gotten me drunk all weekend. It’s your turn. Plus, you have to.” She holds up a shot glass of her own and waits until Preston picks up his. They knock the shot glasses together then throw back the liquid.
While they chug another pitcher of beer and chase it with random shots of every kind of alcohol known to man, I sit back and sip my glass of scotch. Piper said only old men drink scotch and that I need to live a little, but I know I won’t be the one with my head in the toilet in the morning, so I’ll stick with what I know.
“What should we play first? Darts or shuffleboard?” Piper asks, looking between my brother and me.
“Well, I’m out on shuffleboard,” I say, showing her my palms.
“All right, darts it is. Plus, all three of us can play darts and I can work on getting Preston a little more drunk so I’ll win at shuffleboard too.” She gives him an ornery smile as she stands to put some money in the electronic dartboard. “I’m gotta get some change. I’ll be right back.” She heads toward the bar.
I place my arms on the table and lean in. “So, you two seem just as friendly as ever.”
He offers up a smile and nods. “Why wouldn’t we be? I’m not the one who ran off to St. Louis for three years.”
I shake my head. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
“You’re jealous of our friendship. You always have been.”
I laugh and rub my hands over my face. “What? I am not. I’m just confused is all.”
“Confused about what?” His dark brows pull together.
“Last I checked, she was completely in love with you, and you were desperately trying to avoid breaking her heart and having to tell her you don’t love her the way she wants. Is that still the case?”
He lets out a long breath that causes his cheeks to balloon out. “Pretty much.” He leans in and talks softly so no one overhears. “I love her to death, Calvin. You know that. I just . . . I don’t—no, can’t—I can’t see her as anything other than my best friend. I tried. Today we went to the beach and hung out, and as much as I wanted to see if we could work, I couldn’t. All I see when I look at her is my best friend. Is she beautiful? Yes. Is she hot? Hell yeah. But would I ever touch her?” He shakes his head as he leans back.
That’s all I needed to know. He doesn’t love her in that way. He’s not going to try to make anything work between them. That’s the permission I needed to not feel bad about checking her out
“All right, got the darts and the board is ready. Calvin, you get the red ones.” She hands me three red darts. “Preston, you get blue because you’re stupid and think that’s your lucky color.” She hands them over with a breathtaking smile. “And I’m yellow because I’m bright and cheery.” Her smile beams.
Preston snorts but stands up and gets himself in front of the board. He pulls his arm back and sends the dart flying, but it misses the board completely. Piper giggles and slides into the booth across the table from me.
“So, what’s been going on in your life, Cal? Any new women I need to hear about?”
I laugh and pick up my glass, taking a sip. “Nope, still just as single as always.”
“What’s the holdup?”
I shrug. “I’m just waiting for the right girl to notice me,” I say, hoping I haven’t given away too much, but she’s been drinking and it flies right over her head. I’m not sure if I’m glad or disappointed.
“Well, I bet she’ll find you soon and then wonder how she’s overlooked you for so long.” She offers up a smile but it quickly falls away when Preston is back at the table. She grabs her darts and stands to throw.
We all take turns throwing darts between taking sips of our drinks. I sit back and laugh when Piper makes Preston get up and embarrass himself by dancing stupidly on the dance floor, singing karaoke, and giving random women his phone number. And it’s only women he would have zero interest in.
“Thanks a lot. Now I’m going to have to change my phone number,” he complains as he sits down and she hands him another shot. He cocks his head to the side. “Are you