Vuk ignored Killian and continued texting.
“That’s it.” Our host slammed his hands on the table, making everyone except the Serb jump. “This is supposed to be a guys’ night, but you’re all too busy texting your wives and girlfriends to play a proper game of poker. It’s pathetic.”
His proclamation was met by a round of unimpressed stares.
“Define ‘proper,’” Xavier drawled. He sat between Dominic and Dante, who eyed Xavier’s messy plate of fries, wings, and mashed potatoes with a grimace. The Italian had a notorious hang-up about different foods touching each other. “We’re playing, aren’t we?”
“I’ve had to remind every single one of you when it’s your turn. I feel like a damn kindergarten teacher,” Killian growled. “How is it possible you’re this fucking attached to your partners when you’ve been together for so long?”
“You don’t have a partner. You wouldn’t get it,” Dominic said.
“Leave me out of your generalization,” I added. “Maya and I have only been dating for a month. We’re still in our honeymoon phase.”
I’d told the guys about our relationship at the start of the night. Xavier’s triumphant “Iknewit!” aside, they’d responded with the expected wisecracks and claps on the back. Dante warned me never to ask for a double date with him and Vivian unless I wanted to die, and that was that.
“Yeah, well, based on everyone’s behavior, no one ever getsoutof their honeymoon phase,” Killian said, his tone sour. “Given how distracted you all are, we might as well scrap poker and join the girls at bowling.”
Silence fell as we all glanced at each other.
Disbelief bloomed across Killian’s face. “I wasjoking.”
“But what if you weren’t?” Xavier asked. “Remember that time we all played laser tag together? That was fun. We could have a similar group night tonight.”
“No,” Killian said. “Absolutely the fuck not.”
“I haven’t heard from Viv in a while.” Dante frowned. “It’s not like her. What if she’s in trouble?”
“I haven’t heard from Maya either.” She was probably too caught up in bowling to check my latest message, but I got a kick out of pushing Killian’s buttons. He was normally unfazed by everything, but he’d been strangely on edge lately. “Maybe we should check on them, just in case.”
“They could be in danger,” Dominic said. “If somethinghappens to them, do you want their deaths on your conscience?”
“They’rebowling,” Killian said. “They’re not in danger unless someone drops a fucking bowling ball on their heads.”
Another silence fell.
Vuk didn’t contribute to the conversation, but he pushed his chair back and left without a word.
Dante was the next to leave, though he made sure to toss Xavier’s offending plate in the trash before he followed Vuk out the door.
“We’ll have a proper game another night,” Kai said as he made his exit.
“Sorry,” Xavier added cheerfully on his way out. “On the bright side, you get to keep all the winnings.”
Dominic patted Killian on the shoulder, and then… there were two.
I stood and grinned down at our stunned host. “You coming?”
Killian sighed, his expression resigned. He rose to his feet and shook his head. “I really need to get more single friends.”
CHAPTER 35
Maya
PUTTING OUR PHONES IN TIME OUT WAS THE BESTthing that could’ve happened to my score sheet. Without Sebastian to distract me, I bowled a perfect game—a rare enough occurrence that the manager sent us a free round of celebratory drinks.
One round turned into two, and two turned into three. By the time the guys showed up, my friends and I were so drunk, we greeted them like they were soldiers returning from war.
“Seb!” I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him, my cheeks aching from the force of my smile. “I’msohappy to see you! Did you win? Tell me you won.”
