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“You know,” Finn complains. “If I had known you were a pool shark, I wouldn’t have let you take the bet.”
I shrug, smiling at him. “It’s not my fault you underestimated me.”
“I did. I really did,” he admits, then shakes his head. “It should not be so hot to be destroyed by a woman at pool.”
Seriously, does he ever get anylesscringey? Because right now, it’s not looking too good.
Nolan looks at me skeptically. “Is there anythingelseI don’t know about you? Because it’s been one surprise after another today. First, the fact that you’re married, and now this?”
Shit. Here we go.
Hayes hums sarcastically, looking across the table at me. “That’s funny. I thought you hated keeping us a secret, Rochester.”
The tension in the room is so thick, I could wrap it around my throat and choke myself with it. But it lightens slightly when Finn finally puts the pieces together.
“Wait, you two are married?”
Hayes smirks at him, and as he wraps his hand around his beer, I see it.The L that’s inked into his ring finger. But while mine has faded a bit, his is still so damn clear.
He tips his beer at Finn with a cocky expression on his face. “Cheers.”
WHEN EVERYTHING IS GOINGso well, it’s always only a matter of time before shit hits the fan. I should be used to that by now. I shouldexpectit. But I don’t think I imagined it would be this bad.
Nolan tries to get Hayes to make her a drink, showing him her fake ID, but before he actually makes it, her dumbass admits that it’s not real. He refuses to serve her, the same way he refuses to serve Mali and me, and Nolan pouts until she realizes something else.
“Oh!” She gasps. “Are you going to be back in time for your twenty-first birthday?”
All eyes zone in on me, waiting for my answer. We were doing so well, not letting anything about me possibly leavingagaincome up in conversation. But leave it to Nolan not to read the fucking room.
“I don’t know,” I tell her.
She pouts. “Well, if you’re still here, I want to come back for it. Remember last year?”
“Nolan,” I warn.
She is walking too close to dangerous ground right now, but she’s too excited to share the story and doesn’t realize I’m trying to steer her away from the conversation.
“It was so funny!” she says excitedly. “We used fake IDs to get into a club, and Laiken was dancing on the table like she owned the place. I mean, she was drunk. We’ve all been there.”
“Nolan!” I try again.
But she keeps going. “Everyone was just having a good time and cheering her on, but there was one guy who was a total pig. He tried going up to her and putting money in her waistband. But before he could get his hands on her, Mali punched him so hard across the face. They dragged her out of there kicking and screaming.”
Fuck!
Both Cam and Hayes look like it was them she punched in the face. The one thing that was holding us all together snaps, and Mali looks like she might actually throw up.
Nolan finally catches onto what she says and tries to backtrack, but it’s too late. They know. There’s no way we can deny it now. Not when Hayes can see it all over Mali’s face.
He gets up from the table, letting his stool crash to the ground as he storms out of the bar. It’s only a matter of seconds before Mali jumps up to follow him and I go with her.
“Hayes!” She calls as she gets outside and into the rain. “Hayes, please. Just talk to me. Please!”
He throws his hands in the air and spins around. “Okay! Let’s fucking talk, Mali. Let’s talk about how you lied that weekend. How you said you couldn’t spend your birthday here because it wastoo painfulwithout Laiken.”
I’m watching my best friend break in front of me, and there’s nothing I can do as she panics.
“I’m sorry,” she tells him. “I really am. I’m so fucking sorry.”
