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“I don’t even know what to say right now,” I replied, decidedly looking away from the man across the room who had my heart in a chokehold.
“How about this? Why not just tell him we’re not real, and let the cards fall where they may? At the very least, it’ll put the poor guy out of his misery.”
Something told me it would only cause more misery for Everett if I did that, but I nodded anyway. “I’ll think on it. Thanks for carin’, Riley. I appreciate you.”
He reached out and squeezed the top of my arm. “Hey, I might not love you like that, but I do care. Whatever happens next, don’t forget that.”
Before I could reply, Riley’s face broke out into his version of a for-the-people smile, and he lifted a hand to greet someone behind me. I turned, finding yet another group of mean ol’ hags from high school—this one led by Kitty Carpenter—and internally groaned.
Here we go again.
13
EVERETT
We headed over to get our second round of beers, and since there wasn’t a line this time, we stayed and chatted with our old shop teacher who was slinging the drinks. But then I felt a light tap on my shoulder, and I cringed, bracing myself to face Laney.
Only it wasn’t Laney.
It was the bikini bodybuilder who’d been dancing with Derek earlier. “Hiya, handsome,” she all but purred.
I swallowed hard, shifting my gaze to my friends. No way did I want to talk to this woman with her behemoth boyfriend lookin’ like he could kill me with one well-placed punch.
As a former Marine, I knew I could take care of myself. I worked out, I ate right, and I was blessed with a decently good metabolism. I even had a six-pack and those V-muscle-things the ladies loved hiding under the black button-down shirt I wore. But Derek was Hulk-smash strong, and even if I did manage to kick his butt into next week, I wouldn’t enjoy any blows he’d inevitably get in.
Before I could even reply to the woman—whose name tag read Daisy—the devil himself appeared and loomed over her.
I stood taller, figuring he only had about three inches on me. I could probably take him. It would hurt, but it’d be worth it if he was still a jerk. “Derek.”
“Hey, Everett,” he replied, shocking the boots off me with a smile brighter than the lights on the dance floor. “How’ve you been, man?”
In my peripheral, I could tell my friends didn’t know whether to check their butts or scratch their watches, and I was just as confused. I cleared my throat. “I’ve been good. How’ve you been?”
“Oh, wow, I’ve been so great. Have you met Daisy?” He looped one of his giant arms around her thin frame and tugged her close against his side. “We met on the bodybuilding circuit, if you can believe that. It was love at first sight, wasn’t it, sweetheart?”
“It sure was,” she replied with a smile that looked a little too devious for my liking.
“It’s really good to see you, and hey, listen, I’m apologizing to everyone for what a jerk I was in school. I figure I wasn’t happy in my own skin and thought if I was mean first, none of y’all would have a chance. Know what I mean?”
This time, I joined my friends in confused looks, but then I fixed my face and smiled at the guy. “Uh, sure. Yeah. No problem.”
It wasn’t like he’d bullied us or anything, so really, what did we care? But maybe it was part of some twelve-step thing he was fulfilling.
“Thanks for understanding. And hey, I’m living in Miami now, so if you ever need a place to crash by the beach, I’m your guy.”
“Um, thanks, Derek. I’ll remember that.”
He grabbed my upper arm and gave it a rough shake, his smile so big it could only be described as manic. “Lookin’ forward to it. Have a great night, y’all!”
“You too,” the four of us said back, trying to keep our smiles steady until they were gone.
“What in the world was that about?” I asked my friends, my brain feeling fuzzy as a caterpillar while I tried to process that strange interaction.
“Is it me or does their relationship seem a little odd?” Brandon asked, scratching his head and staring after them as they moved on to talk to some other classmates.
“Very odd, considerin’ the way she greeted me,” I said. “Glad it didn’t get crazier, anyway.”
“What’s this I hear about gettin’ crazy?” Laney asked as she and Paisley walked up.
