“Yeah, we’ve got a lot to talk about,” Jake says, eyeing my best friend like they didn’t just fuck. He strides behind the bar and grabs a tequila bottle. “I’ll send you some cash for this, Cee.”
“Um, yeah, sure,” I say faintly. “Ada?—”
“I’m fine.” She reaches out a hand, and I take it and squeeze.
“You’re sure?”
“I promise.”
“Thanks, Cee. Talk soon.” Jake wraps an arm around Ada’s waist and steers her to the door. As they pass, he tilts the Cuervo away from Ada’s outstretched hand. “No. You can wait. I’m gonna pour it on your tits and watch you try to lick it off.”
Ada’s breathless laugh is the last thing I hear before the two of them vanish.
I let out a shaky exhale. “Whew.”
“He’s bloody good for her,” Aggie calls through the kitchen window. “He’ll set her right.”
“Maybe. I hope so. I hope he can at least talk her out of pipe-bombing the reunion…”
“It’s a mistake.”
I turn. Davis is leaning against the bar, studying the door Jake and Ada just disappeared through, his mouth downturned.
My stomach twists. Is he jealous?
“What’s a mistake?” I ask. “Sure, it’s early, but I’ve never seen Ada like this with anyone except Jake.”
“She hates him,” Davis says, turning to face me. “She hates everyone you guys went to school with. He’s gonna have to stop screwing her at some point, and then she’ll be furious at herself for going home with him.”
There’s a darkness in his eyes that stops my heart for a second. Does that mean heisjealous?Isn’tjealous?
“Jake never did anything to Ada at school,” I say.
“Exactly,” Davis says in an undertone.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
The bar lights overhead pick out the gold in his gaze as he studies me. “Have you ever talked to Ada about what happened to her in Pukekohe?”
“Um, I was there?”
“But you two weren’t close, were you? Not like you are now?”
I cross my arms over the bar, mirroring his posture. My elbows slide across the polished wood until we’re inches apart. That familiar Davis scent drifts towards me, and I breathe through my mouth to keep from getting overwhelmed. Everyone might have heard Ada coming like a porn star five minutes ago, but they don’t get to hear this.
“I know Ada had a hard time back then, okay?” I tell Davis. “We all did. High school’s shit for everyone.”
Davis raises an eyebrow, and I immediately regret my tone.
“Sorry. I don’t want to be a dick, but you’re acting like I can’t see what’s happening with my own best friend. And I don’t know why you’ve picked Jake of all people to have a problem with, but he likes Ada, and Ilove thatfor her.”
Davis inclines his head, but not like he agrees with me. “Maybe you don’t see things as clearly as you think you do.”
The words slice deep, and the cuts remain long after he returns to the door. Staying lodged under my skin like glass as I pour pints and chat to customers. What’s Davis seeing that I’m not?
As I turn the question in my head, an ugly thought worms in. Why doesn’t he think Jake’s good enough for Ada? Is it a jock thing? Does he think she’d be better off withhim?I imagine Davis and Ada happily married with a rabble of dark-haired babies, while I slowly waste away in this alcoholic playground like my godfather. My stomach lurches.
I catch Davis as he comes to the bar for a soda refill.
