Her hand slid around my shoulders, her ass landing on the other side of me with grace before she dropped a kiss to my bicep and sat upright, her bright, cheery disposition lighting up the whole damn room. The heartbeat had arrived again, and every single one of us could feel it.
“Harry,” I said, looking at him and holding up my empty shot glass. “Another for me, and one for the woman beside me who thinks she can just saunter her sexy ass in here and touch me up whenever she feels like it.”
Ayda laughed, her eyes shining brighter when they met mine. “I happen to think I’m being quite restrained. You know I just can’t help myself when you’re close by.” She wiggled her fingers at me and then dropped her hand to my thigh, squeezing playfully. “I could dirty it up a little, lower the tone?”
“I have zero issue with you sucking my dick in public, darlin’.”
“Ever the gentleman,” she sang, giving my thigh another squeeze before she reached for the drink Harry had slid in front of her.
“Remind me,” Jedd commanded quietly from the other side of me, drawing my attention to him as he pointed a finger in Ayda’s direction. “How is it that a cocky, arrogant, shady motherfucker like you, Tucker, has landed on your feet with awoman like this?”
“You’ve either got it or you—”
“Bullshit,” Harry cried from behind the bar, his cough lingering behind his laughter. He had a towel thrown over his shoulder, playing the part of the bald, short, lovable barman to perfection. “This has nothing to do with you, Drew. You only got Ayda because she’s short-sighted.”
“You just like to think if I’d met you first I’d never look at Drew twice, Harry.” She reached over and rested her hand on top of his with a genuine smile. “We’ll never know the answer to that, I’m afraid. I got all the man I need with this one.” Ayda tipped her head in my direction and winked at me.
I spread my arm out, letting it fall over the back of her stool so my fingers could graze her ass in thanks. “See,” I said, turning to the others. “She wanted a man. Not boys like you fuckers.”
“I had pubic hair two years before you, weasel,” Slater roared from the side of Jedd. “I remember you standing in your room, tugging on the invisible hairs under your arm, trying to get them to grow.”
I threw my head back, barking out a genuine laugh. Slater wasn’t lying. I’d been in a hurry to grow up when I was younger. There’d always been this need to get closer to Pete—to close the gap and become just like him.
“Fair point,” I said as my laughter trickled away. “But we ain’t talking about the past. We’re talking about now. Don’t hate me ‘cause y’all want to be me.”
“And he wonders why people track him down and tie him up,” Harry muttered not so slyly as he reached for the whiskey bottle and began to fill Jedd’s, Slater’s and Deeks’ shot glasses.
A shriek came from one of the girls behind us, forcing me to glance over my shoulder, only to see Tate and Libby cozying up together while Kenny put his arm around Sloane and tried to teach her the rules of whatever game they were playing.
Turning back around, I blew out a breath and leaned over the bar, resting my forearms on the surface. “I don’t know why you choose to be here sometimes,” I muttered to Ayda through a half smile.
“Are you kidding?” she asked, dragging her eyes from the foursome on the sofas. “I get to hear all the tales of your childhood from the people who know you best.” She reached for her next shot, holding up the glass in cheers to Deeks and grinning. “Does someone have the story of his first ride on a bike?”
“We weren’t privy to that ride out when he was inside his momma’s uterus, doll,” Deeks chuckled, taking his shot in one swift move before he slammed his glass back on the bar and gasped. “Drew was riding before he was walkin’ or talkin’.”
Ayda smiled and looked around the men surrounding us before her eyes landed on the picture of Pete and me behind the bar. She turned to me silently, asking if it was okay to include questions about him.
“He’s a part of this club. Ask about him,” I whispered to her. “The guys would like to talk about him without me being a dick.”
Ayda brushed her lips across my cheek, stopping at the corner of my mouth before turning to the others with a grin. “Tell me about the childhood Drew. Did he follow Pete everywhere? Did Slater try to keep up with them?”
“Please,” Slater scoffed. “I had no desire to be a part ofthe Drew and Pete love affair.”
My sarcastic smile grew.Lying fucker.
“Nobody could get near Pete. Nobody. Drew was everywhere he went. There’s hero worship, and then there’s what Pete was to Drew,” Harry reminisced, his tone turning reflective, even though he looked happy enough. “Every time Drew’s parents tried to teach him something, even when he was a little tyke who had just learned to walk, Drew refused to listen. But when Pete spoke…”
“I heard him,” I finished, nodding my head.
“You sure did,” Harry said through a smile.
“Pete was the guy I looked up to. Slater had the pleasure of being the kid I was a kid with.”
“I can’t even imagine Drew as a toddler,” Ayda said lightly. “I just imagine a smaller version of the man he is now. Scowling at the other children in kindergarten and intimidating them into doing what he wanted them to do.” She laughed and glanced at Slater, who looked too amused. “That’s exactly it, isn’t it?”
Slater swirled his whiskey in his shot glass, staring into it with a huge grin on his face. “Drew’s tantrums were legendary.”
“Still fucking are,” Jedd muttered, forcing my free hand to lash out and slap him on the chest hard as every one of us started laughing. It felt free. Light. Long over-fucking-due.
