To my delight, she lets out a joyful shriek as she turns in her seat to wrap her arms around me.
“I’d know those arms and that voice anywhere, Captain.” She grins. “What are you doing here?”
She sways slightly in her seat, a few loose strands of hair falling over her flushed cheeks. And then it hits me. She’s drunk.
Not tipsy. Not a little buzzed. But completely wasted. It’s evident in the way she’s trying so hard to hold herself steady. Her hands keep drifting like she’s in a slow-motion dance with gravity.
Her voice softens, and she slurs when she says, “Bree, look. My hot foreign boyfriend is here.”
Callan’s laughter rings out from behind me. “Christ, how much has she had to drink?”
Juliette glows, her lips parted in a dazed smile. Even adorable and drunk off her arse, she’s sexy as hell.
Bree leans back in her chair as she gestures toward the whirlwind that is her friend. “Knox, Callan, let me introduce you to an inebriated Juliette,” she says with a grin. “Prepare yourselves for wildly inaccurate life advice, exaggerated storytelling, and random acts of kindness. The most wholesome type of drunkard, this one.”
I shake my head with a smirk as Callan tosses his head back with another laugh. Watching Juliette try to hold it together, her tipsy giggles escaping in bursts, is enough to make anyone’s day.
Callan claps me on the shoulder. “I’ll grab us some drinks, brother. Seems we have some catching up to do.”
Juliette stays draped over me, her arms snug around my shoulders. If she wants to be this close, I’m more than happy to oblige.
But then, just like that, a wave of guilt crashes over me. It hits me in the pit of my stomach, a reminder of all the things I’ve been putting off saying to her. The things I’ve been carrying around, pressing down on my chest like a damn weight.
Looking at her now, eyes wide with that alcohol-fueled excitement and her laughter bubbling up… It’s not right. Tonight was supposed to be the night I finally said the things I should have said weeks ago. To admit the truth that I was married. And to hopefully move forward with a clean slate. I want to tell her I’m all in, even if it means navigating a long-distance relationship until we figure it out.
I know better than to think she’ll remember any of it tomorrow.
Juliette, oblivious to everything but her own joy, belts out a song only she seems to hear, drawing cheers from a nearbytable. She sounds awful, the melody hardly resembling anything familiar, but she’s lost in the moment and having the time of her life.
Bree, on the other hand, looks like she’s about to lose her mind. Her face is a picture of desperation, hands pressed firmly to her ears as she tries to block out the noise. “Knox,” she says. “I believe you’re the only one with the power to stop this madness. Do something.”
I give her a reassuring nod and lean down to press a quick kiss to Juliette’s lips, mostly for the sake of everyone else in the pub. The second my lips meet hers, her singing halts.
When she pulls back, she tilts her head, locking eyes with me. “I was killing it, but you’re forgiven for the interruption.”
Goddamn, I love this woman.
“It was…intriguing. Maybe you can give me a private show later?”
She leans in a bit closer, and her voice drops an octave. “Are we talking about a concert, or like, sex?”
This version of her is a completely new kind of captivating.
“How about this… I’ll take whatever you’re offering.”
She nods, weighing her options. “Okay, I’ll think about it. Either way, we’ll need glitter.”
Well, that’s concerning.
I shoot Bree a look of alarm, but she just waves her hand dismissively, as if she’s already washing her hands of the entire situation. “Can’t help you there, friend. This is your problem now.”
I laugh, shaking my head. “I’ve had worse problems on my hands. I’ll go see what’s taking Callan so long, and I’m going to get you some water,” I tell Juliette.
I turn to head toward the bar, but Juliette catches my sleeve with surprising dexterity for someone three sheets to the wind.
“Wait,” she says, tugging me back to her, her dazed eyesholding mine. She blinks, like she’s trying to remember something important before resting both hands on my chest to steady herself.
“You know what I like about you, Knox MacKenzie?” she says, voice low and overly serious. “You’re sonice. So real. No masks. No secrets. Just Knox, all the time. You’re a freaking unicorn, you know that?”
