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“Sorry, what?”
He opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. His eyes rake over me from top to bottom before scanning the space around the suite with a frown.
I shouldn’t have put on the heavier eye makeup, but Janie mentioned dressing up for the night out. “Wade?”
I don’t want him to think I’m a Kelsey. That I’m trying to push for something—
“Let’s get out of here,” Wade says, shoving his hands in his pockets and taking a step back. “The bar will be great.”
God, he doesn’t even look at me.
“You sure you’re up for going out with it just being the two of us?” I ask, feeling unsure. It’s not like I can take the makeup off without it being weird.
Wade grabs his keys. “This is Enderson. Trust me, it’s never just the two of us.”
* * *
The Den is a warm,relaxed space with an open-cabin kind of feel. Everything is made of heavy logs, blond and high gloss. There are high-top tables with tall stools surrounding a bar built from more of the same, and as we push through the heavy door, Wade tells me the owner made almost all of it by hand.
I can’t even imagine having the time or passion for such an undertaking, but the result is gorgeous.
“Damn, baby, get that sweet ass over here!”
Wade laughs, ducking his head at the gravelly voice bellowing across the room. His eyes cut to mine, and he winces. “That’s Tommy. And, don’t take it personally, but he’s talking to me.”
I don’t even have a chance to ask before Wade’s towing me across the bar to an oversized booth built into the corner.
Two of the guys climb out and are smacking Wade’s back, exchanging manly handclaps, while the third sits deep in the booth, watching with a smirk. Wade introduces the first two as Tommy and DJ and then, almost as an unpleasant afterthought, the guy in back as Collin.
Wade signals for a couple more glasses and another pitcher, which land on the table in a matter of seconds. But before we can sit, more friends from high school are coming over. More guys who went to high school with his dad and even a guy whose lawn Wade used to mow stops by.
He tries to introduce me, but everyone’s talking over each other, giving him a hard time about how long it’s been since he was home. Asking about his mom. Talking about some kid they think is going to take them to State.
That part sounds familiar. The arm. The snap. The—
“Yo, Wade’s girl,” the guy from the back of the booth—Collin—says, leaning across the curved bench with a beckoning wave. “The prodigal son’s return always takes a while. Have a beer and take a load off.”
It seems like a better plan than standing awkwardly beside my fake boyfriend while half his graduating class closes in on him. But before I can let go of Wade’s hand, his grip on mine firms and I’m tucked back to his side. Those laughing blue eyes turn hard as they meet Collin’s.
And that is not something I’ve seen from Wade before. Well, maybe close to the one he gave O’Dwyer back at the Five Hole after I humiliated myself in front of him that first day.
“Take it easy, man.” Collin starts climbing out of the booth, grabbing his glass on the way. “Joking.And I’m taking off anyway.”
Wade’s jaw is set hard, the muscle jumping, once, twice, as Collin claps the other guys on the shoulders and then, cutting through the crowd, heads for the exit.
I start to ask, but he shakes his head. “That guy’s trouble. I’ll tell you later.”
There’s an awkward beat, but Tommy clears his throat and wedges his barrel chest past me to slide into the booth himself. Patting the bench beside him, he gives me a wide grin. “Come on, Harlow. Tell me how this guy fast-talked you into a trip to exotic Enderson?”
* * *
Wade
I am nota good fucking guy.
Tommy and DJ have been telling Harlow stories about the misadventures of my youth for the last hour, giving her crap about never having watched a football game, giving me crap about how they totally get why she hasn’t seen a hockey game either, and making the girl who isn’t actually mine laugh like… Damn, likeI likemaking her laugh.
And I’m jealous.
