Page 82 of Crying in the Rain

“And I do kind of feel sorry for her,” George said.

“Hmm.” Shaunna clearly didn’t. “Anyway, we’re not here to bitch. We’re here to have fun.” With that, she dropped in heightby three inches and kicked her shoes away. “That’s quite enough being glamorous for one evening.”

Ade looked her up and down. “Nope. Still fabulous, honey.”

“You do look beautiful,” George agreed. “That dress is the perfect complement to your hair.”

“Oh, enough with the hair already. He’s a ginger too, you know.” She tilted her head in Ade’s direction.

George squinted at him. “Oh, yeah. So you are. I hadn’t noticed.”

“I wonder why that is?” Shaunna teased.

George turned pink. “I’m gonna leave you to it,” he said, giving a final nod to Ade. “Good luck.”

Ade laughed. “Thanks.” Message received, loud and clear. Being with Kris wasn’t going to be easy, but he wanted it enough to make it work. He watched George retreat across the atrium, to where the other guy—Josh—was standing once again.

“They’ve only been together since the summer,” Shaunna said.

“Really?”

“Yep, but they’ve been in love since high school.”

“That explains it.”

“The sparks?”

“Yeah.” Josh leaned in and said something in George’s ear, then glanced past him, making eye contact with Ade. Ade raised his hand in acknowledgement. Josh gave him a quick smile and returned his attention to George. “How did it take them so long?”

“God knows.”

They were fascinating to watch. Josh was subtly trying to draw George closer, but George was resisting. Even though they weren’t touching, it was so intimate that Ade felt he was intruding, so he shifted his gaze to a guy carrying a tray of flutes of Champagne.

“Maybe we should just grab a glass from him,” he suggested, watching him weave his way through the crowd towards them. “Oh, hello there!” Ade grinned. “I’m guessing that’s Dan’s brother?”

Shaunna nodded. “That’s Mike.”

“I thought you called him Andy earlier.”

“There’s three of them. Mike’s the eldest, then Andy, then Dan.”

Ade continued to appraise the glorious Adonis as he headed over. Like his younger brother, Mike was tall and dark, though not as ripped as Dan but muscular nonetheless, his tight T-shirt showing off his pecs and abs to full effect. He paused for Ade to take a couple of glasses of Champagne, gave him a nod and was on his way once more.

“And is Andy a fittie too?” Ade asked Shaunna.

“Hmm?” She wasn’t listening, her eyes trained on a spot on the balcony. “Be right back,” she said and off she went, across the atrium and up the right staircase, leaving Ade with both drinks. She reappeared on the balcony a few seconds later.

“I guess that’s a yes,” Ade muttered. The guy she was standing next to could have been Dan’s twin, the differences between them largely superficial—longer hair, an earring, a more casual stance—and he was hot as hell. He leaned on the banister rail, and as the lights passed over him, his gaze shifted from the room below to Shaunna. There was history there, for sure, and once again Ade sensed that same intimate connection he’d felt between George and Josh.

Perhaps it was down to them all being friends for such a long time. Whatever the cause, Ade stopped watching, downed both glasses of Champagne, and went off in search of Kris—or that was his intention, but he only moved a couple of feet before Krissi grabbed him and pulled him into the centre of the floor to dance. They’d met the previous evening for the first time and instantly hit it off.

“Have they abandoned you?” she asked breathlessly.

“Looks like it.” He took her lead and got into the groove, quite sure the music was going up a few decibels with every song. It was an eclectic mix too, spanning about forty years of pop and rock with a few hardcore dance tracks thrown in.

The current track faded out, and Ade and Krissi paused to catch their breath.

“Woo! I love a good dance, don’t you?” she said. “Are you having fun?”

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