Page 91 of Undeniable

For a moment, I was concerned at her reaction, then suddenly, she collapsed into hysterical laughter.

God,I wanted to bottle that sound.

“I can’t believe,” she gasped between laughing fits, “that the custodian caught us. Like we really were in high school.”

Happy tears were streaming down her face, and I couldn’t contain my own smile and laughter. The genuine happiness I felt in that moment… was beyond words. Her joy was perfect.

Without the words to properly describe my feelings, I laced our fingers together and lifted her hand to mine to brush a kiss over her knuckles. Then I unbuckled her seat belt and pulled her across the bucket seat until she was right next to me.

As was usual on a Friday night, Murphy’s was packed. The place was at or near capacity. There were groups gathered around the pool tables to the left, and most of the tables in the rest of the place were occupied. But it only took me a few seconds to find our friends in the back corner.

With Ivy’s hand firmly in my own, we weaved through the throng of people dancing to the rock song pumping over the new sound system. Since Reed, Josh, and Amanda took over, there had been more business than I think any of us ever thought possible.

“Oh, thank God, you’re here,” Josh said by way of greeting. “I need you on my team. Luke and Amanda are kicking our asses.” He motioned over his shoulder at the dartboard, then quickly kissed Reed and slapped his ass.

“Sorry, babe,” he continued, “you’re just not cutting it right now.”

Reed shook his head and gripped Josh’s chin. “You’re going to pay for that later.”

Josh only smiled and plucked the darts from Reed’s outstretched hands.

“Do you want something to drink?” Reed asked both Ivy and me. He took our order and hurried off in the direction of the bar.

Josh handed me the darts as Hazel motioned for Ivy to take the open barstool to her left at the table, only a foot or two away from the boards. I kissed Ivy quickly before we started the game, and of course, Amanda threw first and hit the bull’s-eye.

“Whatcha drinkin’?” I asked Hazel, eyeing the bright-purple drink in front of her before lining up my shot and missing the bull’s-eye by several inches.

Josh gave me a very unimpressed look, but I shrugged. “I’m warming up. Give me a chance.”

I turned back to the girls, and I could hear Hazel’s sigh over the music. “It’s a mocktail. Luke made one of the bartenders make it for me, so I didn’t feel left out.”

She idly put a hand on her small bump and smiled. I didn’t think she was too upset about not being able to partake in drinking when it meant she and Luke were going to have a child. At that moment, her husband came up behind her and kissed the side of her head before wrapping his arms around her and also rubbing her stomach.

“I’ll give you all the margaritas your heart desires after you push this baby out. Actually, I will give you anything and everything you want for doing this for us,” Luke said, pride welling in his voice.

“You two are going to make me gag and then cry,” Amanda chimed in, sidling up to Josh, who tucked her under his arm. Reed finally returned with mine and Ivy’s beers and joined his partners, stepping to Amanda’s other side and tossing his arm over her shoulder.

Being surrounded by all of them, happily in love, used to make me want to gouge my eyes out and then walk into the ocean. But when I looked across the table at Ivy, who was smiling at me, the cold beer bottle poised at the lips I’d sucked and kissed only a few minutes earlier, none of those old feelings surfaced.

“Hey, man,” Devon greeted, finally joining our group. Glancing around at all the couples—plus one throuple—hanging on one another, he took a long swig of his drink, then reconsidered and downed the rest of it.

Devon usually did a good job hiding it. The feeling like you were missing something, even in a group that was as close-knit as ours. He did a better job of it than I had. His normally quiet and reserved demeanor helped.

“Anyway, speaking of being left out…” Hazel turned back to Ivy. “Why didn’t you tell us that tomorrow is your birthday?”

Ivy’s entire body language changed, and I watched the interaction with painful scrutiny.

She was probably thinking the same thing I was—that she didn’t mention it because that day held some not-so-fond memories for both of us.

I’d brought up her birthday to her a few days before, but she’d quickly told me she didn’t want to do anything and changed the subject. Whether she really didn’t want to celebrate or was just worried about stirring up the past, I wasn’t sure. But I planned to make it right. If I had anything to do with it, Ivy would never again feel anything but excitement for her birthday.

“Must have slipped my mind.” She shrugged and peered down at the beer bottle tightly grasped in both her hands.

Why Hazel felt the need to bring it up, I didn’t know. Everyone—including Hazel—was in on my plan for Ivy’s birthday. I knew she was probably just trying to make Ivy feel included and reassure her that they all cared. Because, to Ivy’s knowledge, they all either didn’t know or weren’t planning on celebrating at all.

Hazel noted Ivy’s reaction and then glanced up at me. I widened my eyes and shook my head quickly, silently telling her to leave it alone and not press the subject anymore. She raised her eyebrows and shrugged before thankfully changing the subject.

Although everyone knew Ivy and I had reconciled, they still didn’t know all the details. Instead, I told them that we’d found a way to work through our shit and left it at that. They were nosy, but they also knew better than to pry when it came to Ivy.

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