Rekindle (9 page)

I nod my head, absorbing everything she’s just said. She’s right, as usual. And I am continuing to overthink things, as usual. “Don’t you think it’s moving so fast?”

“Fast by whose standards, Emma Grace?”

“I don’t know—society’s in general, I guess.”

“Who gives a damn about what everyone else thinks. You do you and forget the rest. And technically, one could argue that you’re moving at a snail’s pace. Technically, you’ve known the guy since you were born.”

“Valid point.”

“So,” she says, slapping my leg and standing up. “Here’s what we’re going to do. We have a night out with everyone tonight, including your new lover boy. We’re going shopping. We’re buying
fantastic
new outfits. And we’re going to pray that Rhett has at least one hot friend who’s single and straight so I can fulfill my fireman fantasy. Got it?”

“Sounds amazing—but I’m saving for a car, so we’re budget shopping.”

“You shut your dirty whore mouth when you’re talking to me! Don’t hand me that shit. I’ve got this. Let’s go.”

The girl has more money than she knows what to do with, thanks to her trust fund. Being that she has nothing to do with her family and no one to spend her money on, she often spoils me with shopping sprees. It took a long time for Cam to learn that people didn’t have to be bought. The ones who truly love you will love you no matter what. I shake my head and get ready for a day of shopping with Cam. It’s always an adventure.

“We look so fucking hot!” Cam exclaims as we all gather in our living room.

Shayna showed up a few minutes ago, dressed to the nines. She looks fabulous in her sweater dress and boots. It’s amazing that she can take such a simple style and make it look like a million bucks. Cam is no different in her chevron-print pants and fitted top. Her wedges are to die for. I have actually contemplated stealing them no fewer than seventeen times since we left the mall. My wide-leg dark-wash jeans fit me perfectly, and according to Cam, the sage-green shirt I have on goes great with my hair.

“We so do,” I agree. “You girls ready to hit the town?”

After a resounding “yes,” we hit the road and head for Reed’s.

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but this was definitely not it. Reed’s resembles a run-down biker bar, and I’m waiting on Jax Teller to be sitting at the bar when we walk in. He isn’t, of course, but there’s a table full of men who could give Charlie Hunnam a run for his money. They are the first thing you see when you walk in, and with good reason. It should be illegal for that amount of sex appeal to be in one room. I shoot Cam a look as she loops her arms through Shayna’s and mine.

“Sweet baby Jesus. It’s going to be a good night, ladies. A really, really,
really
good night,” she says as we start walking toward the table.

There’s a blonde guy in the middle of the group, standing and talking dramatically with his hands. Everyone else is sitting around the table laughing, with the exception of a beautiful strawberry-blonde woman, who’s scowling like the entire scene is beneath her. I know without a doubt the blonde guy is Micah. I’ve heard enough about him to know that he’s the crowd pleaser. Rhett is sitting to his right, laughing and shaking his head. He sees us coming and gets up to meet us. The strawberry blonde locks her eyes on him and shoots a look to me before rolling her eyes and walking away.

“Hey, M,” he says as he leans in to give me a short kiss.

“Hey,” I say timidly, not sure about how I will be welcomed into his crowd of friends. I already know that Cam and Shayna like Rhett, but his friends are a whole different story.

He slips his arm around my waist, his hand firmly gripping my hip, and turns to introduce us to his friends. “M, this is Micah, Luke, and Tanner. Guys, this is Emma Grace and her best friend, Cam. Y’all already know Shayna.”

“Emma Grace, my love, I must say you look exactly like my next girlfriend,” Micah declares dramatically as he brings my hands to his lips. Rhett’s grip tightens on my hip. Surely he isn’t worried about this?

“Well, isn’t that just precious? You know, you look exactly like the guy I turn down two seconds from now.” I smile sweetly and bat my eyelashes.

Micah leans back, hands on his chest like I’ve wounded him. It lasts about a millisecond before his sight latches on to Cam. He makes a beeline straight for her and grabs her by the waist, dipping her in a dramatic fashion and laying a kiss right on her lips. He lifts her back to a standing position and breaks the kiss.

“I had to know what it was like, kissing my future bride and all,” he tells her, still holding her waist.

“Well, I hope you enjoyed it,” Cam replies stoically.

“Abso-fucking-lutely. And don’t worry, baby cakes, there is more where that came from.” He smirks and throws his arm over her shoulders.

“I’m not worried. You see,” she says as she extracts herself from his arms, “if you ever put those lips near me again, I will render you completely useless to the rest of the female population. Capiche?”

Micah backs away slowly and holds his hands up in surrender. “No need to go all Misery on me, woman. Chillllll.” He rounds Cam with a wide berth and makes his way to Shayna.

“Shay-belle, help me. All the crazy people around, you’re the only one I can turn to!” Shayna giggles and gives Micah a playful shove. Hmmm, it looks like Shayna might have a little crush. I make sure to stow that information for the next girls’ night.

I say hello to the rest of the table and get a chin lift from Luke, which I’m assuming is a hello in macho-broody-tough-guy speak, and a smile and hello from Tanner. Rhett grabs me a chair and pulls it next to his.

“Here, girl.” Luke’s gruff tone has me looking for whom he’s talking to. His eyes are trained on Cam, and he’s gesturing at his abandoned seat. Cam looks to me and then back to Luke with a raised eyebrow. She sits in the chair and doesn’t utter a word. Very un-Cam-like.

The blonde who walked away earlier is walking back toward the table. I watch her until she passes behind me, but I don’t miss her fingers as they trail along Rhett’s shoulder. I feel his arm around me tense, and his face loses its carefree smile. In fact, everyone at the table quiets down. She lays her hand on Tanner’s shoulder and leans to whisper in his ear. He says something back to her, obviously frustrated. She stands, places a hand on her cocked hips, and raises one perfectly arched eyebrow at him.

“Alright, Marley, fine.” Tanner stands and looks to the guys. “I’ll be back, just walking Marley to her car.”

“Boys,” the blonde says seductively, smiling at Rhett while pointedly ignoring Cam, Shayna and me. What. A. Bitch.

Tanner places his hand on Marley’s back and they head out the front door of the bar. The table is quiet and the guys share a look, having a silent conversation that I’m sure has something to do with the scene we were all just privy to.

“Fuck it. I’m going to grab some beer,” Rhett says before leaning to give me a kiss.

Rhett grabs us each a beer, and we settle in as stories are passed around the table. Tanner shows back up a few minutes later and sits back down, withdrawn from the conversation around him. We laugh and cut up for a while before there’s a break in the music. The DJ announces karaoke. No sooner do the words leave his mouth than Cam shoots a look my way.

“Oh, it’s on, whore-a-licious!” I say.

“Fuck yes it is!” Cam exclaims, pumping her fist in the air.

The entire table has turned to watch our out-of-the blue exchange. Karaoke was our pastime in college. We went all the time, mostly to goof off and blow off steam, but it’s been forever, and I’m itching to make a fool of myself.

“One for old times’ sake?” Cam asks.

“Let’s do it!” I grab her hand and we make our way to the stage. I glance back at Rhett, and he’s watching me with a grin on his face. He has no idea what he’s in for.

We jump on stage and take our positions as the lights dim and the music starts. It only takes a few beats before the crowd knows
exactly
what song we’re “singing.” I can hear the guys whooping from the table across the dance floor, but I don’t dare look up before the first verse starts. Cam grabs my hand and gives me a squeeze. I squeeze hers back for good luck. Then we proceed to bring the entire bar to its feet—singing along to “Ice Ice Baby.”

Chapter Thirteen

Rhett

“This is the best fucking thing I have ever seen in my life. Two hot chicks singin’ Vanilla Ice. Life does not get fucking better than this,” Micah yells over the blaring music.

All I can do is nod as I watch M sing her heart out with her best friend, just having fun and being carefree. I missed all this over the years, and I’m so thankful I get to see it now.

“More beer?” Luke asks, just as the music stops.

“Hell yeah, dude, we need more beer. I need to get Cam drunk enough to come home with me. I bet she’s a spitfire in the sack,” Micah exclaims, and Luke slaps him on the back of the head.

“What the fuck was that for, asshole?” Micah says, grabbing his head.

“Ouch,” he yelps as Luke slaps him again.

“One word. Respect. Learn it,” Luke says, deadpan.

“Ok, father dearest. You’ve made your point.”

“Dude, stop fucking laughing,” Micah whines at me. “Have you ever had Luke lay hands on you? That fucker is strong. My head hurts. I don’t know what crawled up his ass, but I wish it would fucking crawl out now.”

The girls make their way back to the table, laughing hysterically in their own little world.

“Where is Shayna?” Cam asks.

“Well, mother of my future children, she went to the ladies’ room and hasn’t resurfaced. Actually, one of y’all may want to go check on her. She may have fallen in,” Micah says, laughing.

“I’m here, sweetness. You know us girls. We bond in the bathroom. It’s like a sisterhood in there. I met Chelly, and she’s pissed at her boyfriend, so we were just chatting, but it looks like I missed all the fun out here.” Shayna giggles.

Luke puts two pitchers of beer on the table, and I grab two cups, filling up one for me and one for M. She takes the cup and immediately starts chugging it. I just stare at her. I can’t believe she just chugged a whole cup of beer.

“What? You act like you’ve never seen a girl drink beer. Singing takes a lot out of a girl, ya know. I have to hydrate,” M says, putting her cup down dramatically.

“Actually, I have seen girls chug beer, but I’ve never seen
my
girl chug beer,” I say while pulling her into my lap and kissing her deeply.

“Get a fucking room. That is disgusting. Unless you plan on letting me watch. If that’s the case, then you may proceed,” Micah yells.

“I’m going to play pool. Any takers?” Cam says over Micah.

“Future lover of mine, I’ll play pool with you. You know, I just Googled ‘sexy’ and a picture of you popped up.”

“Really? You’ll get the same result if you search for ‘not interested,’” Cam smarts back at him, causing us all to laugh.

“I guess we’re going to play pool now,” I say, nipping at M’s ear. “We should really go and be social, but I just kind of want to sneak away with you so I can keep you all to myself.”

I fucking love how she shivers under my touch. I can’t wait until I get her alone. I set her on her feet and put my hand at the small of her back as we head over to the pool tables. Tanner is being awfully quiet tonight, so I make a mental note to see what’s on his mind.

“Rack em’ up, boys,” Tanner calls out, speaking for the first time since Marley left earlier.

“He speaks,” Micah yells dramatically, his hands in the air.

“Don’t be a douche, Micah. I know your gran’s number. You don’t want sweet gran knowing how her grandson is behaving, do you?” Tanner says, smirking at Micah.

“Man, you leave my NeNe out of this. Do not call her, ever. She still thinks I’m her sweet boy, and dammit, it’s gonna stay that way.”

We all lose it and start laughing hysterically. I’m not sure if it’s because Micah’s gran still
thinks
he’s a sweet boy, or because he got so scared that Tanner might call her, but this shit’s funny as hell.

“This is not a laughing matter, you fuckwads. She will tan my hide if she even hears me so much as curse.”

“Stop. Oh please, Micah, for the love of God, just stop talking. My stomach hurts from laughing. Just please, shut up,” Cam squeaks, gasping for air.

After we all get calmed down, we start to play our games. M is sitting out and watching us play. I’m playing a game with the guys, and Shayna and Cam are playing at the table next to us. I’m really glad everyone is getting along and falling into comfortable conversation. It’s important to me that my brothers get along with my girl and her friends. I can breathe easy now.

“Naw, girl, you’re holding your stick wrong. You’ll never hit that ball in holding in like that,” I hear Luke saying to Cam.

“Well, this is the only way I know how to do it,” she says back to him.

Before I can blink twice, Luke is over at their table, positioned behind Cam and showing her how to properly play the game. I expect a crazy comeback from Cam, but instead I hear nothing. I haven’t known Cam long, but I have never seen her miss a shot at a witty comeback. I glance over at M, and it would seem that she’s just as transfixed on the scene playing out before us as I am. Honestly, Luke is slightly out of character too. Hell, normally he would just tell her how to do it. He is not a touchy-feely kind of man. There seems to be a storm brewin’ between those two, and I don’t wanna be caught in the crosshairs. Tonight will make for a night in history, that’s for sure.