Truly happy.
And after the week we’ve had, that’s everything.
Luke taps my shoulder from behind. “Can I grab you for a minute?”
I stand. “Everything okay?”
He glances towardFort Affliction, then back at me. “How well do you know them?”
“Well enough.”
He nods slowly. “Good. Because I might need your help with something.”
***
Fort Affliction’sset finally winds down, the pub still buzzing as if the amps are humming even after the last chord fades out. Bodies are pressed together on the dance floor, laughter spilling over the music’s echo, and our crew stays tucked back in the shadows like we’re not here at all.
I can’t relax.
Not properly.
Luke’s plan sits heavy in my gut, twisting there with the other thing I can’t shake—the conversation that needs to happen before the night gets away from me.
Nix thanks the crowd, and the locals roar back as if they’ve been handed something rare. The boys start packing up, beers already being shoved into their hands by people who have known them forever. I stand and roll my shoulders, cracking my neck like that’ll release the tightness under my skin.
Time to move.
“Let me go up to the guys first,” I tell the crew over my shoulder. “Give me a few minutes, then follow me, yeah?” I don’t wait to see who nods because I’m already weaving forward, cutting through the noise, heading straight for Tyler before he can slip away or worse, before Luke opens his mouth and drags everyone into a conversation that’s going to getrealcomplicated,realfast.
Tyler notices me first, and for a second, his face blanks, like his brain needs to catch up. Then his eyes bug out, and he whistles loud enough to turn heads.
“Kaden fucking Mercury!” he bellows, barreling toward me with that same unhinged energy he had back in school. “Heard you were back in town, you son of a bitch. How the hell are you?”
Jesse, Nix, and Brooks swivel toward us, grins spreading, recognition snapping into place as they close in around me like I never left.
“Long time,” I say, clapping Tyler’s shoulder. “You killed it tonight.”
Tyler’s grin turns knowing. “Yeah, we did. We always do.”
Jesse smacks him across the back of the head. “Cocky shithead.”
Nix laughs as he starts wrapping his guitar lead around his arm. Brooks shakes his head like he’s used to this, like he’s been babysitting the whole band for years.
I let the reunion breathe for half a second, then shift my stance so Tyler can see I’m not here to talk shit and reminisce.
“Last time we spoke on the phone…” I say, keeping my voice low, “… we talked about a certain app.”
Tyler’s face changes immediately with just a flicker of awareness, a tightening around his eyes. “Sportshark,” he says. “Vex’s thing. How’d you go? He runs a tight ship, but he pays out winners.”
Jesse’s expression hardens. “You’re still messing with that Vex guy?” he barks, punching Tyler’s arm. “I told you to cut him loose.”
Tyler shrugs like it’s nothing. “I did. Took my winnings and bailed. I only told Kaden because…” he flashes me a grin “… help a brother out, right?”
“That’s the damn problem,” I snap, stepping closer, letting Tyler feel the edge in me. “You told me Trixabell was a sure thing. I took a twenty-grand line of credit from Vex because you said it couldn’t miss.”
Tyler’s grin drops. “Ah, fuck…”
“The horse didn’t even finish the race.” The words come out like glass. “Now I’m twenty grand down, plus interest, and Vex is riding my ass for his money.”
