Page 91 of The Chemistry of Us

“Whiskey,” he said.

I groaned into my hands. “You know what whiskey does to me.”

“Oh, I hope it does you dirty, Tru. Plus, it’s your birthday dinner. Drink all you want, and I’ll hold your hair later.” He held up his hand, and on it was his trusty rubber band, the one he used to carry when he was stressed and snapped. He had it on. He had it on for me. “I have you covered.”

He was dangerous like this. I started scooting my chair away when his hand jerked out, and I grabbed my chair, only to pull it even closer to his. We were thigh to thigh. “What are you doing?”

“Ceasefire. It’s your birthday night. My apology night. No past. No future. Just us, right now. I think we both deserve that, don’t you?”

My eyes filled with tears. “You want me to just forget?”

“You think I can?” he countered.

“No.”

“Never.” He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to my lips. “Sealed. No takebacks.”

I kissed him back. “No takebacks.”

Another throat cleared. What was she, a ninja? “Here are your shots. I’ll go ahead and give you a minute to go over the menu.”

“I know what I want,” Vaughan said, then locked eyes on me. “And you? Do you know what you want, Tru?”

“The same,” I whispered. “Whatever he’s getting, I want.”

I wanted so much.

With a desperation and hope that terrified me.

“Two cheeseburgers, extra fries, extra fry sauce, pineapple on the side, two pickles, and if you have any of that coleslaw, let’s add that. Oh and two more shots.”

“What shots do you want?”

“Patrón.”

Oh no. He was mixing whiskey and Patrón?

“Coming right up.” She walked off while I glared at Vaughan.

“What?” he asked.

I smacked him on the shoulder. “You know what tequila does to me!”

“You suddenly find yourself very uncomfortable in your own clothes, but you love tequila. I promise I won’t peek, and I won’t let any other bastard so much as breathe in your direction.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.” We both clicked our glasses and took our Duck Fart shots.

It might have topped every birthday I’d ever had, and it was just getting started.

CHAPTER 33

VAUGHN

Now

I was starving.I ate so much food I thought I was going to be sick, and to add insult to injury, we’d had some pretty sugary shots and were now just drinking straight tequila.

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