“Come on, Lan. I think they get it,” I plead again.
“I’m trying to be loving and supportive though,” he whines, then he turns and addresses the crowd again. “This is what you all wanted, right, for me to play nice?”
“The young lady’s right, son. You’ve said enough.”
I glance up to find Landry’s father on the other side of him. He holds out a hand expectantly, and Landry reluctantly drops the mic into his palm. Then Landry turns to face Loren, blinking away the moisture in his eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he says, even though she probably can’t hear him anymore. “I tried.”
My chin quivers when I read the sadness and regret in his expression, and I struggle to hide the way my voice cracks when I urge him on again.
“Let’s go, buddy. I think it’s past your bedtime.” I wrap my arm around his waist, and he surprises me by draping his arm over my shoulders and leaning into me. Then he looks down and furrows his brow.
“I’m sorry, Daze,” he tells me, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like the way he shortens my name. “I don’t mean to be such an ass, you know.”
Loren shoots me an anguished look as I struggle to turn Landry around. “I know,” I say, trying to coax him toward the door.
JD nudges my arm a second later. “Why don’t you bring the car around?” he asks as Ethan comes to take my place as Landry’s crutch.
“Oh, well, I actually … I guess I’ll need to find his keys,” I reply awkwardly.
“Think they’re still in one of his pockets?” JD asks.
“Nuh-unh. You can keep those big ole paws to yourself, Golden Boy,” Landry mutters, making JD snort. “If anyone’s shoving a hand down my pants, it’d better be Blondie.”
“For the first time, we’re in complete agreement, Doc,” JD retorts dryly.
“I guess that means I’m conducting this search, then,” I say to myself, and they stop at the door for me to reach gingerly into Landry’s right pocket.
“Who says I wasn’t talking ‘bout Tenley?” Landry chimes in, making JD’s nostrils flare and Ethan snicker quietly. “S’okay if you wanna hit me, man,” he continues. “I was kinda hoping you’d just do us all a solid and knock me out this time. We both know you’ve always wanted to, and I bet you haven’t had a reason to make those ridiculous pythons look useful in a while.”
I watch the muscles in JD’s jaw tick as I continue digging around, but I come up empty. “I’d rather leave you conscious so you can lie awake and wallow in self-pity once you realize how much you’ve hurt your sister tonight,” he replies after a second.
“Hmm. You might be smarter than you look,” Landry mutters.
“I do get more use out of my muscles than my brain, though, since my wife likes being lifted so much,” JD adds. Ethan makes a loud gagging sound, and I bite my lip to keep myself from smiling too hard. But Landry’s apparently too preoccupied with keeping his balance to catch it, and he stumbles when I go to slip my hand into his left pocket.
He catches his footing again and cocks an eyebrow while I sift through the empty space. “This is taking you a while. Find anything you like down there, sugar?”
I sigh. His nicknames are becoming less endearing by the minute.
“Hey, now,” he squirms. “Be careful before you start the wrong engine.”
I glare at him angrily as I pull my hand back. “Both pockets are empty.”
“Oh, yeah,” Landry starts with a laugh. “Left my keys in the Jeep. Guess I forgot.”
I growl, and his expression transforms into something more remorseful again.
But then I remember our predicament. I need to come up with something fast if I want to make it home without having to drive us there myself.
“I, uh, I’m actually not sure it’s a good idea for me to get behind the wheel, either, now that I think about it …” I say slowly, hoping they’ll assume I’ve also had too much to drink.
“I only had a sip of champagne during the toast. I could drive you both home in Doc’s Jeep and have Mawmaw pick me up on her way out,” Ethan volunteers after a second. I turn to study him, thinking it’s a suspiciously generous offer, but he shrugs and admits he’s been dying to check out Landry’s ride. JD eyeballs him along with me. “I’ll be careful, I promise.”
“And you’re sure you only drank that one sip of champagne all night?” JD grills him.
“One small sip, I swear,” Ethan replies, smirking. “After that, I switched to Jack and Coke.”
