“First dates are hard.”
“Ugh, first dates are the worst. I’m tired of first dates. At this point, I’d rather just be married and figure it all out from there than go on a first date again.”
He lets out a breath.
“Just be married and figure the rest out after that, huh?”
“Yeah, I mean, arranged marriages work out all the time.”
They even make TV shows about it now.
“Some don’t.”
“True, but some do.”
“Then try it,” he says simply. “Go marry someone.”
“Ha, like who? One of the drunk guys who hit on me, or one—”
“These were sent over from that woman,” the bartender interrupts and slides another round of drinks and shots in front of us. “She said sorry about her brother hitting on you.”
I lean forward to wave a thank-you and then grab my shot.
“Cheers,” I say, and we toss back our shots.
“I didn’t mean one of those drunk guys,” Beck says as the fireball liquid burns down my throat. “I meant me.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
BECK
I can’t remember the last time I rode in a car with someone, and no one said a single word for the entire drive.
Thankfully, Wind Valley is small enough that even if you’re going from one side of town to the other, you can get anywhere in twenty minutes tops.
As soon as I put my car in park outside Tobias’s house, Calla jumps out and speed walks inside. I’ve barely got my seatbelt back in place before she’s gone.
I start to get out but stop.
Hell, what if she really hates me? Like seriously wants nothing to do with me. No matter what I do or how hard I try, convincing her to stay married might just be a waste of time.
I let out a sigh and get out.
I have to at least try, but I hate the fact that divorce might be inevitable.
I skip using the front door like Calla did and instead use the side gate. Almost everyone is in the backyard already. Tobias did some new landscaping at the start of summer, so now there’s a designated seating area around the firepit. It can fit about twelve people, which is great since our group seems to be growing lately.
I remember when it was just the six of us: Tobias, Simon, Graham, Hero, Zane, and myself. We’d drink cheap booze and plot books until well after midnight. It was how we’d all come up with numerous bestsellers.
Now, BBQs here and there are more of a reason for us all to get together with our busy lives. Tobias holds one annually, so tonight it is. Yeah, we meet weekly to write together, but this night is different. We chill, we relax, we play games and compete for the prize of getting to name someone else’s next book. It’s just a good time.
I’ll admit, with Hero and Nora getting together and then Zane and Willa, adding people has made it more fun. Which, in turn, brought Willa’s friend Greer. Then, of course, since Willa is also friends with Calla and the simple fact that she’s Simon’s sister, it only made sense for her to come too. Simon also brings his son. And we can’t forget Tobias’s best friend, Natalie. She’s been a steady staple since our college years and still is, but we see less of her now that she’s dating Griffin. Today, however, she and her boyfriend are in attendance. It’s a packed house.
Hell, he’s going to need a bigger yard once someone starts having kids.
If I can make it work with Calla, shoot, maybe it’ll be us.
“Beer.” Tobias shoves one in my chest.
