CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“No more shots!” Elle whined after throwing back the latest in a series of tequila shots.

Tori nodded and chased the liquor with a small sip of her beer. She was going to have to pace herself. At this rate, girls’ night was turning into a much crazier evening than she had anticipated.

Cliff’s had a new bartender, and Claire had her eye on him. She’d bought three rounds of shots just as an excuse to go talk to him. She wasn’t likely to admit that, but Tori knew when her best friend was on the prowl.

Claire stood, eyeing everyone’s drinks.

“Sit down,” Tori demanded. “Hottie bartender is going to be here all night.”

Claire sat but positioned herself so she could watch the bar. “Hottie bartender’s name is Reed,” she purred.

Tori rolled her eyes but smiled at Claire’s excitement. It was contagious.

Elle frowned, her Bud Light perched next to her lips, ready to drink. “Wait, what about Jake?”

Claire looked away from the bar and took a long pull from her beer.

“That’s over.” She stopped and ran her fingers through her hair, checking out the bartender for the millionth time. “No, not over. It never really started. Let’s just forget about that. Never gonna happen.”

Tori and Elle exchanged a worried look. Claire and Jake had been circling each other for months. Everyone assumed they’d pair off, just as soon as Claire was ready. She was great at picking up men. She was even great at casually dating them. She wasn’t so good at anything more serious. It had felt like an unspoken certainty that when Claire and Jake finally did get together, it would be serious. They ran in the same circle. They had all the same friends. Went to all the same parties. Hooking up without it being serious would be a disaster.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Tori asked tentatively.

Elle looked too stunned or worried to speak. She watched with wide eyes, nervously turning her beer in her hands.

Claire shook her head.

She wasn’t letting her off that easy. “Okay, fine. I want to talk about it. What happened?” she asked, kicking Claire’s foot underneath the table.

Claire sighed loudly and slumped in her chair. She raised an eyebrow at Tori. “You’re not going to let it go until I tell you, are you?”

Tori smiled sweetly. “Not a chance in hell.”

Claire tipped her beer back and banged the empty down on the table.

“We kissed.”

Tori bit back a smile. It was about time. Finally.

Elle, a classic romantic, who was still reeling in her newfound love-bliss haze, practically swooned. “Aw… Finally!” she said, a dreamy look in her eyes.

Claire did not have a dreamy look in her eyes.

Tori waited for Claire to fill in the pieces. When it was clear she wasn’t giving up any information without prompting, Tori pressured her for more. “Wait. If you two kissed, then why is it never gonna happen?” she asked, using her hands to air quote the phrase Claire had used.

Claire looked from Tori to Elle, chewing on her bottom lip.

“What’s the big deal?” Tori looked from Claire to Elle making sure she wasn’t missing something. “You always kiss and tell.”

Claire offered a meek smile and narrowed her eyes, causing a small crease in her forehead. It was a cross between the tell-all look Claire got just as she unloaded all the gory details and worry. “Promise you won’t tell?”

Tori and Elle nodded enthusiastically and leaned in with their elbows on the table.

“Especially not Ryan or Chris,” Claire warned.

Tori made an X over her heart and winked at Claire.

Elle nodded.

“It was terrible,” Claire whispered before leaning back from the table.

“No way.” Tori crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. “You two have been circling each other for months. The chemistry between you two is palpable.”

Claire placed her hands over her face and shook her head wildly, causing her whole body to shake. “Please, I beg you. Let’s talk about something else,” she said in a muffled voice.

She couldn’t believe it. She had been so preoccupied with her own happiness Tori had missed all the signs. Freshly manicured nails… a new outfit…

Tori eyed Claire suspiciously. “Is that a new lipstick you’re wearing?”

She kicked herself for not noticing the signs earlier. Claire was a classic over-compensator. When most girls were upset over a guy, they cried themselves to sleep and drowned their sorrows in cheese fries and greasy takeout. Claire gave herself a total body makeover.

“I was at Ulta, and they were having a sale,” she said defensively.

To her credit, Claire looked the tiniest bit guilty, as if maybe she would rather be home with a large pizza and garlic knots.

Before Tori could psychoanalyze her any further, her attention was drawn to the bar’s entrance. She had no idea what caused her to look up at the exact moment he walked in. Her body seemed to feel his presence before the other senses had a chance.

“Don’t look now, but he just walked in,” Tori said, not moving her eyes away from Chris.

Claire swung her legs around and stood next to the table, holding her empty eyes trained on the bar. Or the bartender. Most likely the bartender. “So much for girls’ night,” she muttered as she walked off.

“Don’t look at me!” Tori yelled behind her.

“Me either!” Elle squeaked out, but she smiled happily as Ryan followed Chris toward their table.

They guys made quite a sight. The whole lot of them. Even Charlie and Travis had come. They sauntered through the bar with every eye in the place focused on them. The fabulous five, Tori thought, never looked better.

“How did you know we were here?” Elle squealed, batting a hand at Ryan before throwing her arms around him.

Ryan drew her in against him. “We didn’t, but there aren’t exactly a lot of options for a Thursday night outing.” His voice became muffled as he nuzzled into Elle’s neck.

Chris and Travis pulled up another table and butted it up against the girls’, filled with empty shot glasses and beer bottles.

“Looks like we got here just in time for some table dancing and wild fantasy stories.” Charlie rubbed his palms together, eyeing the empties on the table.

“We have some catching up to do, it appears.” Ryan pulled out Elle’s chair for her and then stood behind it, hands on her shoulders. “I’m gonna grab drinks. First round is on me.”

Chris pulled a chair up next to hers, and the rest of the guys fell in around the table. It was just like a million times before. Everything felt different this time as they sat next to each other having drinks and chatting with their friends. While it wasn’t exactly a secret that she and Chris were… Hmmm, well, what were they? They hadn’t defined it, but it felt like so much more than a hook-up. None-the-less, they hadn’t exactly come out to their friends. She hadn’t said a thing to Claire or Elle. Her lips were sealed until she figured it out for herself. And judging by the way Chris and Ryan were still talking to one another, Chris clearly hadn’t told Ryan. Her brother wasn’t signing off on this.

As the guys took over the conversation, talking strategy and player stats on the basketball game currently playing on the large screen TV, Tori only half listened. She watched Chris out of the corner of her eye, trying to decipher his feelings, his thoughts, anything that might help her piece together the last week.

“Earth to Tori.”

“Oh, sorry. What was that?” Her face grew warm as she felt all eyes on her. She’d been so busy internalizing her relationship with Chris she had completely tuned out the conversation.

Ryan raised his eyebrows and studied her closely. “I asked if you had figured out a solution to the Autumn situation?”

“No, I haven’t,” she said, trying to regain her composure. “The insurance company won’t budge, and Susan and Dax won’t allow me to do any more than I already am for free.”

She chided herself for not spending more time researching a solution for the little girl. She’d been playing house with Chris in his big, beautiful home and let it get in the way of her usual tenacity for solving problems that weren’t easily solved. Her stubbornness had served her well professionally. If anyone deserved her stubborn work ethic, it was Autumn and her family.

“That’s a great idea. Don’t you think, Tori?”

Shit, she’d done it again.

Elle saved her but shot her a look that said she had some explaining to do later.

“A fundraiser at Fit Club. Everyone loves watching the fights. We could organize some sort of fight-night. Do you think there’re enough guys willing to jump in the ring for that sort of thing?” Elle asked, looking to Ryan for input.

“I’m not sure, but I’m in. What about you, Chris?”

Chris nodded, looking to Tori. She was thankful that he’d missed the worried look his brothers exchanged. “Anything to help.”

Anxious to pull the attention off Chris, Tori turned to Charlie and Travis. “And what about you two? Willing to get in the ring for a good cause?”

“We’re in,” Travis said with more enthusiasm than she’d heard from him since he’d been back in town.

“Only if there will be ring card girls,” Charlie said. “I love a sexy ring card girl.”

Tori rolled her eyes but laughed good-heartedly. “You’re such a pig.”

Charlie winked and tossed the conversation at Jake who had been too quiet through the night. He’d barely spoken and instead sat looking miserable, stealing glances at the bar where Claire sat flirting with Reed.

“What about you, Jake?”

“You can count me in.”

Tori offered him a small smile. “Thank you,” she said then looked around the table. “Thank all of you. You guys are the best.”

Chris placed a hand on her leg under the table, and Tori jumped at the contact. His touch still seemed to do that to her — throw her completely off-balance. His hand only lingered a moment before he pulled it back up to the table and wrapped it around his beer.

She wasn’t sure if she was imagining it or not. Perhaps she was extra sensitive to the topic, but it seemed he was hiding her. Or rather, he was hiding their relationship. It made sense of course. If Ryan found out, there would be a lot of questions. She certainly wasn’t prepared to answer those questions, so maybe Chris wasn’t either. The thought stung. She didn’t want to be his dirty secret. It cheapened what was between them.

Tori excused herself from the table and headed to the bar where Claire sat watching Reed behind the bar.

Tori took the stool next to her and checked out the main attraction. “How’s it going with hottie bartender?”

“He asked for my number.” Claire pointed to a scrap of paper in front of her.

Tori glanced at the paper, smirking at the number. “That’s not your number.”

Claire sighed. “I know. I couldn’t do it. I guess I’m more upset about the whole Jake ordeal than I thought.”

“Was it really that bad?”

Claire scrunched up her face and grimaced.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I don’t think he thought it was any better.” She nudged her head toward Jake who was staring into his beer with a defeated look on his face.

“Maybe it’s me.” Claire banged her head on the bar. “Maybe I’m a bad kisser.”

Tori waved her off. “Oh, please. I’ve seen evidence indicating otherwise written all over bathroom walls.”

Claire smiled and playfully slapped her.

Tori was glad to see a smile on her friend’s face. It wasn’t like her to be this down.

“Maybe you two just built it up too much? I bet the next kiss will be better.” Tori hoped for everyone’s benefit that was true. She wasn’t sure the group would be the same if Claire and Jake couldn’t work it out.

Claire looked over at Jake, a wistful look on her face. “I don’t think I’m brave enough to test that theory.”

Tori stood to head to the restroom, offering her friend some final advice before she left. “You better do something. This is awful seeing you two like this. You need to talk to him.”