“He’s the owner, I’m guessing?” I asked.
Hayden nodded. “Not sure if he’ll be here tonight, but I’ll have to introduce you sometime. He’s a hoot.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting him.”
“Here are those drinks, guys.” Liv slid our drinks across the bar, taking Hayden’s card and opening a tab.
We joined the rest of the group over at the pool table. Part of me wanted to ask if that’s all they ever did—it seemed like all we ever did when we went out was gather around the pool table—but I thought better of it. It wasn’t like there was much else to do besides drink, dance, and play pool or darts.
“Who wants to play?” Jake singsonged as he started passing out cue sticks before wiggling one in front of me. “Sierra?”
“You sure you want me to play?” I joked. “Last time I played, you all said I was worse than Mikey.”
Colter countered, “We didn’t say you wereworsethan Mikey. We just thought it was funny you both hit the eight ball in.”
I rolled my eyes while grazing my teeth over my bottom lip. “It’s all right. I’ll sit this one out.”
“Juniper? Isa? What do you think?” Reid asked.
Juniper shook her head. “Mikey and I are going to go talk to Liv and Nico.”
“I’ll watch with Sierra! Maybe we can go on the dance floor.” Isa winked as she nudged me with her elbow.
I grimaced, my eyes darting toward Hayden in a silent plea for help.
He lifted a shoulder as if to say,You’re on your own,a cheeky grin plastered on his face.
“Okay, then, let’s do me and Ellison and against you three,” Colter suggested. “We don’t need a third person, right, Blaze?”
Ellison wiggled her eyebrows. “Yeah, we’re good.”
“Okay, well, this is already boring.” Isa turned to me. “How do you like Silver Creek?”
I crossed my arms, leaning against the wall. “It’s nice.”
“Sorry, I’m sure you’ve been asked these questions like a thousand times already.” She let out a nervous laugh. “You’ve known Hayden for a long time, right?”
“Yeah. Since freshman year of high school. Keenan, Hayden, and I were kind of our own little trio back then. We were a wild bunch.”
Her eyes widened. “No way, really? Was Hayden a wild child back in high school? He’s so quiet now, I can’t even imagine him getting into trouble.”
I laughed, shaking my head. “No. He wasn’t wild. Keenan definitely took that title. Hayden wasn’t quiet, though. He talked all the fucking time in the beginning, actually. As we got older, though, he started to get quieter, I guess.”
Isa popped her lip. “Hm, interesting. I wonder why.”
I had my theories, but it wasn’t something I really wanted to share. I hated the idea that I was the reason he became quiet, so I pushedthose thoughts down.
Pursing my lips, I shrugged. “I dunno. That was years ago.”
“He seems like he’s opened up a lot more just with you being here.”
My eyes darted to the floor, my shoe scuffing the floor. “Maybe. I guess I wouldn’t really know how he was the past five years.”
Her mouth gaped into an O, opening and closing like she wanted to say something then changed her mind.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out, mumbling a quick apology to Isa. A message from an unknown number flashed across the screen before another one followed quickly behind.
Unknown Number
