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He turned around to stare at me, and when a smile pulled at his lips, I felt something warm curl inside my belly.
“You always wanted to try them. Should have been you wearing them.” Tommy seemed almost surprised that he’d said those words out loud.
His gaze didn’t waver from mine, though, and as we stared at one another, I wondered how we’d gotten here. I missed him so much it hurt. Did he feel the same?
“I’m glad you’re here, Gretzky.” The nickname slipped easily from my lips.
I wanted to hold him. Wrap my arms around my best friend and press my body against his. See if he still smelled like that vanilla body wash he’d always used and if he tasted like the Skittles he always ate. But I didn’t.
His shoulders slumped forward. “I didn’t have a choice, Bug. I would have preferred to stay home, lying in bed or playing video games.”
“I can drive you home. I can get the keys to the rental car.” Please say no. I don’t want you to go. Just being near you makes me happier than I’ve been in years. I feel like myself.
Tommy made a grunting noise. “Helena said her boyfriend was going to grill, plus she made macaroni salad. It would be rude if I just left before he showed up.”
Happiness fluttered inside of me. “How could I forget your love of macaroni salad? Your body is probably made up entirely of mayonnaise and pasta at this point.”
His eyes sparkled for a brief moment, then the fire burned out again.
“Plus, you’re here,” Tommy admitted. “Going home would mean I wouldn’t be close to you.” Holy shit.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Yeah, well, I am pretty awesome.” I tried to play it off, but God, the way he was looking at me right now... My insides felt like they were on fire, and my skin was going to melt right off my body.
“Who told you that?” Tommy grinned at me, and my heart stuttered against my ribs as he took a step toward me.
“Someone who used to love me.”
“Who said he only used to, Bug?”
Nope, I wasn’t about to do this here. Not with our friends, my bandmates, and his brother inside. Tears sprang to my eyes as I stared at my best friend, the boy who might still love me, and it felt like a punch to the heart.
“Tommy, I can’t do this.”
“I know.” He nodded at me before he turned back to the road.
We both stood there watching as a white four-door sedan pulled into the driveway and a man dressed in blue scrubs climbed out.
“You think that’s him? The new boyfriend?” Tom glanced at me over his shoulder. “Should we mess with him? Pretend like we hate him?”
I shook my head to tell him no just as we both caught sight of Dean Frost headed his way, his green hair hard to miss as he walked up the sidewalk and toward the man who was going to marry his ex-girlfriend.
“Oh, shit! Are they going to duel now?” I should probably go do something before a fight broke out, but it felt like my feet were glued to the porch.
“What do you think he’s—What is happening right now?” Tom murmured as the two men shook hands before they turned to head up to the house. “Is Dean okay with this?” he asked me like I knew.
I shrugged. “It looks like he might be.” Dean had been acting differently lately, but no one seemed to know why. I thought he was mourning the loss of Helena, but maybe that wasn’t it at all.
“You two lovebirds going to sit out here all night, or are you going to come inside? Ryan’s here. You should come meet my soon to be brother-in-law.” Killian’s face loomed behind the screen door. “Were you making out? It’s okay if you were. We almost all like kissing boys in this band.”
Tommy gave him the finger. “You wish.”
Killian let out a deep laugh before he disappeared back inside the house.
“Come on, let’s go inside before my brother physically forces me. I’ve had enough of that for one day.”
***
Ryan Sutton was a nice guy. I wanted to dislike him, I mean, he was engaged to my friend’s ex, but he was just way too friendly, kind, and yeah, nice. He didn’t seem nervous around all of us, and the strangest thing of all was how Dean seemed to want to be his friend.
