Orion shrugs, all faux innocence. “I mean,technicallyI may have helped with the invites. What could I do, your boy begged me to use my connections.”
Asher chuckles. “I didn’tbeg.If and when I beg, you’ll know it.”
The look that passes between them is way too intimate for mixed company. Yay me. Matchmaker of the century.
Rowan comes over, twirling a streamer around her finger. “This diner is a trip.”
“Right?” I laugh, turning to study the place. These people—my people—showed up for me. After everything that’s happened, after the chaos and the fear and the demon marks, they’re here.
Tanner claps his hands together. “All right, everyone, let’s get this party started! The food is ready, Marty is mixing cocktails, and Asher and Orion have come up with a couple of party games which sound fun, if not a little inappropriate.”
“What’s a party without a little inappropriate behavior?” Asher asks.
Yeah, that’s my bestie.
Marty waves from behind the counter, a ridiculous grin splitting his bearded face. He’s wearing a t-shirt that stretches across his burly chest that says,I’M BACK, BITCHESin bold letters. “We’ve got beer, wine, rum, scotch, and some kind of vodka/strawberry/lemonade fizz abomination that I’m assured will make Poppy smile.”
“Because it’s fabulous,” I assure him.
The jukebox kicks on, and the opening notes ofGood as Hellby Lizzo pump through the diner. I laugh because, yeah, this is at the top of my playlist.
Asher nudges me forward. “Go. Eat. Celebrate. You deserve this.”
I float through the next hour on a cloud of pulled pork, laughter, and terrible dance moves. Rowan challenges me to aduel of who can lip-syncTruth Hurtsbetter, and we both end up doubled over laughing when Marty joins in from behind the counter.
Pete regales us with a story about the time he caught one of my high school friends stealing a bag of rice from the Mercantile. “I told him, ‘Son, if you’re that desperate, just ask. But you’re gonna pay me back by stacking shelves for a week.’ Kid did it, too. Now he works for me part-time.”
Declan shakes his head. “You’re a softy, Pete.”
“Kindness keeps this town running,” Pete shoots back, raising his drink.
Eliza catches my eye from across the room and lifts her glass in a silent toast. I return it, warmth spreading through my chest.
Orion and Asher drift closer to where I’m sitting, and I watch them interact with barely concealed delight. Asher’s animated, his hands gesturing wildly as he tells some story about the dogs, and Orion’s watching him with this small, genuine smile that makes my heart squeeze.
“They are so hot together,” Rowan murmurs beside me.
“Right?” I whisper back. “Asher deserves someone incredible.”
“Orion too. I’ve never seen him smile like that before.”
I grin into my strawberry fizz.
The jukebox cycles throughLevitatingandShut Up and Dance, and somehow I end up in the middle of the diner doing the worst rendition of the Cha-Cha Slide known to mankind. Tanner’s laughing so hard he has to lean against the counter, and Marty’s filming the whole thing on his phone.
“This is going on the community board!” Marty crows.
“You wouldn’t dare!”
“Oh, I absolutely would.”
Later, when the music softens and people start filtering out, I find myself at a booth with Asher, Orion, and Rowan. My cheekshurt from smiling, and my stomach’s full of good food and better company.
Asher nudges my shoulder. “We’ve got a late arrival.”
My gaze shifts to the door, where Wylder is standing with his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jeans, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to show muscular forearms.
Damn, when did that happen? When did I start looking at him and seeing more than a miserable pain in my ass?
