Page 58 of All In
“I can’t believe you’re here!” I cried.
“I’m here.”
“You told me you had too much school, you big liar.”
“I do,” he said. “But funny thing about UNLV—they give us the weekends off. Weird, right?”
I laughed, smacked his arm, then hugged him again.
“And you,” I said, turning to Big E. “You’re his accomplice.”
The big bartender held up his hands. “I’m just as happy to see this guy as you are.” His warm gaze went between us. “Well, maybe notquiteas happy…”
I took Theo’s hand. “Come on. I want you to meet Grant and Phoebe, and I’m sure Yvonne would love to see you.”
Theo made a face. “Hope she left her baseball bat at home.”
I introduced my Las Vegas friend to my New Orleans friends and spent the rest of the night laughing and talking, surrounded by the people I loved. The crowd swelled and soon Rufus signaled from the booth that it was time to play.
I blew air out my cheeks. “Is it just me, or is this crowd really big?”
Phoebe took my drink from my hand, as Grant looped my guitar over my shoulder. Theo leaned in to be heard over the noise, his breath warm on my cheek, like a kiss.
“Knock’em dead.”
I glanced up at him. “Thanks, Teddy.” The crowd was too loud, but I know he heard me anyway.
I sang a few songs from the album, including “The Lighthouse.” The huge crowd gave me their silence and I gave them everything I had. But I wasn’t the Drowned Girl anymore. While I felt the ache of Jonah’s absence in every word, in my mind I heard a violin, lifting up the refrain with hope. I infused the words with rich emotion, but I didn’t cry.
After I finished my set to resounding applause, a zydeco band took the stage. They insisted I join in for a set. I wasn’t fluent in their style of music, but I heard the changes and felt the flow, and soon was jamming with them. The crowd went crazy.
My eyes kept seeking Theo in the crowd. Every time I did, I found his eyes on me, that intense look that only Theo Fletcher possessed. The look that made me feel, for a few brief moments, as if no one existed in his world but for me.
CHAPTER
TWENTY
The next day, Kacey took me around New Orleans to all her favorite joints. Now that she was sober, she said, she could enjoy the city. She looked beautiful in a simple T-shirt and denim skirt, her skin glowing with health. The incredible blue of her eyes was brighter than I’d ever seen it.
“I love it here,” she said over beignets at a small café. “The city is so different from anywhere else I’ve ever been.” She took a generous bite from her pastry. “Full of dancing ghosts.”
I nodded absently, only half hearing. “You have some powdered sugar…” I gestured at her lower lip that was dusted in white.
She took a napkin and wiped it away. “Gone?”
“Gone.”
She’d wiped the powdered sugar from her mouth, but my imagination conjured me leaning over the table and sliding my tongue along the seam of her lips, tasting the sweetness…
I was suddenly extremely grateful for the table concealing my lap and took a long drink of ice water. Since Kacey’s revelation of her promise to Jonah, the little flicker of hope in my heart had flamed up into something constant. Something permanent. It no longer felt like she and I were impossible.
But what do I do? Tell her what I feel? I can’t tell her. It’s too soon. I’ll fuck it all up.
With anyother girl I’d already have had my hands in her hair and my tongue in her mouth because I wouldn’t give a shit what happened later. With Kacey, I cared about all of it; this moment and everything after.
“I’m so happy you’re here,” she said suddenly. “I know I’m a broken record, but I miss you.” She frowned, her brows furrowed as if she were trying to work out some complex problem. “I miss you a lot, actually. More than a lot. Is that weird?”
“No.” I coughed. “I miss you too.” I stirred my coffee to conceal how her words hit me right in the chest. “But it sort of seems like you’re done with Vegas.”
