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I felt the same. “What’s going on, then?”
“You can tell something’s wrong?” He had to lean in to speak, the decibels in this place seemed to grow louder and louder. Bru laughed. “And here I was trying to keep shit to myself.”
“You forget we were friends.”
“Are friends,” he said, lifting a finger, and I nodded, smiling. He lifted his shoulders. “No big. Just lost in my thoughts a little.”
“Want to talk about it?” I sat on the arm of his chair. I was nudged in the process, this place really packed.
Bru started to open his mouth, but Sloane and Bow cut through the crowd. They had drinks in their hands, red Solo cups, and Bru frowned at them. He pointed. “You never set those drinks down, did you?”
Sloane’s dark eyes lifted toward the ceiling decorated with holiday lights. They dripped down and twinkled bright in red and green. Sloane laughed. “We literally just got these drinks, and before you ask, no, I didn’t let the little rabbit get any alcohol.”
She nudged Bow, and I assumed little rabbit was her nickname for her.
Bru nodded. “Yeah, you know Thatcher would kill my ass.”
“Which is completely ridiculous because he totally drank in high school.” Bow rolled her eyes. “Anyway, I wanted soda.”
“And, Dad, we only came over here to let you know we’re going to the bathroom,” Sloane chimed in, and when Bru started to get up, Sloane lifted a hand. “I think we can handle this on our own thanks.”
Bru was looking some kind of way about that, but he did sit down. He eyed Sloane. “Keep your phone on and handy in case I text.”
Sloane saluted Bru, which made him shake his head. She asked if I wanted to go as well, but Bru and I ended up deciding to get our own drinks. He needed a new beer, and I still wanted to know what was wrong.
“So?” I questioned, settling against the bar. I got a soda too since I didn’t drink. “You’re not avoiding this.”
“And what is this exactly,” he asked, but he wasn’t talking about whatever alcoholic concoction he got the bartender to make him. There’d been several kinds of alcohol, whiskey, but currently, he just nursed the drink, staring at it.
I eyed him. “The conversation. What’s up?”
I didn’t hear his sigh over the volume in the room, but I’d seen it. He shook his head. “I guess I’m just having a hard time quieting my thoughts.” He studied the bar. “My last semester kind of sucked, and I’m trying to figure out how to talk to my parents about it.”
I couldn’t fight my brow from lifting. I had no idea he’d been struggling with something.
That was because you’d only been thinking about yourself.
This stuff with Wolf had made me crazy, and if I hadn’t been thinking about that, I maybe could have spared some thoughts for my friend. “Did you, like, flunk out or something?”
This would surprise me. I recalled Bru being really smart in high school.
A smile lifted his lips. “I wish it was something like that honestly,” he said, giving me pause. He wished he would have flunked out of school? That seemed very unusual, and I watched as he sucked back his drink. All the liquor didn’t even faze him. He barely had a reaction to it before stamping his cup down. He sat back. “That would be easier to explain to my folks. Normal.”
“What do you mean?”
The smile remained on his lips, but it was a fake one. I knew because I’d seen it back at the house before we’d left. He faced me. “I’ll figure it out. Seriously, I don’t want you to worry about me.”
I couldn’t help it though. I mean, he was my friend, and I started to say that, but I was nudged again. In fact, I was rocked forward, and the guy who’d done it spilled half his drink on my jeans.
He laughed after, mumbling sorry before walking away, and I got off my chair. “Asshole!”
The guy flipped me the bird. Like legit lifted his finger as he folded back into the crowd. He didn’t even look at me, and before I could say anything about that, Bru charged past me. Quick, I barely saw him, and when I did catch up to him, he’d made his way in front of the guy.
“How about a real fucking apology, man?” he questioned, his arms folded. His words had been clear, calm, but nothing about him looked it. His face charged red, and he put a finger in the guy’s chest. “You spilled beer on my friend, so now, you’re going to apologize to her.”
Bru was a big guy, a huge guy, but so was the guy who’d spilled the beer. In fact, he had height on Bru, and I didn’t like where this was going. I touched Bru’s arm. “Hey. Don’t. I’m good.”
“Nah. He needs to apologize to you. A proper apology.” He spoke to me, but he had his focus on the guy.
