Riley scowled. “You can be such a bitch.”
“Yeah, and I haven’t had anything to drink yet.” Maya wiggled her brows, which sent Ann into gales of laughter.
“You have to admit she has a point, Riley. Our Ms. Absolutes here knows I’m too easy to forgive, and you’re too fair to go for the jugular. She’s keeping us on the path.”
“But is it the right path, I’m asking,” Riley grumbled. “Oh shut up, Maya. I’m done arguing. Now, I’m going to pour you a glass of tea. A nonalcoholic beverage. Then we’re going to watch that ghost hunting show and we’re going to enjoy ourselves. I think tonight they’re spotlighting haunts of the Northwest.”
Ann settled in with her friends and wondered what Jack was up to. And if he couldn’t stop thinking about their next date either.Oh man. I need more Maya time. If I keep thinking like this, I’ll blow my chances for closure for sure and end up falling in love with the rat all over again.
She moved closer to Maya, hoping to absorb Maya’s need for battle, and tried to will herself to focus on the ghosts on TV—not the ones from her past.
Jack sat at a quiet table in the corner of a sports bar downtown, nursing a scotch as he decompressed from his week with a seven-year-old. He loved little Josh like crazy, but the kid had the energy of ten kids hopped up on pixie sticks. Since the boy had accepted a sleepover invitation from a friend, and Jack unfortunately had no plans with Ann, he figured he’d indulge in a drink. Just him, his scotch, and the highlights of last week’s NFL games on the screen above him.
“Well, well. Ain’t this grand?”
He turned around, recognizing the face if not the voice, and grinned. “Holy shit. Anson Black.” He stood and accepted the hug from his old friend. “When did you get back in town? I heard you were in Portland.”
“Mind if I join you?”
“Hell, yeah. Sit down.”
They sat and Anson ordered two beers.
“Thirsty?”
“Dex is on his way.”
“Wow. It’s like a class reunion. I just got back last week. I’ve already seen Mike Hanson, Deb Sanders and the Terrible Trio.” He didn’t want to go into specifics about Ann, especially since he had no idea what to do about her.
Anson grinned. “Ah, yes. The Terrible Trio.” He looked a lot like he had in high school. He’d gotten a little taller, had put on some muscle and wore his dark hair longer, but his green eyes and mischievous smile hadn’t changed.
Dex entered and spotted them, giving an identical grin. The Blacks had always seemed more like brothers than cousins. Except now Dex dwarfed them both. He had to be a good six-four, had a military short haircut and gray eyes that missed nothing. “Damn. The gang’s all here. It’s like I never left.”
“No, you left. You for sure weren’t this big in high school. Who’d you eat?”
“My drill instructor.”
Jack stood to give him a hearty hand-shake, but like Anson, Dex pulled him in for a bear hug. “Can’t. Breathe.”
Anson laughed. “Let him go, you monster.”
They all sat together with dumbass grins on their faces.
“It’s been too long.” Jack finally felt as if he’d come home again. Being with Ann had been magical, but the woman watched him with as much caution as lust. Dex and Anson treated him like a long lost brother. He’d missed that familiar connection of likeminded friends.
“So you’re back too. All three of us in town again. Like old times.” Dex winked. “Especially since I hear you and Ann are a thing again.”
“No kidding?” Anson nodded. “You work fast. Thought you said you’d only been in town a week.”
“Where did you hear that?” Jack asked Dex.
Dex shrugged. “Friend of a friend who has a kid in Ann’s class. I heard all about Josh’s uncle who’s calling Ms. Weaver pretty. So gross. Ew—at least according to my six-year-old snitch.”
Jack grinned. “She is pretty.”
“I bet. She always was a sweetheart. I never understood why you broke up.”
Neither did I.
