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“Remembering all the fun we had that night?” he asks when he pulls away.
“Actually, I was thinking about how silly you looked in all the cowboy hats you insisted on trying.”
Jay’s bark of laughter startles me, causing me to jump back, tripping over my own two feet, sending me flailing toward the cold, wood floors. I’m not surprised when he catches me before I land, pulling me up and into his arms.
“I’ve got you.”
“That seems to be something you say a lot.”
“Well, if you’d stop trying to kiss the ground,” he jokes, kissing my forehead before moving lower to my nose, and finally the place I want him most, my lips.
Putting every emotion I have into that kiss, I try and show Jay how I feel about him since I’m unable to say the words aloud, too scared to confess everything. I shouldn’t be. He’s already said he loves me. For some reason admitting it to him, to myself, that I feel the same, scares me more than losing him by remaining silent.
“We should probably get going,” he mumbles against my lips before capturing my reply.
Spencer and Mia are probably waiting for us. Wondering why we ran out earlier. Spencer has texted Jay no less than half a dozen times asking for information. Wanting to know what we’ve pieced together.
Pressing my palms against his chest, his heart beats out a steady rhythm beneath my hands as I push him away. The loss of his lips against mine is heartbreaking but necessary. I could live the rest of my life happily if he kept kissing me.Who needs food or water when you have love?
As the thought crosses my mind, my stomach rumbles.
“I guess we should probably feed you, too,” Jay says with a laugh.
“Yeah. I could go for some bar food. The greasier the better.”
After quickly fixing my hair and applying the red lipstick I bought before leaving LA in honor of Sam, Jay and I are out the door in five minutes and walking hand in hand through the old, wooden doors of Riley’s Pub ten minutes later. Mia and Spence are seated at a table in the corner, laughing with a few familiar faces when we finally spot them through the crowd.
As we approach a tingling sensation washes over me. The closer we get, the stronger the feeling is. Giving Jay’s hand an accidental squeeze when I shiver, he pulls me to a stop and gives me a questioning look.
“He’s here. I know it. I can feel it,” I explain, leaning in close so I don’t have to holler over the loud music and conversations happening around us.
The place is packed. There are people standing shoulder to shoulder at the bar. Mindi looks like she’s ready to pull her hair out every time someone hollers her name, and the waitresses are sprinting back and forth from the bar to tables.
I worked here for two years and it was never this busy. Not once.
This is for Sam.
And it appears the entire town has shown up to show their support.
Every face seems familiar. Every voice bringing back forgotten memories. I can still remember what most of them would order to drink. Who tipped well. Who was stingy. Who to keep an arm’s length from after a few drinks.
“We knew he would be, Drea. Just breathe. Tomorrow, this ends.”
Which should make me happy. Because we know he’s on our list. We know the police will put the final pieces of the puzzle together. Which means tomorrow is also the day I have to say good-bye to Mia, Spencer, and Jay. Tomorrow I go back to LA. To a job that’s brought me comfort in the years since losing Sam, but I have a feeling will now be a constant reminder of her death. A reminder that there are bad people in the world. Some that stand out and others that blend into the crowd. People you would never suspect to be dark and dangerous are lurking among us all the time.
Like right now.
In this very bar.
Somewhere in the crowd, is a killer.
A man who stole the life of my best friend.
Who wanted someone so he took her. And when she didn’t want him back, killed her.
“Tomorrow can’t come soon enough,” I mutter, though I’m certain he can’t hear me as I turn my back to him and walk to where our friends are still laughing without a care in the world.
All laughter comes to a halt when I silently slip onto the empty stool, Jay sliding up behind me and wrapping his arms around my shoulders.
