Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
How much time would I get for murder? I heard that if it were a crime of passion, then you would get less time because emotions got the best of you. I was ready to kill off Adam Kane very passionately because now everyone who had been previously chanting “Birthday shots” was staring at me.
And at the very center of the people looking our way was him.
Ty-enemy.
My once best friend.
The birthday boy.
Of course I knew it was his birthday—it was also a reminder of another broken promise.
Silly me for thinking he would have celebrated with a cookout at his home. Maybe part of the reason I wanted a distraction today was so I wouldn’t have to think about what he was up to.
It sucked that with every holiday that passed, I was reminded of him. How pathetic was I that I was so hung up on someone who had never been my boyfriend?
Ty’s eyes were on mine, and as much as I wanted to look away, I couldn’t. They had been there since we were little. It started as something innocent and pure—the need to want to be there for one another. As we got older, those feelings morphed, and in my end they got complicated.
Falling in love with Tyler Kane was the first crack in our friendship. The fact that he did not feel the same way made it shatter.
I needed to get out of here ASAP. I broke eye contact with Tyler and was ready to tell Rachel that I wanted to go home.
Adam seemed to sense that I was ready to flee because the arm he had draped around me tightened. As if that wasn’t enough, he pulled me down from the stool I had been sitting on and started to drag me across the bar.
Oh, fuck no.
“Rach,” I managed to screech at her, but she took one glance at the scene and gave me an apologetic look.
I couldn’t blame her.
Adam started to push past the crowd, and I let myself be dragged because making a scene was not my style. Once he stopped moving, that’s when I would make a run for it.
Seemed like a great plan.
Except Adam did not stop, and it became clear he wouldn’t do so until we stood before Ty. Not grabbing the bull by its horns always bit you in the ass because I had been avoiding everyone, and because of that I now had to face them all at once.
I was not deluding myself that my conflict with my graduating class had been resolved in the last four years, not by the emails sitting in my work account. What I needed to do was brace myself for how they would react.
Shit.
I hid my face the best I could in Adam’s chest.
“Adam,” Ty’s voice rang out through the crowd.
“Happy Birthday, little brother,” he said, and I could hear the smugness in his tone. The arm draped against me loosened, but I was pushed forward before I could even think about making my getaway. “I win the best present.”
My mouth opened, but no words came out. The gasp that was threatening to come out got caught in someone else’s chest. My hands instinctively held on to Tyler’s arms to try and steady myself.
“What the fuck, Adam?” Ty growled at his brother.
The whole time, I was thinking about myself and how mortifying it was that I never stopped to consider that he might be angry that I crashed his party.
Forget not making a scene. I needed to get out of here ASAP.
Chills spread down my back when Ty wrapped his arm around my waist. He didn’t move me aside or push me back. If anything, he seemed to have pulled me in closer toward him. I could feel his fingers digging into my hip bone, and I knew I would have fingertips on me come tomorrow.
Was he aware of how close he was holding on to me?
I slowly craned my head up, bracing myself before I saw him. Tyler had the same idea as I did because he had dipped his head, and now we were close enough that I could feel his breath on my face. We had been close before—but never like this.
“Are you okay, Astrid?”
I watched his lips move, and the thought of him kissing me returned in full force. It made my knees buckle with the same intensity as it did the first time that thought ever crossed my mind. The weight it carried was for ending perfectly good friendships.
The light in the bar was dim, but not enough that I couldn’t make out the way those green eyes stared at me. Even though they were slightly glazed, probably due to the alcohol, they were still intense.
“Yeah,” I whispered.
He seemed to relax at my words, but the hold he had on my waist didn’t waver.
Now would be a good time to wish him a happy birthday, right?It wasn’t like I was a total bitch.
“Ty-Ty, who’s your friend?”
The sweet, sticky voice came from my left. It was the type of sweet that you just knew it was laced with poison. I stiffened, knowing that our bubble was about to burst.
I kept looking at Tyler. He wasn’t in a hurry to break eye contact with me either, but I knew he was thinking the same thing as I was because his posture was stiff, and I could see the annoyance on his face.
Ty lifted his head to look at whoever was now talking to him. His face was blank as he stared at them. His arm loosened, and I took this as my opportunity to bolt. I managed to turn around, but before I could take a step away, that arm was once again wrapping around my waist holding me in place.
It was one thing doing it once, and that could almost be chalked up to the fact that I was thrown his way, but this time it felt different.
I couldn’t help the shudder that ran through my body as I felt Tyler’s heat on my back.
His arm was grazing the opposite side of my hip this time. Even if I wanted to move, all I would end up doing would be rubbing my ass against him. I had to stop myself from shifting.
Did he notice how close we were? Was he too drunk to tell?
I felt pressure in my left shoulder. I quickly tilted my head in surprise at how he was acting. His chin rested on me, his face angled to fit in the crook of my neck.
“You guys remember Astrid.” His voice came out husky.
Tyler wasn’t looking at the group. He was looking at me, and I averted my gaze and finally let myself look at my old peers.
Chuckles, catcalls, and snickers were heard simultaneously. I recognized almost everyone. The sweet, poisonous voice came from Carrie Watkins. She was best friends with Samantha Foster, who had been Tyler’s girlfriend for most of our senior year.
I fought the urge to close my eyes and curse myself at my predicament. If Samantha were the president of my hate club, Carrie would be their vice president.
At least now I knew Tyler wasn’t dating Samantha—or I assumed so. Not once had he mentioned her or anyone else. It’s not like I had given him any time to mention anyone, either.
Carrie’s sweet smile morphed into a stank face as soon as she saw me. I had to fight the urge to wiggle my fingers at her—the petty bitch in me wanted to play.
Even if I had the guts to do so, I couldn’t move.
Carrie recovered before I did.
“Didn’t think you’d show your face around here,” she bit out.
Anger surged through my veins.
How long were we all going to cling to things from the past?
“Carrie,” Tyler warned, clearly annoyed that was the first thing out of her mouth.
She looked annoyed for a second but quickly replaced that look and then batted her eyes at him.
“We should go back to my place to finish celebrating.” She smirked at me.
My stomach dropped.
It wasn’t jealousy—it couldn’t be. So what if Tyler was done fucking Samantha and now was doing Carrie.
It was the fact that he sounded vexed on my behalf, the fact that he was trying to mend a relationship that had no reason to be mended.
It was the knife that, although he might not have stabbed in my back but he made no move to stop it.
..and after all these years I could still feel the pain.
“Well, now that school is done, it was time to come home,” I spoke clearly and loudly so their nosey asses could hear me over the noise. Like hell if I let them know I couldn’t find a job somewhere else, and that was why I returned.
I brought my hand down to where Tyler was holding on to me, putting my hand on top of his. I could feel his muscles stiffen as I touched him. He didn’t help me out when I tried to remove his hand from my waist.
“It was nice to see all of you,” I lied.
I turned around to face him once I was out of his hold. I don’t know if it was easier to see him or the group, so it didn’t matter at this point.
“Happy Birthday,” I said, giving him a fake smile. “Hope you and Carrie enjoy yourselves.”
Tyler’s eyes hardened, and his jaw went slack.
More laughter and snickering rang out as I pushed my way out of the crowd.
He didn’t come after me, not like I expected him to. Adam was sitting on the stool I had vacated, talking with Rachel. He didn’t see me coming as I punched him on his side.
Both he and Rachel turned to look at me as he started to gasp for air.
“What the hell, Astrid!”
“You’re an asshole,” I spat at him and then looked apologetically at Rachel. “Is it cool if we dip out early?”
“Of course,” she said, downing martini number two.
Adam got up, holding on to my hand to stop me from leaving.
“He’s been miserable without you. Having you back has been fucking with him. He wants to fix shit, but he doesn’t know how.”
I looked Adam dead in the eye, ignoring how my stomach dropped at his words. He wasn’t responsible for his brother’s life choices.
“There’s nothing left to fix.”