Page 4 of Whiskey Neat

Ridley whistles low. “Lure the king of design back from Europe?”

“We know how things have been for him. He might be ready for a change.”

“True,” Kit says. “But Paris to Willow Bay sounds like a downgrade.”

“Maybe he can consult,” I suggest. “I have to have my guys involved on some level though. I can’t do it by myself.”

“I’m so fucking in,” Ridley says. “If I have to spend one more year in a cubicle staring at spreadsheets and complicated chemical compounds, I might lose it.”

“Do you mean it?”

“Fuck yeah. I have to come back to Willow Bay anyway. At least now I have a purpose. Maybe we can fix up the house and live there. It’s huge.”

I smile as the plans start to take shape. Kit nods, scratching the beard he now sports. He’s a full-fledged bear now, shaking off the baby weight of his college cub years, and if I were into his type, I’d be all over him. I happen to know from a drunken admission he made a couple of months ago that he doesn’t love his life in California and he misses the East Coast and the friendship bond of our group.

“Fuck it,” he says. “Maybe this is exactly what I need. I’m in too.”

“Yesss!” Ridley says. “Who’s calling Bane and Jer?”

I frown. “Don’t they love Seattle?”

“If you ask me, it’s a front,” Ridley says.

Kit nods. “Yeah, I agree. I think they want us to think they’re happy.”

“What? It’s been eighteen years and they haven’t left.”

Kit shrugs. “I don’t know, man. It’s just a vibe I got the last time we were all together.”

“Exactly,” Ridley adds. “Like there was something artificial about those smiles.”

“Huh. I wonder why I didn’t notice.”

“Maybe because you were half a bottle of whiskey deep and eyeing Janelle Woods in that red dress she was wearing.”

“Fuck. I feel like a dick for not noticing.”

“Don’t,” Ridley says. “I only noticed when they thought they were alone at our table and I came walking up. They were discussing something that had them both looking upset, and they immediately stopped talking and smiled when they saw me.”

“Almost the same situation. I walked in on them in the bathroom. Same vibe.”

“Huh. I was gonna call anyway, but I’ll approach it differently now.”

“Dudes,” Ridley says, cheesing wildly. “Are we getting the gang back together in fucking Willow Bay?”

“I hope so,” I admit. “I need this.”

“I’m thinking we all might need this,” Kit says.

Ridley nods. “Yeah. It’s been a long time and a crazy road, but if it leads us back together then it’s been worth it.”

If I wasn’t convinced before that this was the right move, I sure the fuck am now. “Stay tuned, guys. I’m calling Lowen.”

“Best of luck,” Kit says.

“Eh, Lowen’s a kitten.”

“Even kittens have claws,” Ridley says, laughing.

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