Page 66 of Just Forever

I’m not a fan of this plan at all, but I have no way to say anything.

“Any good bars around here?” Soren looks up from his phone and glances around like he’s expecting something to pop up somewhere in the vicinity.

“Oh, plenty!” Stacey says excitedly.

“Lead the way.” Soren offers her his arm, and she giggles, taking it before she glances over her shoulder at Kara and Paige and mouths,Such a gentleman, at them.

They all start to walk down the street. I hover on the sidewalk, not sure what to do. I check my phone to see if there’s anything from Ryker there, but he’s still busy and most likely hasn’t even had time to pick up his phone yet.

Then I blow out a breath and stalk after Soren and the girls.

LAKE

Stacey choosesa place called The Lighthouse. I’m not sure what inspired the name since this place doesn’t seem to have any connection to either lighthouses or the sea, but I guess it’s not really important. It’s a long, wide space on the ground floor of some kind of office building, filled with numerous tables and booths. There’s a jukebox in the corner and dartboards on the back wall.

The place is packed, but since there’s plenty of space, it doesn’t feel too crowded. Music is playing loud enough that you can hear it, but not too loud that it’d be impossible to hold a conversation.

We find a table at the back of the room, and I volunteer to go get the first round of drinks. I didn’t want to come here a moment ago, but now that I’m standing in the crowd with music thumping and people milling around, it’s kind of nice. I haven’t had a night out like this in months—not since we went out with Kelly, Rach, and Sawyer.

I get the drinks and make my way back to the table, where Soren is telling the girls about how he went to the wrong hotel room while on a road trip.

I lean back in my seat and while Soren keeps regaling the group with stories from his time in college and the AHL, I start to slowly relax. And, unexpectedly, I start to enjoy myself. Even more unexpectedly, I realize this is the most relaxed I’ve felt in a while. At least outside of my home.

Somehow, I’ve gotten into this habit of approaching everything with the attitude of us against the world. It’s Ryk and me on one side and then everybody else on the other. And maybe it shouldn’t be that way.

Paige, Kara, and Stacey are telling us about how they met. Apparently they’ve been friends since they were five and all grew up in the same apartment block. Stacey’s a wedding photographer, and Kara teaches the fourth grade.

I’m not sure how much time has passed since we sat down, but after my second beer of the evening, just as I raise my head, eyes moving over the room, the door opens, and my heart somersaults in my chest.

Ryker steps in, followed by two other guys. Kian I’ve met, of course. The other one is Björn Ahlberg. I haven’t met him, but I’ve seen him play plenty of times by now. Before my brain catches up, I’m out of my seat, which makes everybody else turn their heads.

Soren spots Ryker next.

“Yo!” he calls out, so loudly I’m pretty sure every single person in this place hears him.

I get stuck, my feet glued to the floor because now I’maware. It’s not just the two of us. It’s me and him and the rest of the world, and the rest of the world is right here. And I suddenly don’t have a clue what I’m supposed to do, like an actor who’s forgotten his lines at a pivotal moment in the play. How do friends behave when they meet up? I’m trying to remember. I can’t.

Do I hug him? Shake his hand? Slap his back?

What the fuck do people usually do?

Ryk stops next to me.

He smiles, and it’s painfully intimate, and I wonder if anybody realizesjusthow intimate it is or if I’m just paranoid and overthinking this, and I think it’s most likely the latter, and fuck me, I’m spinning out.

“Hey,” Ryk says, and he sounds so normal, and I really need to stop being a lunatic.

“Hi,” I say.

After that, he aims his genial smile at the rest of the group. There’s a round of introductions, and Ryker’s already beaming smile gets even brighter when he finds out Paige is in my class becauseyay, my prickly, distrustful husband is obviously making friends!

“I’ll get the next round,” Ryk says, looking around the table. Kian and Björn follow him to the bar, and the moment they’re gone, Paige and Kara look at each other.

“Dibs on Mr. tall, dark, and handsome,” Kara says quickly.

“Damnit!” Paige says. “Fine.” They both, then, turn their gazes on me.

“Excuse me,” Kara says while her right eyebrow hikes up to the high heavens. “You know Ryker James? Seriously?”

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