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“I didn’t realize you guys were coming too,” I said, trying not to think about how good they smelled.
River didn’t start the car. We just sat in the driveway as Rigby turned to me. “Nova Stone. We were dumb to let you go. Dumb to care what other people thought. Dumb to let some corporate shark in a suit tell us who we could and couldn’t love. This? This is special. Worth fighting for.”
I was dumbfounded. My mouth kept opening and closing, but nothing came out.
Rigby reached over and grabbed my hand. “Tonight, we’re going to go out. We’re going to dance, and have fun, and fuck what everyone else says. The only people who matter are in this car.”
“And your parents,” I whispered.
Rigby laughed. “And my parents. But my mom has already mentally adopted you after she met you once, and my dad is thrilled to have a grandson already. I think he’s bored in retirement and wants someone to dote on. Huey’s it.”
I swung my eyes to the front seat. River was watching my face in the mirror, his expression shuttered. Devan was twisted in the passenger seat, watching me over his shoulder.
“You all feel this way?” I couldn’t do this without them. I loved Rigby, but if I felt bad about being a sledgehammer to their careers, I definitely couldn’t live with breaking up their friendship.
Devan let out an incredulous snort. “It’s taking everything in me not to climb over there and show you how much I missed you. God, Star, you look so fucking beautiful tonight. These last few weeks have been…”
“Hell,” River finished for him. Even dressed up, River looked rough. Dark circles under his eyes, the lines of his face pulled down. “It’s been hell without you. Please…” He trailed off, but he didn’t need to beg.
I sucked in a deep breath. “We’ll try it slow, okay? I’m not moving back in—”
“Yet,” Devan added.
I raised an eyebrow at him. “Yet. But I’ve missed you guys so much too. It’s been so shitty.”
Rigby grinned, pulling me into his lap and kissing me hard. “We’ll take it whatever pace you like, Fireball. We’re in this for the long haul.” He kissed me again, and kept kissing me like he was making up for lost time.
River started the car, and we drove into the center of Ann Arbor to a popular nightclub, parking a few blocks away. I stepped out of the car and straight into Devan’s arms. He kissed me too, backing me up against the car door. I was glad my dress wasn’t white. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to; the desperation of his lips on mine said enough.
“I’ve missed the scent of you,” he murmured against my neck after a moment. “Your smell on my pillows haunted me until it faded, and then I just missed you even more.”
I ran my hands through his hair. “I know.”
I was dragged from his arms and into River’s. He picked me up, his arms tightly banding around my waist, his face burying into my shoulder as he just breathed me in. He was muttering things against my skin that I couldn’t hear, but the desperation in his touch, the way he was holding me like his life depended on it, told me everything I needed to know. The guys were watching him with worried eyes, and I knew I’d have to talk to them about it later.
“It’s okay, River. I’m here now. We’ll deal with all this shit together. As a team.” He squeezed me tighter, his arms shaking, and I tapped his shoulder. “Come on, big guy—I need to breathe.” He finally let me slip to the ground, and I looked up into his face. His eyes were shiny, making me feel awful all over again.
Leaning down, he kissed me reverently. “Please don’t leave again.”
Stroking his hair back from his head, I smiled up at him. “I won’t, not if I can help it.”
That would have to be enough.
River tucked me tightly beneath his arm, and we walked toward the club. “So what’s the plan?” I asked him.
“No plan. We’re going to live our lives how we want, and if other people have a problem with it, they can go fuck themselves. I’m going to show my girl a good time, drink, dance, and party with our friends. It has nothing to do with anyone else.”
ChapterForty-Two
RIVER
Nova movedon the dance floor like she was made to dance. Her arms were looped around Rigby’s neck as they bounced around to the DJ’s tunes amid the mass of other human bodies. Fuck, she was so beautiful, and I didn’t miss the eyes of the other men around her as she danced with complete abandon.
They wouldn’t get close, though; I knew that. She only had eyes for Rigby right then, as the song changed to something with a slower, more sexual beat. He ground down against her, and it was so fucking erotic, with his hands on her ass and his thigh pressed between hers so there wasn’t an inch of their body not touching. They may as well have been fucking on the dance floor.
My lips quirked as I turned my eyes away from the intimate scene. If Rigby kept working his magic, we’d all be going home with her tonight, and I’d worship her body in a different kind of dance. Devan was talking to Julieta, who was sweaty and smiling widely after stepping off the dance floor herself.
Muss nudged my shoulder with his. “You guys really have no jealousy? Engman is down there basically being pornographic with your girl, and you don’t care?”
