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Campbell snorted. “Y’all are all assholes.”
“You know he’s in a mood when he pulls out the y’alls,” Blaire said.
Weston punched him back. “You should let us do this shit more often. Why are you so against surprises anyway?”
“I’m not,” Campbell lied.
Hollin and I shared a private smile. Campbell glared at both of us.
“Don’t fucking say it,” Campbell warned.
Hollin grinned devilishly. “What? About the clown at your twelfth birthday that scared you shitless?”
“The time you ran out of the house, screaming, when it jumped out at you?” I added.
Campbell looked to the ceiling. “Thank God I have siblings.”
Weston cracked up. “Oh man, I need this story in its entirety.”
“Not a chance,” Campbell growled.
Blaire shook her head. “Tell me about it later.”
“About what?” Julian asked, stepping up to our party. His brother, Jordan, at his side.
“Something about a clown?” Jordan asked.
I was lucky to have my cousins in Lubbock. Jordan and Julian were related to West on his dad’s side, but their mom was my aunt. So even though we were both related to them, we weren’t related to each other. And since Jordan and Julian had lived in Vancouver through my childhood, I’d never gotten to know them. But with them here and Jordan now engaged to Annie and Julian living with Jennifer, I knew they were here to stay. My family had shattered after my mom died, but it was starting to stitch back together after all these years.
“Fuck both of you,” Campbell said to me and Hollin.
We just hit knuckles. Ganging up on Campbell was half the fun.
The rest of the party dispersed as Campbell turned his attention to our cousins. I was left alone with West, and I knew this was the moment I should take.
Our eyes met. “Hey.”
“The party turned out great.”
“Thanks,” I said, on steady ground when talking about work. Though I knew I couldn’t let last night stand.
West had been gone this morning when I woke up. He’d left Gatorade, Tylenol, and a note that said, Hope you feel okay. Heading to the gym. —West. It was thoughtful, but I was sure it was also a way to avoid the awkwardness to follow.
“Sorry about last night,” I forced out.
“Sorry?”
“You know, about…getting super drunk and everything that happened afterward.”
He laughed and ran a hand back through his floppy, dark hair. “You don’t have anything to be sorry for, Nor.”
“You sure? I remember a very embarrassing almost kiss, where I then started laughing at how drunk I was.”
He grinned. Not at all miffed by that. “You remember that, huh?”
My cheeks heated. “I do.”
“Look, it was good to see you cut loose. You should do it more often.”
“It was nice to not think for once. Though I felt pretty dumb when I woke up.”
“I liked seeing you that way,” he admitted.
Something heated in my core at those words. He’d liked the loose, flirty, almost-sexy Nora Abbey. I’d liked her, too. I wished I could find her right now.
“Maybe we should do it again. I’ll be in the studio all week with Campbell—because he’s a workaholic—but maybe next weekend?”
“Sure.” I bit my lip. “I’d like that.”
“Good. It’s a date.”
I swallowed at that word. Date. A date with Weston Wright. Even if it definitely, absolutely, for sure was not a real date with Weston Wright.
