“We are?” I ask, my head tipping to press my lips to hers. She smiles into the kiss, then nods when it breaks.
‘Yeah, that was Hallie. We’re all going to the Mill. I think it’s about time we finally have our first night out in Holly Ridge together.”
I couldn’t agree more.
This time, we walk into the Mill together, and when all eyes move to us, there are smiles instead of intrigue; our friends’ warm faces welcome us in rather than watching me enter alone and wondering just what might happen next. Once the door closes behind us, Willa drops my hand and moves quickly to the girls, hugging each one of them and instantly falling into a quick, excited conversation. The sight of it settles in my chest, warm.
This is the same woman who, despite being one of the most popular stars in the media, still walks into every room nervously,as if she doesn’t know quite where she belongs. The woman who, to my knowledge, has never had a night out, a lunch, or a shopping trip with another person that wasn’t preplanned for optimum exposure and who confessed to me recently that she thought girls’ nights and getting ready together were just a cinematic theme, not a real, everyday occurrence.
And now she’s running over to a group of women as if they’re her lifelong friends.
I’m reminded once more just how magical Holly Ridge is.
“Hey, man,” Jesse says as I approach the group, slower than Willa, veering toward the men instead. “You got wrangled into this, too?”
“Your fiancé’s hard to argue with.”
“You’re telling me,” he says, but there’s a look on his face that tells me he deals with that on a daily basis. From what I hear, his daughter is more like Hallie than she is her own father, so I’m sure his house is chaotic at all times.
“You drinking tonight?” Madden asks.
“I’ll have a beer, but I’ll grab it once Will’s done gabbing and tells me what she wants.” She still mentions the s’mores martini she had here last time, but I wonder if there’s some other drink she’s never had but always wondered about. I look to the bar to see if there’s a line and should order sooner rather than later, and I’m surprised to see someone other than just Colton standing behind it.
“Who’s the woman?” I ask, my brows furrowed at the pretty brunette standing behind the bar and glaring at Colton.
His arms are crossed over his chest as she talks to him, clearly agitated, but he doesn’t exactly seem fazed, either by the woman or the fact that she’s behind the bar with him. Hallie moves over to Jesse’s side, tucking in under his arm and grinning deviously.
“Oh, that’s the love of Colton’s life,” she says.
I blink my eyes, looking from her to the woman, who is now throwing her hands up in the air, clearly annoyed. To Hallie’s credit, though, Colton is smiling.
“Uh, she kind of looks like she hates him?” I say.
“That’s how he likes his women.”
I raise an eyebrow, unsure of what to do with that, but get momentarily distracted when it seems Willa has done her rounds and comes to my side, sliding an arm around my waist. I return the favor, holding her tight but looking back to Hallie.
“He likes women who hate him?”
“No, no, he likes the chase. And Sloane is mostdefinitelymaking him chase her.”
“She looks kind of scary,” Adam mutters, and Wren slaps him in the chest chidingly.
“Again, that’s how he likes ’em,” Hallie says with a shrug.
“I get it. Mean girls are kind of hot,” Madden says, and I wonder if anyone else sees his gaze lock across the way on Nat.
“Okay, enough. I’ve given you guys enough canoodling time. It’s time for shots!” Nat shouts, averting her eyes from Madden almost before I catch that it was there in the first place.
“Shots!” Willa shouts, excitedly, and I laugh, something that even I have to admit is hilariously ironic. If you had told me that I would be watching Willa Stone cheer to take shots with a smile on my face, I would have called you out of your goddamn mind.
But here we are.
She hesitates before stepping out of my arm, though, looking over at me and biting her lips, then looking back at Nat. “Actually, I should probably take it slow tonight.”
My hand tightens on her hip, and she looks at me as I shake my head, then tip my head to Nat, who is watching us like a hawk.
“Go on, honey. You’re good.”
