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Maya’s pulse spiked as she pushed her hand against his chest to look him in the eyes. He blinked slowly.

What the hell was he playing at? She glanced over at Brodie, who was watching them with raised eyebrows. Clearing her throat, Maya gave a high-pitched laugh. “That is not what happened.”

Sam shrugged, dangling his hand over her shoulder. “Yeah, ’tis. But it’s water under the bridge now.”

Maya’s heart rate accelerated as she met Brodie’s gaze. She was pissed off with Sam, making up crap like that. But what made it worse was him doing it in front of her new friend.

She swallowed. “Brodie, do you want to come meet my other friends?”

Clearly reading that Maya wanted to end the conversation, Brodie nodded. “That’d be great, thanks.” He shifted away out of earshot, no doubt as a courtesy to Maya.

Maya took Sam’s arm from her shoulders. “You wait here,” she muttered. “I want a word with you.”

He frowned, seeming oblivious. “A word ’bout what?”

Narrowing her eyes, she kept her voice low, but didn’t manage to keep the waver out of it. “About you making shit up in front of people, that’s what. I know you’ve had a bit to drink, but it’s not fair to lie.”

Sam raised his eyebrows. “Wasn’t a lie.”

She balled her free hand into a fist, trying to control her spiraling emotions. “Yes, it was. Me breaking your heart? Try the other way around.”

Shooting him a hard stare, Maya moved off to catch Brodie and take his elbow. She steered him away.

He leaned in as they walked. “What was that all about?”

“I have no idea,” she whispered, glancing back at Sam, who was watching them, a frown on his face. “He must be more drunk than I thought. I might have to get him home early.”

“He was acting pretty possessive over you,” Brodie said as they crossed the room. “Like he was marking his territory.”

She shook her head. “We’re just friends.”

“I think you need to tell him that, not me.”

They reached the table.

“Hey, guys,” Maya said. “This is my friend Brodie.” She pointed at everyone in turn. “This is Liv, Elise, Arran, Nico, Rowan, Ben . . .” She introduced a couple more people, then gave Brodie her seat next to Nico, who engaged him in conversation. Then she excused herself to go back to the bar, intent upon giving Sam the grilling of his life.

As she pushed her way through the crowds, she spotted him—with his face attached to Catriona’s. Maya halted in her tracks, the memory of seeing them in the same clinch eight years ago at the tree line outside seizing her.

Earlier today Sam had told her that he still hadn’t heard from Cat, and that she normally had no interest in the event. Maya hadn’t laid eyes on her at any point during the proceedings up until now. Therefore, she must have just arrived, and immediately suckered herself to Sam’s face like a strawberry blond octopus.

Backing into the crowd, Maya tried to dissolve away. She reached the table and took a seat across from Brodie and Nico, next to Liv, grabbing her beer and taking a very large slug. She didn’t have to worry about Sam anymore—he had his girlfriend to take care of him.

Chapter

Eighteen

Sam rolled over in bed and groaned, lifting a hand to his head. Fucking hell. Every tiny movement made his whole brain throb.

Opening his eyes a crack, he spied the bedside clock and realized that he’d need to get up for his afternoon class soon. A glance across the bed confirmed that it was empty. He couldn’t remember much about the previous evening, but he had a vague recollection of Cat arriving, much to his surprise. He couldn’t recall them talking much, if at all. She’d only seemed interested in making out with him at the bar, and he hadn’t had the wherewithal to suggest otherwise. The rest of the night was a haze. He’d have to try to get hold of her later to arrange to talk, and hopefully, her presence last night would mean she’d engage with it this time.

Shit. He was meant to have been up earlier, in order to get a lift with Maya to fetch his car from the Tavern. Groaning again, he reached over and grabbed his phone. Squinting at the screen, he felt as if his head were about to split in two. I am never drinking again.

There were a couple of missed calls from Maya, plus a message.

We need to talk.

Sam frowned, then realized it really hurt his head, so he tried to relax his face, wishing he had a few syringes of Botox to inject in case he inadvertently made any more painful expressions.