Page 9 of Calling a Cease-Fire

I folded my arms across my chest. “Right. Because you know me so well.” With a roll of my eyes, I yanked out the stool at the head of the table. “Why am I always stuck sitting next to him?”

“Must be fate,” he quipped dryly.

“Or misfortune,” I mumbled.

Adam chuckled, but sobered quickly when I narrowed my eyes.

“I need a drink.” Thankfully, the waitress appeared a moment later, taking my order.

Zack ordered a round of shots for the table as well. “My apologies for using the Q word today.”

Adam set his beer glass down and sat back. “Sadly, it won’t stop you from doing it again.”

“Probably not,” Zack said with a wry smile and turned to me. “Speaking of today, I have a message for you.”

My brows shot up. Who the hell would have given him a message for me?

“Tara wanted me to tell you thank you.”

My spine went rigid, and I tried not to react other than with a curt nod. I didn’t deserve her gratitude. I couldn’t save her brother.

I dug my fingers into my thighs and stayed quiet as different conversations started around the table. I refused to look at Zack. I could feel his piercing gaze on me, and I knew if I looked at him, he would see the pain in my eyes and tease me about it relentlessly. That was the last thing I needed tonight. I just wanted to blow off some steam and forget about my horrible day.

As soon as the waitress set the shots down on the table, I grabbed one and threw it back.

“You’re supposed to wait for everyone else, you know?” Zack snickered and picked his shot up.

“Oh. Right.” Once everyone had theirs in their hands, I snatched Zack’s. “Cheers.” Wearing an evil grin, I downed that one too. The burn of the alcohol felt good as it coated the back of my throat.

“Oh, Raven.” He shook his head with a grin. “You’re even more of a spitfire tonight than usual. I think I’m going to enjoy this.”

I rolled my eyes and pushed down the urge to slap him. “Stop calling me that.”

He just chuckled, and I did my best to ignore him as I sipped on my Long Island iced tea.

Izzy looked over at me with a smile. “Nicole texted me and said you’re going to help plan the bachelor/bachelorette party?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Any specific requests?”

“No strippers,” she and Logan said simultaneously.

“Oh darn. I was going to try to find some hot firefighters, too.” I snickered, and out of the corner of my eye caught Zack opening his mouth. Raising a hand to cut off whatever stupid thing he was going to share, I said, “Don’t.”

He leaned back and folded his arms across his chest with that stupid smirk still on his face.

“I want a relaxed, food and drink, just chilling together type thing.” Izzy shrugged. “Maybe at a restaurant or something. Or even someone’s home. Wouldn’t mind music and dancing though.”

“Easy enough.” I took another long pull of my drink, surprised to find I had sucked down more than half already.

“Send me some dates and I’ll ask Savannah if The Dock is free,” Zack offered.

Surprisingly, his suggestion wasn’t a bad one. The family-owned restaurant and bar had a large patio area that they enclosed with heaters during the cold months. Perfect for large parties.

I nodded. “Okay. Thanks.”

Logan hadn’t mentioned Jay at all, so maybe Nicole was right, and Logan knew Jay wouldn’t be much help right now.

“It might help if you had my phone number.” The smirk was evident in Zack’s tone.