“Carla’s just bitter that I broke up with her.”
“She was mint, Mas. You’re an idiot for ending that relationship.”
“I’m too young to be tied down,” my brother says as he digs into his cake like he hasn’t eaten in a decade.
He sounds like me at his age. I thought I had all the time in the world and didn’t want to miss a moment of fun. But time passed quickly, and now I’m thirty, with nothing to show for it except a few memories.
“Are we going out after this?” Zoey asks, smoothing back her long hair.
“That’s the plan. I got us on a list for the new club downtown,” Brax replies, always having connections everywhere.
“Nice,” Nino whispers. “I heard it’s amazing.”
“Can I tap out?” I ask, not feeling like partying tonight.
“What?” Brax asks. “We’re going to celebrate your birthday, goofball. You have to go.”
“You’ll have fun without me.”
“Come on, cousin. I even had it cleared so we can bring in the younger ones,” Nino says.
Great. Underage kids in a nightclub. Sounds like the perfect way to spend the night of my birthday.
“I have my period, and my cramps are horrible.” It’s a dirty lie, but I know any mention of girl things like cramps or, God forbid, a period, and all the males will immediately back off.
“That sucks,” Zoey says, frowning in understanding. “I hate when that happens.”
“I’d rather go home and sit with my heating pad and curl up with a good book.”
“Man,” Mason mutters as he shakes his head. “Thirty really is the turning point to old age.”
I punch his arm, loving that he winces. “You’re a jerk.”
“We’ve established that.” He chuckles as he rubs his arm, where I hope he’ll have a small bruise. “But at least I’m a young and fun jerk.”
“We can all hang out at your place,” Amelia finally says, entering the conversation. She’s the shyest one of us all and likes to follow along instead of lead. I don’t blame her either. This bunch can be a bit much sometimes.
My stomach drops at the thought of some of the messiest humans I’ve ever known being at my place. One at a time, I can deal with, but in a group…no way. It would take me a week to clean up in their wake. “No. No. Go downtown and have fun. I insist.”
“You’re coming out for my birthday, sis,” Brax says. “No excuses next time.”
“You’re on, brother.”
Crisis averted.
CHAPTER2
TATE
My eyes stopon the photo of my family from twenty-five years ago that has been hanging behind the bar since the day it was taken.
My mother was close to my age but somehow looked younger than I do now. Her face was filled with so much happiness, without a clue of what was to come.
There is a twinge in my chest, the same ache I always feel when I think about the hole that was left behind by her death.
Time isn’t consistent when it comes to grief either. Somehow it feels like yesterday and a long time ago, all at the same time.
“Tate, you’ve got to handle this,” Alyssa, my best friend since we were little kids, says.
