I moved closer, listening as one of the guys spoke.
“Why don’t you let us get you another round?” he asked.
“I’m good,” she answered, not looking up from her glass.
“Aw, come on,” he pressed. “We don’t bite.”
“You’re too pretty to drink alone,” the other guy added, as though that was the pickup line of the fucking century.
“Good thing she’s not alone,” I said once I reached them, my tone commanding and not at all friendly.
I don’t know who was more surprised by my presence—McKenzie or Tweedle Dickhead and Tweedle Dumbass.
McKenzie blinked up at me, swiping a strand of toffee-colored hair off her face.
One of the Tweedle brothers elbowed the other, and they had a full conversation with their eyes. It was one I’d seen play out before.
I had a weird relationship with my fame, but sometimes, it came in handy.
The men scattered like roaches in the light, leaving me and McKenzie to ourselves.
I gestured toward the side of the booth opposite of her. “Is this seat taken?”
“What?” she asked, her cheeks flushed. “I mean, no. Go ahead.”
I slid in across from her. “So, what are you doing out on this rainy Thursday night?”
She held up her nearly empty glass. “Drinking. What about you?”
I shrugged. “I heard this place has good cheeseburgers.”
“Oh, they do,” she said, slurping down the remnants of her drink. “And Bushwackers.”
I nodded toward her glass. “Is that what that was?”
“Yep. You should try one.”
“I think I’ll stick to the burger.”
“Not much of a drinker?” she asked, glancing toward the bar, likely in search of the missing bartender.
“Not anymore. I stopped a little over a year ago,” I answered. “I didn’t like the person I became when I drank.”
She shifted her attention back to me. “Who did you become?”
“An asshole.”
“And you think that’sdifferentfrom who you are now?” The corners of her mouth quirked into a grin.
I lifted my brows in amusement. “You might find this hard to believe, but I was a lot worse back then.”
“You couldn’t have been that bad or else Katie wouldn’t have put up with you.” She twirled her straw in her empty glass.
Being my friend was like catching a grenade with your bare hands. I was self-destructing and exploding all over everyone that got close.
A puff of air escaped my lips. “I don’t know how anyone dealt with me.”
It was the most honest thing I’d said to anyone besides Lacey. I wasn’t sure why I said it, but there was something about the look in McKenzie’s eyes that reflected my own and made me feel safe.
