Page 42 of Best Friends, Tennessee

Either way, I wasn’t backing down.

“Ready up a tequila shot and a lime, Max,” I said.

Kane came up behind the bar soon, too, after serving a big group of people on the other end.

“Finn Hardy, I never thought I’d see the fuckin’ day,” Kane said.

“Howdy,” Finn told him.

Faint pink slashes had appeared on Finn’s cheeks, and something about that was satisfying as hell.

He still felt it.

All eyes on him, and he was doing it anyway.

Max leaned in, giddy as he placed a perfect little line of salt from above Finn’s belly button up to the center of his chest.

“All right,” Max said, placing the lime slice right above the waistband of Finn’s jeans. “I’m going to pour tequila right hereand hope to God it doesn’t slide out onto your friend’s six-pack, here.”

Dani, Mason, and Thomas all had big, goofy smiles on their faces now.

“You ready, Ori?” Mason asked me.

“Let’s fucking do it,” I said.

Finn’s blush deepened as I watched Max pour as much tequila as he could onto the divot of Finn’s belly button.

“Go!” Max said, and everyone around us cheered as I leaned down, licking from Finn’s chest down to his stomach. I sucked up the tequila, drinking it down before leaning over and grabbing the lime with my teeth, right from above his waistband.

“Fuckyeah, Ori,” Mason said, immediately reaching both hands up to give me a double high-five.

The tequila burned a little in my throat, and with the tartness of the lime, it felt damn good.

As I squeezed a little more lime into my mouth, it dripped down my thumb.

“Want some?” I said to Finn, offering him my thumb right near his mouth. “You could lick it off my thumb.”

I watched as his eyes widened, just briefly.

He knew exactly what I was doing.

He clicked his tongue as he hoisted himself up and over the bar again, standing up. “Oh, fuck you, Ori,” he said with a smile, shaking his head. “Where’s my hat?”

“Here you go, man,” Mason said, handing it to him. “You just got a whole lot cooler, Finn.”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” he protested. “I’ve been cool.”

“I think I like this bar,” Thomas said.

“Come on,” Mason said, tugging on Finn’s shirt the moment he put it back on again. “Come play me in some foosball outside. I’m going to kick your ass.”

“Thanks for the shot, Finn,” I told him.

“My pleasure.”

He walked off, following Mason out onto the back patio behind the bar.

I sat down on one of the barstools beside Thomas and Dani, taking a long breath. “Didn’t expect to start my evening like that.”

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