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Rubbing at the back of his neck, he cleared his throat. “Listen, the shit I said at the funeral? I was out of line, I shouldn’t have—”
“It’s okay.”
“No, it ain’t,” he told me, his eyes sober. “I’m sorry, Addie. So fucking sorry.”
I gave him a faint smile. “Apology accepted. I’m sorry for what I said, too. How—” I stopped talking when his gaze drifted to something behind me. I didn’t wonder what had snatched his attention. I could hear footfalls approaching; knew the rhythm of that stride.
A splayed hand settled on my back as Dax sidled up to me, his body language both protective and possessive.
Noticing his blank expression, I said, “This is—”
“Bear,” finished the guy in front of me, holding out his hand. “And you’re Dax Mercier.”
Unsurprised that he recognized Dax, I watched as they shook hands.
“I’m an old friend of Addie’s.” Bear paused, his nose wrinkling. “Notthatkind of old friend—I just realized how that must have sounded. She was my best friend’s girl back when we hung out.”
Dax imperceptibly tensed—I wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t been standing so close that I felt his muscles bunch slightly. “I take it you knew each other in college, then,” he guessed.
Bear nodded. “We did.” He looked at me. “I heard about you two and … I just wanted to say that Lake would be happy for you.” He gave me a wan smile.
I would like to think he was right. I would like to believe that Lake would be pleased I’d found all that I’d found in Dax. Though, in the beginning, Lake would for sure have poked my forehead hard and called me all kinds of stupid for marrying someone to honor a damn pact.
One of the guys standing at the curb called out Bear’s name and signaled for him to make his way over.
He gave his friend a quick nod and then slid his gaze back to me and Dax. “Sorry, gotta go. It was nice to meet you, Dax. Take care, Addie, yeah?”
I forced my lips to curve. “I will.” As he jogged away, I let out a shaky breath and then looked up at Dax. “Shall we head back?”
His gaze pinned me with a probing stare. “Yeah. We can go back.”
As one, we turned and began retracing our footsteps.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
I stuffed my hands in my pockets. “Seeing him just … it took me off-guard. But yeah, I’m okay.” Clearing my throat, I faked a smile. “It’s crazy that he doesn’t look as if he’s aged a day. Some of us get all the luck.”
Dax hummed, long and low. “So he was a friend of Lake’s?”
I nodded and sucked my bottom lip into my mouth. “They were very close. Super tight. You hear of best friends being opposites, but they were pretty much the same person. It was almost freaky.”
Another quiet hum, this one pensive. “You felt awkward around Bear just now. Why?”
Grimacing, I scratched at the back of my head. “We, uh, we had a somewhat ugly dispute the last time we were around each other.” I sensed more than saw Dax’s shoulders stiffen.
“Which was when?”
I swallowed. “Lake’s funeral.”
“Why the dispute?”
I swiped my tongue over my lower lip. “I didn’t wear black. I know you’re supposed to, but Lake had asked me before he died to ‘skip boring, gloomy black’ and instead attend the funeral in the dress I’d worn the night we first met. So I’d agreed. But Bear didn’t know that Lake had asked that of me.”
“He thought you were being disrespectful,” Dax guessed.
I dipped my chin. “He was pissed. Flew off the handle. Refused to believe my explanation, even though Lake’s brother backed me up. Bear just wouldn’t hear me and …”
“And, what?”
