To the bone.
To his utter fucking surprise, Cade grinned. The fucker grinned. He never smiled unless it was at his kids or his wife. And it had taken his wife a long time to tease that smile out of him. They’d been through enough to wipe that smile off permanently.
“Of course she is,” Cade said. “They’re all too fucking good for us. As it should be. We should be aware of that shit, so then we make sure we always do whatever we can to make sure we’re good enough for them. That every fucking day’s goal is winning them over as if we don’t have them.”
Gage glanced at his president. Tasted the words. The truth in them.
Then he got up off the stool.
To win Lauren over for another day.
Lauren
“I’m so happy we’ve got a fresh face!” Gwen screamed, grinning at me above the rim of her glass.
It was a grin that hadn’t left her face since I’d entered Laura Maye’s bar with Lucy. A bar I’d never set foot in in my whole life. Despite that, the infamous Laura Maye rounded the bar with vigor and yanked me into her perfume-laden embrace.
I was surprised that I didn’t sink into the masses of chocolate-brown hair teased around her head. I was also surprised that I relaxed into the embrace, something I didn’t do with many people. Especially not strangers. But she didn’t exactly feel like a stranger. The way she looked at me to babble on about a new courtship and about how excited she was to finally have me in the circle, as if it had been somewhat of a foregone conclusion.
Each of the women waiting at the best table in the house—the big booth with a stunning view of the ocean setting—gave me versions of that same welcome.
Some were more exuberant—Gwen and Mia—while others were more subdued—Bex and Lily—but all were warm. There were no uneasy glances, no cooling toward the new woman in the group, something I’d been terrified of.
Not a single one of the women blinked when I’d refused the cocktail Gwen had all but shoved in my face. Something crossed Bex’s pretty but hard face with my refusal. Something like understanding. Or maybe respect? But of course, she hadn’t been able to get a word in edgewise, not with Amy, Mia, and Gwen in attendance.
Amy looked over at her beautiful friend. “What do you mean fresh?” she demanded. “My face is plenty fresh. It’s fresh as fuck,” she snapped, palming her cheek. “I spend thousands on face serums in order to make sure Botox isn’t in the picture… yet.” She narrowed her eyes at an amused Gwen. “And don’t you fucking dare utter a word to Cade about that. He and Brock natter like old women, and Brock has some strong feelings about me maintaining my youth.”
“He has strong feelings about you injecting poison in the face he loves so much,” Mia corrected, sipping from her own glass. “I’m much older than you children and I’m yet to need that stuff. Age gracefully, like moi.” She waved over her flawless face. It wasn’t lineless—small creases edged her almond-shaped eyes, but they were evidence of happiness. Of a perpetually smiling life. It only added to her beauty.
Amy scowled at her. “Oh shut the fuck up. You’re not aging gracefully. You’ve got a famous daughter who’s most likely a member of the Illuminati now, and she’s given you all the secrets about living forever and becoming a reptile and whatnot.”
A gaggle of laughter erupted around the table. I was surprised to find myself laughing too. Really laughing. With my whole self. I hadn’t done that, not properly, in almost a decade.
I realized Gage hadn’t just given me the gift of sharing pain with me. He’d given me these women too.
I also realized I loved him.
Had for a long while.
“Hey, honey, can I buy you a drink?” the low drawl sounded from behind me. Like right behind me, up in my space, an unfamiliar and uncomfortable warmth spreading from the closeness of a stranger.