Page 105 of Ghost Note

“Nice to meet you guys,” Danny said, addressing the small gathering, “but I’ve got one night left here, and I plan on spending it with my girl, if you don’t mind.”

My girl.That made my heart race.

With a nod, the men and women parted like the Red Sea, letting us pass through.

“I don’t know how you deal with that,” I muttered, slipping into place across from him when he found a table by the window, overlooking the ocean.

“They weren’t so bad.” He took a sip of his pint before he dropped his glass to the table and leaned closer. “Although I saw a few of the locals sitting at the bar looking at you like they thought you were stupid to be here with me.”

“Are you talking about Evelyn Welsh? Because I don’t think I’ve ever seen hernotlook at someone that way. Talk about your resting bitch face.”

“Her, and those Harrison brothers.”

I glanced back over to the bar to see Jordan and Kian Harrison staring over their shoulders at us, only to look away quickly when they saw me staring back. “I hate those guys,” I whispered. “They’re so creepy.”

“That’s because they’ve both had a thing for you since we were fourteen years old, Zee.”

“What?” I turned back to him. “Me? Eww. They’ve never even spoken to me properly.”

“Stage fright. The best of men get it.”

With my nose turned up, I looked at the brothers again. “I wish you hadn’t told me that. Now I’m going to be even more awkward around them.”

Danny laughed, glanced at his watch, and he ran his tongue over his bottom lip before he took another drink of his beer. We made idle talk for a good thirty minutes, unable to stop ourselves from glancing around when we heard the giggles and whisperings of a few younger girls. When a not-so-subtle camera flashed, I rose to stand and give whoever had taken a picture a piece of my mind, but Danny reached over to place his hand on my forearm. With just a shake of his head and green eyes that said so many things, he had me sitting back down slowly, but not before I threw a spiteful look at the people staring at us.

“Seriously. How do you deal with this?”

“It’s part of the package.”

“It shouldn’t be.”

“You’d be surprised what you can adapt to. It helps when I stay away from small-town pubs for a start.”

“Then why come here tonight?”

“Because… this is my home.” He rubbed his lips together in thought. “I’m done hiding behind trees at funerals, hiding away at Gran’s house, sitting at the beach at midnight when no one else is around. I did nothing wrong to these people, Zee. They don’t deserve an explanation from me just for running off and chasing a dream. Only you and Gina ever really needed that. Now I’ve given it, the rest can, quite frankly, go fuck themselves. If I want to come to my old stomping ground for a drink, you can bet your arse I’m going to make that happen.”

I smiled, unable to stop myself, and I was about to open my mouth to say something when I heard the commotion pouring into The Hideaway.

“Damn, that was a long arse drive!” Halo cried as he stepped into the pub, making the whisperings turn to full-blown adoration when he threw his arms in the air like the performer he was, and he walked up to the bar as though he owned the place. “Woo, I see a bar. Time to destroy my reputation!”

My eyes were bugging out of my head, and when I turned to Danny, he was as casual as ever, his smirk in place as he shook his head and watched Halo make his entrance.

A high-pitched scream went up, and Theo stepped in, as cocky as ever, throwing winks the girls’ way before Fletch sauntered in behind him, high-fiving some guy who held his hand in the air in waiting. Archer arrived soon after with Saffron in tow.

At the sight of Saff, my shoulders relaxed, and I looked back at Danny. “Did you…” I pointed in their general direction. “Did you know about this?”

He simply shrugged and smirked.

“Shit,” I breathed, taking them in as Halo ordered half of the bar, and the guy behind it called all his servers to service. “We’re going to need a bigger table.”

Before I knew it, the guys were standing over us with a drink in their hands while the barmen rushed several buckets of ice and champagne our way. I’d barely moved, but chairs were being dragged over, and space was somehow made, with Saff cosying up next to me and nudging my shoulder casually.

“Hey, girl. Nice to see you again.”

“H-hi…” I said, a little surprised still. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Didn’t Danny tell you? He lost a bet to the guys.”

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