Page 55 of My Return to the Walter Boys
I instantly felt guilty. Not because of Alex—Cole didn’t get todictate who I hung out with—but because we hadn’t spent any time together since last Friday at the dirt race; the Gas Exchange was short-staffed, so Cole was working overtime, while my evenings were spent working on a project for U.S. history. Other than a quick hello in the morning and dinner with the entire Walter crew, we hadn’t seen each other all week.
“O’Brady’s,” Alex answered, naming the local pub we were meeting my friends at.
When he didn’t elaborate, I quickly added, “It’s Harry Potter trivia night. Kim begged us to come.”
Alex glanced at his phone and then over to me. “We should get going.”
“Mind if I tag along?” Cole asked.
The question made me freeze. I was so accustomed to how Cole and Alex avoided each other, moving around the outskirts of the other’s life like repelling magnets, that I hadn’t thought to invite him.
“You…wanna hang out?” Alex asked. Thewith mewas heavily implied.
Cole shrugged. “Why not?” His face was inscrutable, but his tone seemed sincere enough. “I’ve got nothing better to do. Just give me five minutes to change.”
“All right,” Alex said hesitantly, “but be quick about it? We’re already running late.”
Under normal circumstances, the amount of civility the boys were exhibiting would have left my jaw on the floor, but I was trying my best to act casual.
Sharing a ride must have been the line Cole wouldn’t cross, because he grimaced. “Go ahead,” he said, waving his brother off. “I’ll meet you there.”
Truth be told, I couldn’t blame him. The last time the three of us were trapped in a car alone together was when Alex and I were still dating. We’d gotten stuck in a rainstorm after his baseball game, and Cole was forced to pick us up. I never had the guts to ask him about it, but I was pretty sure he’d seen us making out. Thinking about how awkward and tense that drive had been made me cringe.
Cole pressed a quick kiss to my forehead—he smelled like sweat and car exhaust—then disappeared inside.
“Jackie, you coming?” Alex asked.
“I think I’ll ride with Cole.”
“Suit yourself.”
While Alex climbed into the truck, I took a seat on the porch steps to wait for Cole. He emerged five minutes later in clean clothes and a grease-free face. His mouth curled into a soft smile when he saw me.
“Thanks for waiting,” he said, holding out a hand to help me up. Instead of letting go once I was on my feet, he gave my hand a squeeze and led me down the front walk.
I frowned when he let loose a humongous yawn. “Are you sure you want to come?” I asked. “It seems like you had a long day, and I doubt trivia is your thing. Besides, Kim is deadly serious about winning tonight. She might throw hands if you fall asleep at the table.”
“My thing,” he said, opening the car door for me, “is wanting tospend time withyou, even if it means suffering through your dorky trivia night. If Kim has a problem with that, then she can avada kedavra me.” He added the last part with a pleased little grin, like he was proud of himself for having enough Harry Potter knowledge to make the joke regardless of how terrible it was.
O’Brady’s was uncomfortably packed when we arrived fifteen minutes later, and Cole snickered to himself as I squeezed past a group of thirtysomethings wearing Hogwarts robes while in search of my friends. I finally located them in the pub’s prime spot—one of the oversize booths at the back of the room that could seat our entire group. Someone, probably Kim, must have arrived ages ago to secure it, and the remnants of an appetizer sampler—a single onion ring, a dip bowl nearly depleted of marinara sauce, and a few untouched sticks of celery—only reinforced my assumption.
The girls were arguing over potential team names when Cole and I slid into the two remaining spots. Heather liked Roonil Quizlib and Neville Wears Prada, but Kim was adamant about Anything for Our Moony. All the while, Riley kept throwing out inappropriate ideas that had Alex and Skylar in stitches—Dumbledeez Nuts and We’re Dead Sirius to name a few—but the other two didn’t bother acknowledging her.
“How about the Dumbledorks?” Cole muttered under his breath as a bartender appeared to drop off a score sheet and pencil. “Seems appropriate, considering.”
Kim cut off midsentence and slowly turned her head towardour end of the table, eyes narrowed dangerously. “I don’t remember anyone asking your opinion.”
“Sorry, I thought we were deciding on ateamname.” He slid the sheet of paper over to himself before anyone else could claim it and offered Kim a taunting smile as he spun the pencil around his fingers. “A team is a group of people who come together to achieve a common goal, in case you didn’t know.”
“I know what the definition of—” She cut herself off with a disgusted scoff. “Why are you even here?”
Cole slung an arm over my shoulder. “Boyfriend privileges,” he said, and a thrill shot through me. We had yet to label our relationship, but hearing him say the word aloud made me realize how much I wanted to be Cole’s girlfriend. “I have other name suggestions if you’re interested. How about the Salty Squibs? You seem like the type of kid who cried when you didn’t get a letter on your eleventh birthday. How come you’re not playing dress-up like the geeks over there?” He gestured to the group seated at the high-top we skirted around earlier.
Sighing to myself, I slipped a hand under the table and squeezed his knee. Would it kill him to behave around my friends? Cole responded by wrapping his fingers around mine and guiding them farther up his thigh. I snatched my hand back, and his body shook with silent laughter.
Kim’s face hardened. “It’s called cosplaying and—wait, you know what a squib is?”
“Sure. A nonmagical person born to at least one magical parent,”Cole’s upper lip quirked as he fought the smug smile I knew was straining to take over his face. “Doesn’t everyone know that?”
