“Texting Bennett and Caleb.” He doesn’t look up. “If we’re having an impromptu group hang at O’Malley’s, everyone should be here.”
“Dominic,no?—”
“Dominic,yes.” He hits send with a flourish. “Bennett’s been stressed about the FDA thing all week. Caleb’s been buried in depositions. They need this. Hell, I need this. Simply because it hurtsmyfeelings whenever there’s a group hang and I don’t get an invite.” He coughs into his hand. “Dinner last night.” He glances pointedly at Layla and Serena then goes back to his phone. “There. Invites sent. I like to be inclusive, so I told David to get his ass here too.”
“David has Michaela to worry about,” Serena puts in. “He’s too busy being a dad to drop everything for cheese curds in a dive bar.”
Dominic’s hand immediately shoots out to cover her mouth. “Shhh,” he hisses. “Number one, David has a nanny. He can totally drop everything for cheese curds. And two, don’t you dare disrespect these hallowed halls and efforts of my good friend…” He pauses and looks over at the bartender and squints to read his name tag. “James? Jeff? Hmm. It’s definitely a J name.”
Serena swats his hand away, but she’s fighting a laugh.
Dominic’s phone buzzes. “Bennett’s in. Says he’ll be here in fifteen.” Another buzz. “Caleb too. And—” He grins. “David says, and I quote, ‘What the hell is a cheese curd emergency and why is it happening on a Thursday?’”
“It’s Friday,” Layla says.
“Even better. Friday cheese curds hit different.” Dominic types a rapid response. “I told him to stop asking questions and just get here.”
“You’re ridiculous,” Serena says, but she’s smiling now.
“I’m a visionary. There’s a difference.”
The cheese curds arrive. Dominic makes a show of presenting them to the table as if they’re fine dining, complete with a gesture toward the bartender. “Courtesy of my good friend... J-something. Give it up for J-dog, everyone.”
The bartender flips him off on the way back to the bar. Dominic beams like he’s been handed a compliment.
I risk a glance at Audrey. She’s watching the exchange with an expression that’s somewhere between amused and exhausted. When she catches me looking, the amusement disappears. She reaches for a cheese curd and focuses very intently on eating it.
The silence at our end of the table is deafening.
Dominic, to his credit, fills it immediately. “So, Layla, how’s wedding planning? Bennett mentioned something about a cake tasting that made him question his will to live.”
“The cake tasting wasfine. He’s just dramatic about sugar.”
“The man owns a billion-dollar company, and he’s afraid of buttercream?”
“He’s notafraid. He just has opinions.”
“Bennett has opinions about everything,” Serena says. “That’s his whole personality.”
“That and the brooding,” Dominic agrees. “Very strong brood game.”
The conversation flows around me while I sit there, useless, my pulse doing something erratic every time Audrey moves. The way she reaches for her drink and holds the glass gently. The way she tucks a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, exposing the curve of her neck. The way she laughs at something Serena says, head tipping back, throat long and pale in the bar light.
She used to laugh with me like that.
I realize I’m gripping my own glass hard enough to crack it and force my fingers to relax.
Bennett arrives first, still in his suit but with the tie loosened, looking like he’s been personally victimized by his own schedule. He surveys the bar with the expression of a man who’s never seen sticky floors before.
“This is... not what I expected.”
“Isn’t it great?” Dominic gestures expansively. “It’s got character.”
“It’s got something.” But Bennett’s already sliding in next to Layla, pressing a kiss to her temple. “You OK?”
“I’m fine. It’s been a weird afternoon.”
“I gathered.” His eyes flick to me, then to Audrey, then back to Layla. A whole conversation passes in that glance. “Cheese curds?”
