about wanting Penny. No one else. I didn’t want any of this. “Penny…”
“I know. You’re welcome. You can thank me when you two hit it off.”
That was not at all what I was about to say.
“And before you ask any more questions, I’m not telling you anything about her. No stalking her before the date and backing out. And she doesn’t know what you look like either, because I used that picture of the tea you swore you wanted for your profile.” She looked happier and happier as she talked. “It’s the perfect blind date. I swear I have a really good feeling about this. I just need you to trust me.”
Damn it. I did trust her. Which made my stomach churn. Because she probably found someone really great. Someone in another life that might have been a perfect match for me. But there was no way in hell it could work.
“She’ll meet you there at 8.”
I found myself nodding. I couldn’t say no to Penny. Not when she looked so happy.
“And what are you doing in here in the dark anyway? Come on, we’re all going out to celebrate your win.”
I was just exhausted. I didn’t want to go out drinking with my friends. But as I rejoined everyone in the hall, I realized maybe we all needed this.
Sixteen years ago, we’d ruled this school. We were all happy. We were fucking untouchable. And now? Rob was staring at me seriously and had abandoned his jokes. Mason looked like he literally wanted to run out of the school. And James was staring off in the distance, looking almost as depressed as me.
Coming here was like stepping into a time capsule. And yes, there were a lot of good memories at Empire High. But they were tainted with what had happened. And the secret I’d made them keep. They’d promised not to ever talk about Brooklyn again. Not until I was ready. And they’d kept their promise. They’d kept the secret from all their wives. And I was pretty sure it was eating away at them almost as much it was eating away at me.
And the worst part? Brooklyn would have hated seeing us like this. She would have wanted all of us to be happy. I took a deep breath. “The first round is on me.”
Chapter 14
Friday
I took another sip of my beer. I needed to talk to James in private. It was bad enough that I’d waited this long after Poppy’s threat. But now everyone was having so much fun. Even I was enjoying some of the stories about us in high school. I hated to break up the party when everyone was smiling and laughing so hard. And I was pretty sure Bee was more than tipsy. Which was hilarious because she always laughed at everything when she was drunk.
But as tempting as it was to just crack jokes all night for her…this Poppy thing was serious. I was just about to ask James if we could talk for a second, when Tanner slid into the empty stool beside me.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said. “What did I miss?” He somehow already had a beer in his hand.
Had he been here for a while? “I didn’t realize you were coming,” I said.
“Yeah, the gang invited me.”
The gang? I looked over at my friends. Honestly, a gang would be the least likely phrase I’d used to describe this bunch.
“Robert,” Tanner said and nodded to him.
Rob sat up a little straighter. “Tanner.”
I cleared my throat before they could start making jabs at each other. “We were just talking about the four of us in high school.”
“Ah,” Tanner said. “All the fighting?”
Bee laughed.
“No, we were actually talking about all the good times,” I said.
“Interesting.” Tanner took a sip of his beer. “From a slightly outside perspective, maybe it would be better if we did dive into all the fighting though, yes? In order to move on?”
“We have moved on,” Rob said. “Or else we wouldn’t all be sitting here right now hanging out.”
“Have you though?”
Rob stared at him. “Yes, I just said that.”
“But haaaaave you though?”
“We have,” James said. He looked over at me.
I pressed my lips together. I knew James wasn’t really a dick. Yes, he’d acted like one when we were teenagers. But he’d had my back ever since. It was fall though. And I was always more likely to snap on him in the fall. Because it reminded me so much of Brooklyn. So yes, we’d moved on