AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sorry, buddy.”
The man rubbed the back of his head, scowled, mouthed “fucking idiot” and turned back to his companions, stabbing a fork in his pasta. Calum hitched a shoulder, winked at Zane, and laughed.
“Some people have no sense of humor. Right, hold up your glasses. We need to celebrate this old bastard’s birthday.”
Zane shook his head. “This ‘old bastard’, as you’ve insisted on calling me this entire week, is also your boss. And I am only five months older than you, so you’d better watch it. Because when your thirty-first birthday comes around, I am going to enjoy every second of the payback I already have planned.”
Zane’s girlfriend, Brienne, pinched his cheek. “Aww, don’t worry, Zane. You might have more wrinkles than a Shar Pei, but we all still love you.”
Calum roared with laughter. Zane fired a toothpick across the table at him, while Laurella, Calum’s girlfriend and Zane’s marketing director at his liquor firm, Necron, simply shook her head and muttered, “Stronzo” underneath her breath. Stronzo, which meant asshole or assholes in Italian, was Laurella’s favorite word for Calum, and while he earned it—with interest—Zane wasn’t about to find himself slotted into that bracket.
“Don’t put me in the same category as this jerk.”
“You are right.” She dipped her chin. “My apologies.” Calum, for his troubles, received a dig in the ribs. “Leave him alone, Calum. It’s his birthday. And in Italy, it is customary to be extra nice to the birthday boy or girl. Make their day special.”
Zane laughed. He didn’t know if that was true or if Laurella was making it up, but either way he’d take it.
“You hear that, dickhead? You have to be extra nice. That means dinner is on you.” Zane ran his finger down the list of choices. “Which also means I’m going to pick the most expensive thing on the menu, regardless of whether it tastes like shit.” He stopped at an entrée item halfway down. “Aha, got it. I’ll have lobster with caviar on the side.”
Calum snorted. “You don’t even like lobster. In fact, aren’t you allergic? On second thoughts, yeah, get the lobster, and we can all laugh when your face blows up like a balloon.”
“I fucking hate you.” Zane was unable to stop the laughter stirring in his chest. “How do you even remember that?”
Zane had met Calum during his first week at NYU, and the two had struck up an instant friendship. On Zane’s twenty-first birthday, Calum had sprung for a fancy dinner at a restaurant in Midtown Manhattan, ordering two lobsters and a bottle of wine he couldn’t afford, pretending he was a big cheese. It was Zane’s first time eating lobster, and so he hadn’t known he had an allergy to crustaceans. He’d barely taken two bites before his face puffed up to twice its normal size. Calum had laughed for a solid hour while Zane chowed down on antihistamines prescribed by the Emergency Room doctor while waiting for the swelling to reduce.
“It might’ve been ten years ago, bud, but fuck, I still have the image up here.” He tapped his temple, turning to Laurella. “You should have seen him. His lips were so fat, he couldn’t speak.” Another hearty laugh followed. “There are women who pay good money for lips like that.”
“Couple of gifts for you, buddy.” Zane stuck up two fingers, one after the other. “Meet fuck and off.”
Calum laughed harder while Brienne and Laurella eyed each other across the table and simultaneously shrugged.
“They’re beyond help, Laurella,” Brienne said. “You’d think after all this time we’d be used to their shenanigans, but no, their assholery still has the capacity to surprise.”
Laurella chuckled, tossing her thick mane of black hair over her shoulder, then nudged Calum to move. “I need the bathroom. Order for me.”
“What do you want?”
She ran a hand down the back of Calum’s head. “You know what I like.”
A weird feeling leaked into Zane’s chest, a heat and a tightness in his ribs at the way Laurella was looking at Calum. She’d walk over hot coals for him, despite her occasional show of irritation. Brie never looked at Zane like that. Then again, he didn’t shower her with affection either. Theirs wasn’t that kind of relationship. As a criminal lawyer, Brie was a practical woman, not given to public displays of affection. And he wasn’t one for exposing his heart. He’d done that once, and he still bore the scars. Even thinking back to that time caused a hollowness in his stomach and a feeling of overwhelming loss. Which was the reason he rarely allowed his mind to travel to the past. Focus on the future, on his drive to grow the company. To reach the heights of success he’d dreamed about from an early age.
Brienne nudged Zane to get out of the way as well. “I’ll come with you, Laurella.”
“Why do women always go to the bathroom in pairs?” Zane queried, shaking off the intruding memories.
Calum hitched a shoulder. “Beats me. I stopped trying to figure out the female of the species a long time ago.” But he couldn’t help glancing over his shoulder as Laurella sidled through the tables toward the ladies’ room, her hips swaying in a classy fashion. “Damn, buddy. That girl fucking owns me.”
The uncomfortable feeling rose again, a sensation that he was missing out on something monumental and important. He hid his consternation behind a chuckle and opened his mouth to tease his best friend. But before the words came out, a man and a woman sitting in a booth on the other side of the restaurant caught his attention. They were deep in conversation, their bodies leaning toward one another as the woman listened intently, nodding on occasion, her hands laced together and resting on the crisp, white tablecloth.
Zane frowned. There was something familiar about her, although from this angle, he couldn’t see her well enough. It was more her body language that he recognized. Maybe she was a sales rep, or a bar owner that he’d dealt with in the past. Necron supplied liquor to most of the hospitality venues on the eastern seaboard and were slowly tracking their way across the country. He squinted, trying to get a closer look. It’d drive him crazy if he couldn’t figure out where he’d seen her before.
She reminded him a little of—
A band pulled tight across his chest.
No, it couldn’t be. Definitely not. He wasn’t even sure if she’d ever returned to the US. Besides, he’d bet she was married with five kids by now.
“Who are you rubbernecking at?” Calum followed his line of sight, chuckling. “Fuck, don’t let Brie catch you ogling eye candy. If she’s anything like Laurella, she’ll have your balls in a sling.”
