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“Well, we beat the shit out of each other for a good five minutes,” said Luke. “Back and forth, blow for blow.”
Warren chuckled. “People were watching. Some were screaming. The guy running the Mobile station came out clenching a broom, although I don’t know what the hell he expected to do with it.”
“How did it end?” I asked.
“Sirens,” said Luke. “As soon as we heard em’ we bolted back to our vehicles and took off. We were a couple of miles away when my phone rang, and when I looked down for the first time in years I saw Warren’s number.”
“Touching,” yawned Adrian. “Like a fucking Hallmark movie.”
“Shut up asshole,” Luke poked him. “Anyway, the only thing left to do at that point was go out for beers. One minute we were slugging away at each other, and fifteen minutes later we were hoisting pints.”
I scratched at my head. “That’s… that’s just crazy.”
“Is it, though?” Luke asked. He drained his glass. “We’d been friends forever, Kayla. Since before either of us met you.”
“I know,” I smiled. “And I’m glad. It’s just… well…”
“Back then we were young, angry, jealous. We were stupid.”
“Glad you added that last one,” Adrian quipped.
“In the end though,” said Warren, “we looked at it the same way: you’re an amazing girl. We both loved you. We both wanted you for the same reasons. So could we really blame each other?”
“Yeah,” Luke agreed. “It’s not like one of us could fault the other just for wanting the same thing. We arrived at the same common ground. That you were an awesome fucking girlfriend.”
I blushed deeply and smiled. “Well, now you’re talking sense.”
“And stupidly,” Luke finished, his voice going a little more solemn, “we let you slip away.”
For a moment the table fell silent, the only noise coming in from the chatter around us. We were four old friends, reunited again. Dressed like we were going to a wedding.
“There’s more too,” said Warren. His expression was strangely serious. “Other stuff. Important stuff.”
“Stuff that includesthisguy,” Luke added, jerking a thumb at Adrian. “Who just so happened to call us before he got into town.”
“Andthatwas some three-way phone call,” Warren agreed.
I could feel a strange heat rising inside me — an anticipation of what they were going to tell me next. And especially, whether it would be good or bad.
You slept with every guy at this table, Kayla.
The voice in my head was admonishing. It was telling me to chill out, to temper my expectations. It also warned me to tread lightly, because if any of them learned what I’d just done with the others I could easily have these guys fighting again.
But curiosity won out, of course.
“What stuff?” I asked carefully.
With that, all three of them stood up together — almost like they’d rehearsed it. Luke dropped money on the table. Warren and Adrian tipped their heads back, finishing their drinks.
“Stuff that can wait until after the funeral,” said Luke, as he took me by the hand.
Eighteen
KAYLA
“Shit,” I muttered under my breath. My voice was low, my throat constricted. “I… I didn’t expect this.”
“Neither did I,” whispered Luke. “None of us did.”
