“I don’t think Hannah has forgiven you yet for marinara-gate last fall.”
“Then tell her they’re Deckers.”
“You could order mozzarella sticks anywhere.”
“But only here do I get waited on with cruel precision.”
Rider came in behind him, calmer, his long blond hair tucked beneath a beanie and his face easy in the way that made people underestimate how much he noticed. His gaze landed briefly on the stack of books beside Ryan, then moved to Charm before he looked away.
It lasted less than a second, but I caught it.
Charm had been clear with him that friendship was all she wanted. She hadn’t played with him or left the door cracked. Clarity simply didn’t make watching her soften for someone else hurt any less.
A few younger players followed, loud and loose, already slapping one another’s shoulders and calling for tables. The bar reacted to them the way Kimball Falls always reacted to the Fury, with too much excitement and no survival instincts.
Cade walked in near the middle of the pack, and Bliss’s whole face changed.
I loved her for that. I hated how much I loved her for that.
He looked good and healthy in a way that still felt like a miracle if you knew where to look. His shoulders had filledback out, his color was better, and the slight edge of carefulness he had carried after the hospital months had been replaced by something steadier. He moved like a man who had dragged himself back into his body one brutal inch at a time and had no intention of leaving it again.
He came straight to the bar, and Bliss tried to look stern. “You’re blocking the service well.”
Cade leaned over the counter, his voice low enough that the rest of us could pretend not to hear while still totally hearing. “Hi, Pip.”
Her stern face collapsed like wet cardboard. “Hi.”
Briggs groaned. “Mercer, some of us are single and trying to eat.”
“Then eat,” Cade said without looking away from Bliss.
Charm sighed softly. “They’re very pretty. It’s irritating.”
Ryan muttered, “He used to be less embarrassing.”
“No, he didn’t,” Rider said as he settled near the end of the bar. “He was just less obvious about it.”
Cade kissed Bliss quickly, nothing inappropriate or showy, and somehow still intimate enough that I had to look away because some people’s happiness was rude before appetizers.
“Congratulations on surviving captain announcements,” Bliss said when he pulled back.
Cade smiled. “Wade deserved it.”
“You’re okay?”
“I’m better than okay.” His eyes warmed. “I’m playing Friday. That’s all I cared about.”
Bliss’s lips pressed together, and for a second, all the noise, neon, and sticky bar counters disappeared around the way she looked at him. “I know.”
His hand found hers on the bar. “You love watching me play.”
“I would crawl through broken glass to be there, but I’d complain the entire way.”
“That sounds on brand.”
I made a gagging sound while reaching for clean glasses. “If either of you starts saying vows near my margarita mix, I’m transferring sections.”
Cade glanced at me. “Good to see you too, Aura.”
