He laughed at that for some reason and grinned when I kept the bar door from smacking into him because Nicky and Z were too busy talking to pay attention to what they were doing. Nicky dragged Z past a long, scratched-to-hell bar that took up the left side of the room, and directly to a square wooden table. The rest of the team went into action rearranging the place the way they wanted it, moving around chairs and furniture to create a big mess of shoved-together tables in the middle. When I glanced at the bar, the man behind it didn’t seem concerned. Maybe this was a team ritual also. Someone I didn’t know, but who had on aMighty Unicornsjersey, went to the jukebox, and soon bad country music was twanging out at us. More men came in behind us, laughing and talking, and they were decked out inGrizzly Boysshirts.
With all of us packed inside talking, the noise went from nearly nothing to deafening, and one man who’d been here when we walked in got up from the bar and staggered toward the door, nearly falling before he made it outside. He flipped us all off as he went, and the bartender, a man with longish gray hair and a craggy smile, laughed and shook his head. “Told you they’d be here!” he called after the disgruntled patron.
Nicky leaned forward and knocked his head against Z’s, and his mouth was moving a mile a minute while Z nodded, wide-eyed. I was dying of curiosity as I came up behind them to take the seat on Z’s left, and they both sat back. I got the idea that maybe I’d been the topic of conversation.
Nicky patted the chair on his right. “Kwan, where are you?” He glanced around.
Kwan nearly bounded over and smiled at him, happy as a puppy to sink down at his side. It was cute, and I shook my head at them.
“Beers. I’m getting beers. Who needs beer?” Nicky singsonged. “I’m getting the first round, then you sad losers owe me.”
There was a general cheer, and Nicky leaned over to snag Z’s hand, raining glitter onto him. “You’re drinking with me.”
“I don’t know….” Zayden hedged, and I felt bad at the way his mouth tightened. Occasionally I peer pressured him, too, even though he didn’t enjoy alcohol, but the only reason I knew his preferences was because I’d been with Z the first night he’d tried a Pabst Blue Ribbon, even though I’d warned him he’d hate it. I’d been there to memorialize for all time the story of the spit take that had left two freshman women around a bonfire dripping with skunked beer and ready to murder him. I’d been the only thing that stood between him and their wrath.
“He hates beer,” I said over the country music as the jukebox shifted to a louder and bouncier tune.
“Who doesn’t like beer?” Nicky looked at Z like he was a traitor, and Z only winced and shrugged. Nicky smiled and patted his arm. “It’s okay. I’ll get us shots, then.”
Z let out an exasperated laugh that was his version of frustrated. I smooched a kiss on his cheek. “I’ll go stop him.”
Z practically made starry eyes at me and pecked my lips. “Thank you.”
My stomach tingled with happiness as I went on my mission to chase after Nicky. “Really,” I said as I leaned against the bar next to him. “Don’t order Z booze. He hates it. You’re wasting your money.”
Nicky put his hands on his hips and leaned away from me, shaking his head. One of his dreads went in front of his eye and he brushed it back. “That boy always has a drink with me.”
“That’s because he likes you and won’t argue. Don’t get him one.”
Nicky’s eyebrows rose and he snickered. “Well, well, well, the plot thickens with Mr. Too Straight to Date. And he was worried. He has you rushin’ around to save him from free drinks.”
I scowled at Nicky, and he tousled my hair in a way that made me feel about ten years old.
“It’s good to see you’re exploring yourself, but you hurt him, and I have a whole team of men I can talk into disposing teeny, little body parts.” He glanced down at my crotch.
“Hey now!”
Nicky tossed his hair and slid cash to the bartender. “It had to be said.”
Shaking my head, I leaned my elbow against the bar and happily took a beer stein when it was passed to me. “So, I don’t want to hurt him.”
“Good. You’ll be so fucking cute together. Ugh, it’s enough to give me a cavity. He’s been talking about you ever since I met him.” Nicky turned to wave at Z.
My stomach fluttered, and Nicky let out something that sounded suspiciously like an “aw” while I stood there basking in the glow of the knowledge that Zayden Shoemaker was hung up on me. “Um, okay. So I don’t want to hurt him, like I said. Z talks about you like you’re some sort of sex know-it-all.”
The bartender came and interrupted us with a world-weary sigh.
“Daryl, I need the Unicorn special.” Nicky held up a hand toward me while he ordered an unearthly amount of alcohol to be delivered to the shoved-together tables.
“Get Z a Dr Pepper.”
“This ain’t the Ritz,” Daryl croaked at me.
“Whatever cola you have in a can is fine,” I said, eyeing the suspect glasses that were stacked on the counter. I inspected the one I’d been drinking from, then shrugged. Hopefully the alcohol killed any leftover germs.
Nicky elbowed me and cracked up. “Sex is a subject I have an interest in. Yes. Go on.”
Embarrassment had my cheeks burning and heat flushed through me all the way down to my chest, but this was for Z, so I manned up and cleared my throat. Did it again. Then lost my nerve and stood there with my mouth open like a fish out of water.
