“You’re here!” Callie squealed as she launched herself at me.
I chuckled as I returned her embrace. “I am.” But even as I hugged her, I looked around the bar for Wes. I wanted to find him before I found a way to talk myself out of doing this.
He was always here for Saturday nights out, but suddenly I panicked. What if theone timehe decided not to show up was when I had something likethisto talk to him about? That would be just my luck. Then I’d have to spend God knows how long talking myself into doing it again.
“Hey, kid.”
I looked over to see Wyatt, Avery, Brody, and Leah, and I smiled. “Hey!” I stepped away from Callie to give them each a hug. “What are you guys doing here?”
“Callie invited us to come out to welcome you home,” Wyatt said.
Brody nodded, gesturing between him and Leah. “And it gave us an excuse to come into town.”
“Come on.” Callie took my hand with a grin. “Everyone’s in the back room, and Wes is grabbing all of us drinks.”
My heart thumped as she pulled me toward the back area of the bar where Susan had a room for larger gatherings of sorts.He’s here. Wyatt, Avery, Brody, and Leah walked ahead and slipped into the room, and I spotted Gabe and Lucas through the entryway talking with Blake.
“Blake came.”
“Yeah…” Callie halfheartedly smiled. “Gabe thought it would be good for him to get out of the house for a little while but told him if he wanted to go home, just to say the word, and they would leave.”
“How’s he been?”
“Quiet. He started therapy this week, so hopefully that will help.”
Gabe told me about Blake coming home early due to his PTSD. My heart hurt for him and what he’d been through, but maybe being home with his friends and family was best for him now.
As we neared closer, I watched Gabe turn to speak to a blonde woman I didn’t recognize. “Who’s that Gabe’s talking to?”
“Oh…” Callie dropped her voice as she linked her arm with mine. “That would be Loralei…Wes’s girlfriend.”
Chapter 44
I was frozen in place,feeling like the wind had been knocked out of me, the air sucked clear from my lungs. I’d asked a simple question, merely curious as to who the stranger was speaking to Gabe.
I never expected the answer to beWes’sgirlfriend.
“His…hisgirlfriend?” I finally managed to choke out before holding my breath again.
I was going to tell him.
“Yeah,” Callie answered with a nod. “They’re new. Like,brandnew. This is actually the first time she’s hung out with all of us.”
I looked over at her. “When the hell did that happen? He doesn’thavegirlfriends!”
And I was going to tell him.
Callie chuckled at my statement, completely unaware of my inner turmoil, as she stared at the woman. “He’s been hanging out with her, going on dates for the past month or so, but I guess they just made things official within the last week.”
When my gaze slid back to the opening of the room, I finally spotted Wes for the first time as he carried a large tray of drinks—he was wearing a white polo and dark wash jeans, and, God, he looked good. When he set the tray down on the table, his arm slid around the woman’s waist, and my heart clenched and then sank like a stone with the gesture.
I was going to tell him.
Callie glanced back at me. “Hey…you okay?”
“What?” I snapped my gaze from the room to her. “Oh, yeah…” I swallowed thickly with a nod. “Yeah, I-I’m fine.”
She smiled. “Come on. They’re all waiting to see you.”
