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Lincoln draped an arm around me, turning my attention to him. “Liv, you remember Tommy, right?”
Tommy grinned. He had the same boyish smile and looked like he hadn’t aged since I’d left. “How could I forget?”
“How you been, Liv?” Tommy said, pulling me in for a hug.
I hugged him back. He was always such a good friend to Lincoln, even if they did get themselves into trouble a time or two. “I’ve been okay. How ’bout you? Have you been keeping Lincoln out of trouble while I’ve been gone?”
He shrugged, his blue eyes sparkling with mischief as he smirked. “I try my best, but you know he has a mind of his own. He’s stubborn as an ox.”
I laughed. “You’re right about that.”
I took a drink of my beer as Tommy handed Lincoln one. Tommy raised his bottle, silencing the chatter among everyone. “To friendship, laughter, and good times.”
Lincoln and I raised our beers, clinking them with everyone else’s before we all took a drink.
Tonight is going to be a good night.
We played a few rounds of darts and pool, socializing with our old friends like I’d never left and so many years hadn’t passed. After a couple more beers and about as many shots, I had a good buzz going.
Beth and I were talking as the guys played pool. Our song from high school came on over the jukebox, and my eyes immediately found Lincoln’s.
He smiled as he approached me, holding out his hand as our friends cheered and teased us. “Dance with me.”
My stomach fluttered, my cheeks heating as I placed my hand in his. He led me to the small dance floor where a handful of other couples were dancing.
I draped my arms around his neck as his hands settled around my waist. “I haven’t heard this song in a while.”
Lincoln nodded but didn’t speak. He was looking at me with such intensity, my whole body started to heat. “What?” I asked, feeling self-conscious from his gaze.
He tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, then caressed my cheek with his thumb. “Nothing. I just love you more than all the stars in the sky.”
My chest tightened. I loved when he said things like that to me. “I love you, too.”
He pulled me close, and I rested my head on his chest. I felt his lips against the top of my head as he murmured, “Stay, Liv. Please stay. I can’t do life without you again.”
Before I could respond, a woman stomped over to us. And if her face was any indication of what she felt, she was pissed as all hell. “Is this her? Is this your precious Olivia?” she shrieked.
My brows furrowed as Lincoln pulled away from me, putting his body between me and the obviously drunk woman.
Who the hell is this?
Lincoln held up his hands. “Amber, you need to calm down. This isn’t the time or the place for this.”
Oh, shit. Amber, as in ex-girlfriend, Amber?
Amber pointed her finger in Lincoln’s face, seething with drunken rage. “Don’t tell me to calm down! You left me for your high school whore, and you have the nerve to parade around in public with her?”
I narrowed my eyes, about to give her a piece of my mind, but Lincoln defended me first. His voice was firm and intimidating as he spoke, “Do not talk about the mother of my child that way. You should leave before you embarrass yourself more.”
Even though Amber was justified in her anger, it felt amazing to have Lincoln defend me. He always had my back even when I didn’t deserve it.
Amber growled in frustration before lunging at me. I gasped in shock, taking a step backward as Lincoln held her back. “All right, that’s enough. You’re going outside.”
Beth walked up next to me as Lincoln escorted a struggling Amber outside. She called me every foul name in the book and then some before Lincoln finally got her out.
“Well, that was something,” Beth commented.
Embarrassment made my cheeks heat, and my stomach knotted uncomfortably. “Yeah.”
