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Derek appeared in a tuxedo then and nodded his head to the side. I knew precisely what that meant. Every year since we’d been kids, we’d escape the stupid adult party to hang out in the library.
I grabbed Smith’s hand. “Come on.”
“What?” he asked, distracted. “You go ahead. I’m speaking with your father.”
I opened my mouth to remind him that he was dating me and not my dad, but the words died on my lips. “Fine. We’ll be in the library if you want to join.”
His eyes softened at those words. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
I downed my champagne on the way and left it on a table to be scooped up. Derek would have the good stuff in the library anyway. I stepped inside and found Kasey lounging on a chaise next to one of her girlfriends. They were both smoking pot. The room reeked of it. All those poor books.
Derek handed me the bottle of scotch he’d filched from Dad’s supply. “Where’s Smith?”
“Talking to Dad,” I grumbled before taking a drink straight from the bottle.
“Lovely.”
“Tell me about it.”
The door creaked open again, and I turned, hopeful that Smith had actually followed me. But the person who walked through made my heart skip in a completely different way.
“Ash!” I said in surprise.
He winked at me and shut the door carefully behind him. He was in a navy suit and tie with his dark peacoat still around his shoulders from the chill outside. Then, he held up two bottles of Dom that were old enough to make my head spin. “Sorry I’m late. Had to sneak these past my dad.”
“What is with y’all and stealing from your parents? Don’t you know you’re adults?” Kasey sniped.
Derek shot her a look. “It’s part of the fun, Kasey. It’s how we’ve always done it.”
“You turned thirty this year, Derek,” she said, hopping off the chaise and walking toward Ash. “You should act like it.”
Derek snorted. “Whatever. That’s overrated.”
Kasey snagged the second bottle from Ash and kissed him on the cheek. “Good to see you.”
“Kasey,” he said politely.
Ash had been the best man at their wedding. But I wasn’t sure he liked Kasey any more than I did. His smile even faltered when he looked at her but only for a minute. He must have already been pretty drunk if he was this happy. I hadn’t seen him like this in forever. Well, I hadn’t seen much of him since he’d moved to Atlanta. Which had ended up being a good thing for my crush. Now, I was with Smith and Garrett before him. Working my way through every available hot Southern gentleman in the vicinity, was what Derek said. Whatever.
“Anyway,” Derek said, brushing aside the fight with Kasey, like he always did, “you’re lucky you brought a consolation present. You didn’t make it to Mass last night.”
Ash grinned like a fool. “Yeah, I got caught up.”
“I know you were home, fucker,” Derek said, popping the cork on the first bottle and taking a long sip. He passed it to me. “Damn, that’s the shit.”
I took my own sip. Smooth. “Where were you anyway?”
“I thought we could have a toast,” Ash said. “Should I get some glasses?”
“Don’t bother,” Derek said. He was definitely drunk already. He collapsed back into a chair and reached for the scotch again. “There’re enough bottles here that we can do it like this.”
He offered Ash another bottle of whiskey, which he took with a shrug.
Then, there was a knock on the door. We all looked around. Who would knock? The parents knew about our Christmas Day library festivities, but they didn’t bother us.
Ash cracked the door open, hiding the booze as if it would stop the smell of pot drifting down the hallway. But it was Smith who smiled sheepishly.
“Hey,” he said. “You’re Ash Talmadge.”
Ash arched an eyebrow at him. “Yeah?”
“He’s with me,” I said quickly.
Ash glanced over at me and then back to him. He held the door open a little wider. “All right.”
“I’m Smith,” he said, offering Ash his hand.
They shook, and for a second, I thought he was going to start chatting up Ash about business too. The man didn’t seem to care about much else. But he walked over to me and put an arm around my waist. Everyone watched us as if we were a spectacle.
“So, a toast?” I said quickly.
“Right,” Ash said, holding his bottle up.
“What are we toasting to?” Derek asked.
“Well, I have some news. Lila and I got back together.”
I nearly dropped my bottle of champagne. I barely caught it by the neck, and Smith gave me a disapproving look. My jaw was already on the floor anyway.
Derek was drunk, but not stupid. His jaw dropped and then he jumped to his feet. “How did this happen?”
“We met at the fountain last night. She missed me. We’re going to try it again.”
