Nick raised his eyebrows and smiled lopsidedly. "I dunno about the real Hawkie. He's too pretty to be real. I think he might be inflatable." He poked me on the shoulder.
I lurched to the side as though I was an actual blow up doll and bit back a grin.
"See, I thought so." Nick laughed. "Should we pop him?"
Becca giggled. She didn't seem to mind our silly, childish antics too much. Some women would have thought we were too dumb to live, or at least talk to.
"Better not," I said, "I might make a mess on the floor."
"At least he didn't say you were inflatable too," Nick said to Becca. "I wouldn't have believed him anyway, you're too pretty." He glanced over at me. "Although, that might be the only way a woman would talk to him."
"Jealousy is a curse," I told him.
He rubbed his chin, then exhaled loudly. "You're right, you know. It is. Maybe you should stop being so jealous of my charm, wit and good looks."
I barked a laugh. "You forgot genius-level intelligence."
"I did, didn't I?"
Becca looked about ready to double over laughing. "Are you guys always like this?"
Nick and I both jerked a thumb toward each other and said, "He is," at the same time.
We all lost it then and started laughing so loud we got stared at from everyone in the rest of the bar. Becca had such a sweet laugh; I wanted to hear it all the time.
"Hey," Nick said suddenly. "Here's the rest of them."
A handful of men and women stepped in through the door and made a beeline for the table.
"Heeeeey," Jace greeted. When I stood, he went in for a bro hug, barely touching and all. "This where ya been hiding?" His American accent was strong when he'd been drinking, even after five years in Australia.
"You found me," I replied. I nodded to the redhead who held his hand.
"This is, um…" Jace frowned.
"Keelie," she said, looking unimpressed.
"Are you sure?" Jace frowned at her.
"I think I would know my own name," she told him.
"Huh, well I guess that's true," Jace said.
"Don't worry, Jace can't remember his own name sometimes," Nick said.
"Shut up," Jace said with a smile. "I can too. It's…" He rubbed his head. "Fuck."
"That's right," Nick said. "Suits you too."
"My name is not Fuck," Jace protested.
"It is now," I said. "That's how nicknames get born."
Jace scowled, but his expression soon changed to a smile. "It could be worse, I guess."
"How?" Becca asked.
"It could be Tinydick," Jace said.
