“I’m mentioning it now,” Molly says. “I was thinking of inviting her to join us. But it might be weird.”
“Invite her!” Bella and Olivia say at once.
“Totally do it,” Jasalie agrees. “That way, if things don’t go well, you’ll have a built-in escape route.” She grimaces. “I wish I’d had a few more of those over the years.”
Dylan kisses her head. “You don’t have to worry about escape routes anymore,” he tells Jasalie as Molly, Celie, and Nadine all swoon.
Pru immediately grabs Celie’s hand like she might have forgotten she was married. Brad does the same with Nadine, and I shake my head, smiling over at Cam.
“Ladies go crazy for Dylan,” Cam whispers in my ear.
“Not me,” I say to him. “I’ve only ever been crazy for one guy.”
He nibbles my earlobe. “You have no idea how much I love hearing you say that. Want to go home right now?”
I laugh and catch Dylan and Colton watching us. In fact, Ayden, Jenson, and Brayden are looking in our direction also.
I tense at the attention, but before I can get too stressed, Molly pulls her phone out and starts rapidly typing. “I’m inviting Allie,” she says out loud.
“This is so exciting,” Olivia says, and I smile at her enthusiasm. Her hair is jet black and super shiny, and it swings back and forth as she talks. “I love seeing couples find each other.”
Cam kisses my cheek. “Do you want a drink?”
“A beer would be great,” I say.
He pecks my lips and says he’ll be right back.
When I turn back around, the Wild men, plus Jenson, are staring at me again. They’re so handsome and friendly, but the way they’ve been watching Cam with me, like they’re trying to make sure they can trust me…it unnerves me.
To my relief, Celie steps in. “You all are looking at my sister like she’s got two heads. What’s the problem? You don’t think she’s right for your cousin? Because I can tell you right now—you’re dead wrong.”
“Shh. It’s okay,” I say to Celie.
The five guys burst out laughing.
“I like you,” Colton says to Celie. “And I like you too,” he says, turning to nod at me. “I apologize for our shitty manners. I assure you our staring has everything to do with our cousin and the fact that he’s kept you a secret.”
Celie smiles. “I get it. Cam usually tells you everything, right?”
Ayden shakes his head. “Not really. He’s just had a rough go of it the last few years. We’ve been looking out for him, and he shocked the hell out of us at the rink.”
“I know about Amy,” I say.
Jenson nods at me. “Good. I’m glad he told you.”
“That whole thing became a fucking nightmare,” Colton says as Cam reappears with two beers.
He hands one to me and then turns to Colton. “Shut up about Amy. That topic is way outdated.”
“Agreed,” Dylan says. “Subject change?”
We chat about Climax and what it’s like compared to the small Montana town Brayden and Leleila live in. I’m so interested in learning more about Montana that I forget my shyness and tell them about the dance studio in Missoula.
“I know that place!” Leleila says. “I’ve heard good things about it.”
“You guys should move out by us,” Brayden says enthusiastically.
“Maybe we will,” Cam tells him.
