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I peered around Diesel and couldn’t ignore his scruffy beard, seductive cologne, and his tight volunteer firefighter T-shirt. Had he ordered it two sizes too small just to make the ladies drool?Mercy.
“Are you ever going to join Olivia and me?” Jake asked in a salty tone. He looked out of place among the Burntwood locals. I should’ve talked him out of wearing Tom Ford chino pants and bought him a pair of worn out Levi’s at a thrift store.
“Jake, this is another friend, Diesel. Diesel, this is Jake, my boyfriend.”
The two nodded and said nothing.
Diesel leaned in and whispered, “Does Cade know about him?”
I sighed. “Yes.” I grabbed my beer off the bar and went over to Jake. “I’ll catch you guys later.” If I left Jake alone with Olivia for too much longer, she might kill him.
“We’ll see you at your folks’ anniversary party!” Travis shouted.
“Great. Can’t wait,” Jake muttered behind me.
“Well, it’s about freaking time.” Olivia glared sidelong at me. “If I wanted to drink alone, I would’ve come by myself.”
“You weren’t alone. You had Jake to keep you company.” I hoisted myself up on the stool next to her.
“Please. The dude just talks about himself.”
I sipped my beer. Now that she mentioned it, he did only talk about himself and the things he was interested in. Dang, what was with all these new revelations?
“Is every guy in town going to be at the party tomorrow?” Jake’s jaw twitched as he waited for my reply.
“Only the ones we’re closest to.” My sister grinned proudly.
“How many is that?”
“Eleven.” Assuming my mom had invited all the guys my brother, sister, and I had hung out with.
Jake raised his empty glass at Travis. “Hopefully they’re all married.”
“They’re not. And the actual number is thirteen, sis. Some of Cade’s buddies are coming.”
“Christ, I can’t escape that dude. Must he be mentioned every goddamn second?” Jake glared at me.
“Hey, watch it.” Olivia pointed at him and my muscles locked up. “This is how we roll in our town. You don’t like it. Hit the road Jack.”
“It’s Jake,” he shot back.
“I know that.” Olivia burst out laughing. “Is he for real? Who doesn’t know the phrase, hit the road Jack?”
“Phrase? It’s also a song by Ray Charles.” I snorted.
“I knew that.” Jake shoved his glass away from him, harder than he might have intended, and it went off the bar and smashed onto the floor.
“Whoa, buddy! I was getting your drink. No need to destroy my drinkware.” Travis set a fresh glass down and snarled.
“Just add it to my bill.” Jake took my hand and squeezed it. “Can I have a word with you?”
“Everything all right, ladies?” Behind Travis, Diesel watched with his hands rolled into fists.
“We’re fine.” I smiled, hoping they’d believe me. “Could use another beer though.” A bottle of tequila would be better. Hard liquor might help in not remembering tonight. “And a shot of Cuervo Gold.”
“Coming right up.” Travis tapped the bar and left.
“Why would you order that cheap shit?” Jake stared at me, aghast. Why? Because I’d grown up drinking it. Why else? Sure, my taste in tequila had developed, and I appreciated higher quality. But now wasn’t the time or place to order top shelf brands when I could see dust collected on the bottles. I wasn’t a snob and I would never thumb my nose at my friends.
