table, two coffees in hand.“I guess they let any old asshole in here these days.”
“Skylar.” Adam spoke her name with such warmth it made me tense up. It couldn’t be jealousy I felt...no way. It was vexation. Yes, that was it. I was vexed.
“Hey, stranger. Long time no see.” Skylar handed me my coffee before putting hers down. Then without any qualms, she threw her arms around my former best friend’s neck and hugged him tightly.
Okay, that bugged me. Since when were they still friends? I thought Skylar was staunchly on Team Meg? We used to joke about making T-shirts. But I must have missed something because it was very clear Adam and Skylar were buddies.
I clenched my teeth and worked on that biting my tongue thing again.
I was becoming a master.
“I was planning to swing by your place next month when I’m in the city for a trial. I was thinking we could go to that Thai place you took me to last time,” Adam said, grinning at Skylar with all the easy familiarity one reserves for close friends.
So they went out to eat? Adam visited Sky in Pittsburgh? I couldn’t help glaring at Skylar, who noticed my less than pleased expression. She returned my look blandly.
“I’m not sure what I’ll be doing next month. I’ve got some stuff going on, and things are up in the air,” Skylar told him honestly.
Adam gave her a sympathetic squeeze. “Everything okay, Sky?”
Skylar’s body wilted a little. “Mac and I split up.”
Adam put down his coffee and gave her another hug. This one lasted longer. I felt like I was the third wheel.
Adam kissed her forehead. “You’re better off. I was never a fan of that guy.”
Adam had met Mac? It seemed Skylar had kept some secrets.
Skylar shot a look my way, this one less bland and more worried.
“Thanks, Adam.”
They both went quiet, and I figured it was because of me. They both looked my way, and then Adam made his excuses.
“I need to get to work. It was good seeing you, Sky. Kyle had mentioned getting everyone together for a cookout now that Meg is back. Would you be down?”
Ugh, Kyle was as bad as my mother when it came to pushing Adam and me into the same proximity.
Skylar inclined her head in agreement. “Why not? Could be a hoot. Right, Meg?” She eyeballed me intensely. I detested close scrutiny.
“Yep, a hoot,” I parroted.
Adam turned to me as I spoke. I felt like I was in the spotlight when his eyes were on me as if he could see everything. Even the stuff I tried to hide. That was the problem when you hated the person you used to be closest to. They still knew you inside and out, whether you wanted them to or not.
“Think about the mural. I have to decide by the end of the week, so you don’t have much time, but I hope you do it.”
“I will. I’ll let you know,” I assured him.
Adam smiled that smile that used to unleash the butterflies inside me—and still did if I was being honest—and with a final goodbye, he left.
Skylar took a drink of her coffee. “What’s this mural thing?”
I sat back in the chair and regarded my best friend with a stern look. “And what’s with you and Adam eating Thai together?”
Skylar rolled her eyes. “Point three seconds.”
“Huh?”
She shook her head. “That’s how long it took you to bring up Adam and me still talking.” She dumped a packet of sugar into the drink. “You may hate Adam, but that doesn’t mean I have to hate Adam.”
“But it does! It’s the girl code!” I exclaimed.
“The girl code applies to exes. This doesn’t fit into the girl code,” Skylar reasoned.
“Well, that hurts. So just because Adam and I never went out, you can’t have my back?” I sounded immature, I realized that as soon as the words left my mouth. I was a twenty-eight-year-old woman for Christ’s sake, but I was acting like we were still in high school.
“I had your back when we were seventeen, Meg. I know he hurt you. But it’s been ten damn years. And I was friends with Adam too. We were all best friends, Adam, you, Kyle, and me. We were the four amigos. Sure, we weren’t as close as the two of you were, but we were tight. Adam was the first one who called after my parents split the first time. He would come over and hang out in my