“Annie? You okay?” I ask.
“Fine.” She stands so abruptly her chair screeches against the sticky wood floor. “Gonna get us shots.”
But Annie doesn’t come back until the set’s over.
A few hours later, the third band is wrapping up their set, it’s late, and we’re drunk.
Very drunk.
Which makes Ethan’s arrival all the more welcome.
He tugs his baseball cap over his brow, weaving through the crowded club straight for Sloane. She leans forward in her seat, stretches her arms out, and collapses against him with a big, silly grin.
“I like you.” She nuzzles her face against his neck.
Even with his hat, I don’t miss the small uptick at the corner of his mouth. Brooks appears behind him, still in all black.
“Couldn’t believe it when I saw you, Sun.” He clears his throat, shifting his weight. “Secret’s out, I guess.”
Ethan claps him on the back. “Secret? Bud, you’re about to blow up. Set was great.” Then he turns toward the rest of us at the table. “Ready?”
“Yeah.” Annie keeps her gaze on the floor, but Brook’s attention is locked entirely on her.
I check my phone again before I can read too much into it. Everyone’s got their own mess tonight.
That’s when I see Jack walk in, just as Brooks says goodbye and slips out into the crowd.
“Oh, shit.” Sloane winces. “I didn’t tell him where we were. I swear.”
Ethan rubs his face. “He wouldn’t stop calling. Sorry, Izzy.”
Our eyes meet, and everything kind of fades away. He looks about as good as I feel. And I hate that it hasn’t been long enough for me to not be so utterly destroyed. He’s wearing a hoodie and his glasses. As soon as he spots me with everyone else, his whole face softens, like he’s relieved I’m alive.
I just want the floor to eat me up and help me disappear. Mature, I know.
Annie loops her arm around my waist. “I’ll protect you.”
“It’s fine.”
It is. We can be adults about this.
She pulls me closer. “Us Murphys are trouble.”
“I warned her,” Sloane says, nearly screeching when Ethan scoops her up and tosses her over his shoulder. “Oh, I love when you do this!”
We all giggle, even Jack. “Eww, keep us out of your foreplay.”
We head outside, trying to pile everyone into Ethan’s truck, but Annie refuses.
She unbuckles and climbs over me, shaking her head. “Nope. Can’t do it. I’ll puke.”
Jack reaches out and gently holds his sister upright. She rests her forehead against his shoulder.
“I’ll drive Annie home tomorrow. She can crash with me tonight,” Jack tells Ethan, then he knocks against the back seat window. I slowly roll it down.
I hate how good he looks in glasses. Have I mentioned that before? It’s unfair. But not as much as I really want his arms around my body, his lips on my forehead, and to listen to his deep chuckle as I rest against his chest.
I fit perfectly there. Or did.
