Jordan took my drink from me and scolded me like I was a fucking child.

"I'm fine," I growled, reaching for my glass again as the music from the band blasted around us. "I am fine!"

Jordan stared hard at me before shaking his head and exhaling an exasperated sigh. "Whatever, Hope."

Embarrassed, I turned my face away and focused on Hunter instead. I watched in clouded confusion as Noah spoke into Hunter's ear, tone inaudible as the sound of guitars and drums and all that shit boomed.

A few minutes ticked by before Hunter got up from the table and stalked over to the bar.

I tried not to be obvious about watching him, but the alcohol flowing through my veins made it difficult for me to care. After all, he was the only one who seemed to even take note of me all night.

The confidence that oozed from that man was undeniably attractive. He had sex appeal in buckets and every woman in the room seemed to pay attention to him.

Women were openly gawking at him as he leaned against the bar with a bottle of beer hanging loosely in his hand and talked to the bartender. He looked so relaxed in his own skin, so content with who he was, it made my heart hurt.

My stomach churned as I watched a tall blonde sidle up to him and place a hand on his shoulder. I watched him turn to face her, giving her his full attention.

I watched her lean closer and my breath stalled in my chest.

Was he going to kiss her?

Dance with her?

Buy her a drink?

Take her home?

Oh god…

I wanted to barge over there and drag her away from him, tell her not to touch what wasn’t hers, but how could I?

He wasn’t mine, either.

I didn’t own him.

Wrenching my gaze away, I turned my attention to Jordan, only to feel my heart plummet when I noticed he was, once again, in deep conversation with Annabelle.

I looked to Teagan for support, but her attention was on Noah, who was whispering something in her ear as he nuzzled her neck.

Drunk and depressed, I grabbed my wine glass and gulped down the entire thing, not caring when the bitter tasting alcohol caused my stomach to roll in protest. My heart was aching, so my stomach could damn well join in.

When Hunter returned to the table a few minutes later with his hands full with several shot glasses, I sagged in relief. He was alone.

"Celebratory shooters," he announced in his usual carefree tone as he slammed a bunch of glass tumblers filled with brown liquid down on the table. "Let's toast."

Annabelle, Noah, and I all reached for a shooter and held it up, but Jordan made no move to take one.

Earlier in the night, I had cared about the fact that we were all drinking around a recovering alcoholic, but now?

I was too fucking drunk to care.

"The fuck is this?" Noah asked, frowning at the contents of his glass.

"Thought you of all people would know a slippery nipple when you saw one," Hunter shot back. He picked up the lone shot glass that had orange content in it and passed it to Teagan. "Virgin for you," he told her with a wink before claiming a glass for himself. "To lifelong friendships, unreserved love, and the honor of standing by your side as your best man."

Noah and Hunter clinked their glasses together and said, "Cheers," before tossing their shots back. I clinked mine against Teagan's orange juice and then quickly gulped it down, gagging a little at the bitter taste.

The band began to play their own version of Walk the Moon's Shut up and Dance then, causing Teagan to squeal in delight.

Leaping to her feet, she pointed at Hunter. "Come on, Lucky-boy. Let's see what you got!" Giggling, she crooked her finger at him as she danced backwards away from our table and onto the floor.

Grinning, Hunter picked up another shot and tossed it back before slamming the glass down on the table. "It's on, Blondie." Shoving his chair back, Hunter sauntered towards Teagan, all the while making ridiculous hand – and hip – gestures.

They danced around the room so animatedly, laughing and reenacting every lyric of the song playing from the DJ booth.

They were absolutely hilarious.

It was honestly a sight to be seen.

Teagan was a firecracker – always had been – but it looked like she had met her match in the crazy stakes with Hunter.

He was just so fun and wild and carefree. And he danced around the bar like he didn’t have a care in the world. I knew he did, but he hid it so well.

He didn’t care what anyone thought about him and I felt in awe of that confidence he exuded. He lived life on his terms and didn’t shake or rattle when people came at him. He kind of reminded of that guy in school everyone wanted to be around.

The girls wanted to be with him and the boys wanted to be him.

Curiosity burned inside of me; the urge to know this man on a level no other ever had known before burned inside of me.

His outlook on life was infectious.

All the horrible things he had seen and done, and Hunter Casarazzi was still standing with his middle finger cocked in the air saying fuck you all…

"Does that bother you?" I heard Jordan ask Noah and immediately my hackles rose in defense.

Noah shook his head and laughed. "It probably should, but nah." He seemed to be enjoying watching Teagan dance around the place with Hunter. It was like watching two best friends in a dance off. "They're like brother and sister."

"Jord?" Annabelle called out, immediately capturing my husband's attention. "I'm going to take off." She pointed to where Ryder was beginning to fuss and stood up. "It's too loud for him in here."

"I'll come with you," was Jordan's automatic response as he rose from his chair and grabbed Ryder's changing bag off the floor.

"Don’t leave now," I heard myself say and it sounded awfully like begging. Reaching up, I placed a hand on his forearm and said, "This is the first time we've been together like this in forever. Can't you just stay out and enjoy yourself?"

"I have responsibilities, Hope," he whispered.

"They are not your responsibility," I hissed, the alcohol in my belly giving me the courage to finally speak my mind.

"Hope –"

"I'm serious," I urged, not caring if Annabelle could hear me or not. "You don’t have to spend all of your time working and hanging out with her, you know."

"She's my friend."

"I'm your wife."

"I'm well aware."

"Then act like it."

"I can't be here, Hope." Jordan pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled a shaky breath. "Being in an environment like this? Around alcohol?" He shrugged helplessly. "It's too hard for me. I need to go home. I can't afford to make any slip ups."

"Okay," I whispered, feeling a huge swell of guilt. Reaching under the table, I grabbed my purse and moved to stand. "I'll come, too."

"No. You stay and enjoy yourself."

"I want to enjoy myself with you."

"It's not something I'm able to do right now, okay." He leaned down and brushed his lips against mine. "I love you," he whispered. "But I'm not staying here."

Then he turned his back and walked away from me.

Sinking back down on my chair, I watched them leave, forcing myself to hold it together when everything inside of me was falling apart. Blinking away the tears that were filling my eyes, I looked around the bar in defeat. I felt utterly helpless. My life was railroading out of control and I felt powerless to stop it.

It was only when I felt a strong arm come around my shoulders that a hiccup of pain tore from my lips. "What am I going to do with you, huh?" Noah grumbled as he tucked me into his side.

Turning to face my uncle, I buried my face in his enormous chest and cried. We were the only two left at the table and I was glad. At least he was the only one that was witnessing my personal breakdown. "He doesn’t love me anymore, Noah," I choked out, drowning his clean, white shirt in my mascara stained tears. "And it hurts so fucking much."

"I don’t think that's it, Hope," Noah soothed as he stroked my arm with his hand. "I think he really does love you, but he's too messed in the head to show it."

"You saw that just there," I objected, sniffling. "I begged him to stay and he just walked away – with her!"

"Doesn’t mean he doesn’t care."

"It feels like he doesn't."

"Look," Noah said, exhaling a sigh. "I've been through something similar to what you're going through now."

"With Teegs?" I whispered.

"Yeah." He nodded. " Seven years is a long ass time to be apart. Time changes things, Hope, and people grow apart."

"Including you guys?"

"Of course," he agreed. "We were different people when we found our way back to each other. It was hard as hell trying to find some middle ground to stand on together." He shook his head, clearly thinking back to an earlier time in his life. "We were so goddamn resentful of each other back then, both blaming each other for shit that didn’t even matter anymore. Both terrified to trust the other."

"But you guys found it." It wasn’t a question, more like a statement of fact. "You found your way back to each other."

"I love her," he replied simply. "I'd die for the woman. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for her – to keep her. Hell, if I couldn’t find middle ground, I'd make it myself and drag her there with me."

"But that's the difference, Noah," I whispered, lifting my head from his chest. "That crazy passion you guys have? That 'I want to rip your clothes off and lose myself in you' feeling you get whenever you're around each other? That ride or die love? Jordan and I don’t have that." Exhaling a ragged breath, I forced myself to admit, "We've never had it."

"What are you saying here, Hope?" he asked, frowning down at me. "You want out?" He stared right into my eyes and said, "Because that's okay, too. There's no crime in admitting defeat."

"I don’t know what I'm saying anymore," I squeezed out, staring back at him. "I'm just a mess, I guess."

Noah frowned at me for what felt like an age; his dark eyes locked on my face, clearly taking my measure. "Yeah, you are," he finally said, cracking a small smile. "You look like a raccoon."

My hands automatically moved to my face. "Oh shit," I half laughed, half sobbed. "My make up?"

"Is now on your cheeks," he filled in, smirking. "Go and clean yourself up and put a smile on your face. Before Little-Irish comes back, sees you've been crying, and hunts down your husband."

"God, she would," I chuckled. I stood up and headed for the restroom, only to halt mid-step. "Noah?" I called, turning to face him. My uncle was a man of few words, but he'd given me plenty to think about tonight.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for the talk."

Noah flashed me a sympathetic smile and said, "I'm always here, Hope."