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When we made it inside the restaurant and were shown to our table, it wasn’t just Gibsie we found had highjacked our date night. Our entire friendship circle had decided to attend. And contrary to his earlier protests, Johnny was thrilled to be reunited with his friends—and most importantly, his other half.

With his arm slung over my chair, and his thumb trailing over my bare shoulder, Johnny snickered into his glass of water at whatever Gibsie, who was sitting on the other side of him, was whispering animatedly in his ear.

Feeling more content than I had in weeks, I looked around the table at our friends and smiled to myself.

Claire was gushing about what a wonderful fatherGerardwas to their litter of furball babies to Katie, Hughie, and Feely, who were sitting opposite us.

Katie and Feely looked thoroughly amused by her antics, while a despondent looking Hughie slumped forward with his head in his hands, eyes locked on his untouched food.

“Hugh, you are their uncle,” Claire declared when her brother offered no response to her suggestion of a naming ceremony for their kittens. “You have to be there.”

“Claire, if you don’t pack it in, I’m going to stab myself in the eye with this fork,” her brother grumbled, looking entirely unhappy about the whole ordeal. “Seriously. I can’t take another fucking second of this.”

“Well, I think it’s a great idea.” Katie chuckled, digging her boyfriend in the ribs with her elbow. “Of course we’ll attend the naming ceremony for your kittens, Claire.”

“Thank you,Katie.” Claire beamed back at her. “I’m thinking about holding it the Sunday before we go back to school. I’ll bake some scones for afterward, and Gerard makes the most amazing—”

“Don’t tell me you’re encouraging it,” Lizzie chimed in when she returned from the bathroom, tone dripping with sarcasm as she slumped down on the chair next to Hughie. “Claire, they’re cats. Cats don’t need baptismal ceremonies.”

“It’s not a baptismal ceremony,” Claire defended, cheeks reddening. “It’s a naming ceremony.”

Lizzie cocked a brow. “There’s a difference?”

“Yes,” Claire and Gibsie chimed in unison.

“Kill me now,” Hughie grumbled, still staring down at his plate.

“It’s weird and it’s stupid.”

“Listen here,” Gibsie interjected, turning his attention on Lizzie. “Be a bitch to me all you want, but not to her.”

Lizzie narrowed her eyes. “Did I say you could speak to me,Thor?”

Gibsie narrowed his eyes right back. “Did I ask for permission,Viper?”

Johnny shook his head, and Katie sighed heavily. Meanwhile, Feely continued to eat his meal. “Don’t fight, guys,” I began to protest, but it was too late.

The gloves were off.

Like the habit of a lifetime, the pair broke into a full-blown argument, where Lizzie tore proverbial strips out of Gibsie, and he tossed back sarcastic remarks that only seemed to incite her rage further.

“I’m not doing this again,” Hughie announced, surprising everyone. “I’m not.” Shoving his chair back, he stood abruptly. “It’s bullshit and I’m done.”

Having said that, he reached into his wallet and tossed a wad of notes on the table before walking out.

Wordlessly, Katie rose from her chair and hurried out of the restaurant after her boyfriend.

Hughie’s storming out seemed to do the trick because it stunned Lizzie into silence, giving Gibsie ample opportunity to poke his tongue out at her and give her both middle fingers from under the table, while he mouthed an impressive array of obscenities at his favorite nemesis.

“Well,thatwas a slight overreaction,” Claire declared, drumming her nails on the white linen tablecloth. “Moody much?”

“What’s up there?” Johnny asked, directing his question to Gibsie.

“No fucking clue, Cap,” Gibsie replied, reaching across the table to snatch up Hughie’s untouched plate of chicken wings. “He’s been like that all summer.”

“Gerard’s right,” Claire chimed in, snagging a chicken wing off her brother’s plate that Gibsie set down between them. “Seriously, Johnny, it’s been mood-swing central at my house since we got back from your birthday camping trip.”

“Shite,” Johnny muttered, rubbing his jaw. “I didn’t know.”

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