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Warmth enveloped me the second I stepped inside. It was a mixture of the building’s own heat and that of all the people. Barely any chairs were left empty. The bar was rammed, and people were standing up everywhere.
I slipped inside, scanning the heads for my friends. I pushed through three big groups of people before I spotted the beacon that was Reagan with her purple hair and headed right for them.
“Ethan!” Halley raised her hand and waved.
“Hey.” I stepped up to the table and side-hugged both her and Reagan. “Where is everyone?”
“At the bar,” Reagan answered. “Hold on.” She clambered up onto her chair, tugged up her jeans, and waved her hands above her head. I frowned, but it obviously worked because she motioned for one more beer to be brought over.
“Thanks,” I said when she sat down. “It’s busy tonight.”
Halley nodded. “There was apparently a bachelor party nearby last night. Their flight got canceled, so they came here and took over half the place.”
I looked out. It was easy to see them—they took up four tables and, as people on bachelor parties usually did, they looked like absolute pricks.
“What’s up?” Reagan asked, pulling a rogue empty chair up to the table for me. “I was surprised you weren’t here earlier.”
“Ava’s working,” I answered. “You probably already know we’re not talking.”
They both nodded. “Mm,” Halley said.
“What’s ‘mm?’” I asked.
“Nothing.” She cradled her wine glass. “It’s not directed at you, for what it’s worth.”
“Who is it directed at?”
“This prick of a referee,” Preston said, sliding into the seat next to me and putting a beer in front of me. “She’s been complaining about him all night.” He winked when Leo took his seat on the other side of the table.
“You’re confusing me with yourself,” Halley said, snorting at her boyfriend. “You’re the one whining like a little bitch.”
“I will second that.” Reagan touched her wine glass to Halley’s.
I smirked.
“Thought you weren’t coming,” Leo said as Noah took his seat.
“Got bored,” I replied, keeping my answer as vague as I could. “What’s going on?”
Preston tilted his head to the side and rested his arm over the back of Halley’s chair. “Pats are winning as always. Nobody cares about the other games.”
Standard Sunday night, then.
“Was that the shout I heard coming in?”
“Yeah,” Noah answered. “They should have had a penalty for a false start, but the touchdown stood without review. Bullshit refereeing.”
Standard weekly operation, then.
Leo swigged his beer. “Is that Butler at the bar?”
Everyone’s head turned toward the bar. Ava was standing behind it, smiling. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she was dressed all in black with her V-neck t-shirt cutting low when she bent over.
“I think so,” Halley said slowly.
“But there are so many guys in here,” Reagan added, kicking my foot.
“Ow! Why did you kick me?” I asked, frowning at her.
Her eyes widened. “Sorry. Accident.”
I smelled bullshit.
I let it go.
Leo didn’t. He narrowed his eyes. “It is. It’s Butler.”
Noah’s gaze flashed in my direction. “It’s Sunday night. He comes in here, right?”
“Yeah, but he’s not leaving the bar. I thought they broke up.”
“They did.” Halley squirmed in her seat. “Maybe he’s trying to get her back.”
My stomach clenched. I knew all about Ava’s unhealthy on-off relationship with Butler Ferris. It’d spanned a long ass fucking time before she’d finally called it off earlier this year.
The idea that he was interested again, and she was allowing it made me feel sick.
“Nah,” Preston interjected. “She wouldn’t go out with him again.”
Reagan cleared her throat, and Halley shot her a look that could kill.
Leo watched it all happen. “She’s dating him again?” He turned his eyes on me. “She mentioned it to you?”
“Why the fuck would I know?” I replied.
“Because you live with her.”
“She doesn’t tell me shit.” I rocked my head side to side to stretch out my neck. “I don’t know what she does in her free time.”
Leo grunted. “He’s a dick. Why is she entertaining his bullshit?”
That was a great fucking question, wasn’t it?
I finished my beer. “I’m gonna get a beer. Anyone want one?”
“Bring a bucket,” Leo said, eyes firmly fixed on the bar.
Halley moved her hand over her throat in an axing motion, but a bucket sounded good to me.
I pushed my way through to the bar, stopping a few feet away from where Butler was grinning at Ava.
My nostrils flared. What the fuck was he doing here? As far as I knew, she wasn’t interested in him anymore. Yet, as she moved across the bar to serve someone who’d gotten here before me, she returned his smile.
Anger shot through me.
What the fuck was I watching? Was I really standing here, watching my roommate and the woman I had feelings for getting back with her ex?
I wasn’t going to watch it. Not for a second. The stomach-twisting that was happening in my gut was almost unbearably painful, a continuous tightening of cramps that demanded I fix this situation.
