Page 194 of Things We Left Behind
“I agree. We’re your friends,” Naomi said, nodding her thanks as Joel handed her a very large glass of wine.
“For what it’s worth, I think you should tell them,” Nash said.
“How do you—” I closed my eyes. “You have access to sealed records.”
Naomi and Lina shared a wide-eyed look. “What sealed records?” they demanded in unison.
“Is this like you insisting I burden everyone with a couple of anonymous threats?”
Nash shook his head. “No, Sloaney Baloney. This is different. Your personal safety is one thing. You don’t get to hide dangerous things from the people who care about you. But you get to decide what stories you share.”
Joel set a Bloody Mary in front of me with a resounding thump.
“For the record, if you don’t tell us, I’ll do whatever it takes to get the information out of hotshot here. And I can beverypersuasive,” Lina promised, a glint in her brown eyes.
Nash leaned in and pressed a hard kiss to her mouth. “Damn right, Angel.”
I should have come here alone. Not that I needed to drink away my feelings or whatever. I just didn’t need to be a fifth wheel in the happily ever after party. Especially not when all I wanted was my own happily ever after. Andespeciallynot when I’d just wasted weeks on Lucian Assface Rollins.
I took a sip of my drink. My eyebrows winged up at the spice level. “Nice one, Joel,” I coughed.
Nash plucked his beer off the bar. “In accordance with man code, we’re going to let you talk while we go hustle some bikers over pool.”
“What if I wanna know what shit went down?” Knox asked.
“I’ll give you the short version,” his brother offered.
“I fuckin’ love the short version,” Knox decided. He looked at Joel. “You got ’em?”
“I got ’em,” Joel agreed.
“We don’t need babysitters,” I insisted. “And I don’t need to get anything off my chest.”
But it was too late. Nash and Knox were already sauntering off, drinks in hand.
“I’ll help you get something off your chest.”
I turned on my stool and found a greasy, gold-toothed guy drowning in gold chains. He leered at my chest.
“Didn’t you hear about the cult?” Stef asked him.
“I don’t mind a girlie who’s whacked in the head.”
“Go away before I make you require an eye patch,” Lina announced.
“Feisty filly,” he said, licking his thin lips.
Joel leaned across the bar just as Nash and Knox started back toward us, but I held up a hand. “Listen, you unshowered, deodorant-avoiding dumbass. I’m in the market for a husband and kids. So unless you’re willing to start showering, see a dentist, and learn to assemble nursery furniture, I suggest you move along.”
“Nobody ever wants to just have a good time anymore,” he grumbled and wandered off.
“That’s because all good times must come to an end, as I recently discovered,” I called after him.
“Okay. Spill it,” Lina insisted, swirling her mediocre scotch around the glass.
“It’s time,” Naomi squeezed my hand.
“Or we’re just going to speculate wildly,” Stef added.
