“Women, man,” Caleb groans. “I’m going to make the rounds again to make sure everyone is having a good time. I’ll catch you all later.”
“What was that about?” Isaac asks, sliding his arm around me.
I go to answer but Liv downs the rest of her drink and answers first. “Your friend is a dick. That’s what. And he pisses me off because he’s so damn pretty.”
“This should be an interesting night,” I tell Isaac.
Isaac
The night is going strong, and I am having a good time, but the looming reality of my connection to Sawyer is ever-present in my mind. It’s preventing me from letting go and enjoying a night out with her.
I try to make sure she can’t tell there is something on my mind, but she is calling me on my shit anytime she catches an off glance or a little tension.
But now, with one in the morning around the corner, she and Olivia each have a few drinks in them and are flipping through a binder to decide which song they are going to sing together.
We’ve all been singing along to every song chosen, like a big, inebriated, poorly performed concert, but seeing her smile and laugh is more intoxicating than the beer in my system.
“Oh my God, Liv. I’m not getting up there and singing ‘My Neck, My Back,’” Sawyer says loudly, all while holding her stomach from laughing.
“Why not? That would be fun!” Liv playfully nudges her.
“I’m not singing in front of everyone about someone licking my pussy,” she whispers the final word and it’s adorable, yet hearing the word pussy from her mouth makes my cock twitch in my jeans. Even with all the added madness in my head, me wanting her has never been an issue. And that makes me feel like a dick for wanting someone I know would hate me otherwise.
“Booooring,” Liv says, leaning back against the sofa.
“Go with a classic. Those always get the crowd engaged,” I tell them.
“Hmm,” Sawyer says, tapping her chin then smiles wide. “I’ve got it!” She thumbs through the binder until she finds what she’s looking for and shows Olivia.
“Oh, that’s absolutely perfect!”
Sawyer snaps the binder closed then stands. “If I’m going to do this, I need another shot.” She pulls Olivia up with her. “Let’s go turn in our song, get shots, then bring this party down.”
“You go ahead, I need to run to the bathroom real quick. I’ll meet you by the bar for that shot.”
“Okay!” Sawyer comes over and bends down, cupping my face in her hands and kissing my lips. “Wish me luck up there.”
I curl my finger into the fabric of her dress and tug her closer, stealing another kiss. “Good luck.”
“I love you,” she says softly, before disappearing into the crowd to go to the bar.
“Now that we have a second to chat….” Olivia says, standing right in front of me with her arms crossed over her chest.
Uh oh.
“Ah, the best friend talk.” I shift in my seat a bit and straighten my posture, crossing my leg and resting my ankle on my knee, arm extended along the back of the sofa. “Hit me with it.”
“You’re right, she is my best friend. I love her with my entire heart and the last thing I want is to see her sad again. The girl you’re seeing now isn’t the same girl who moved to Sunnyville last year. That girl had a dark cloud over her head. It followed her every single day, everywhere she went. She had just started slowly breaking out of her own head around the time of the Harvest Festival, and now that she’s with you… she’s alive. I’ve never seen her smile so much or look so happy. I have to assume it’s all thanks to you.”
I swallow hard, listening to her every word with the weight of the truth pressing into my chest. Truth that would no doubt send her barreling back toward that dark cloud… maybe even worse.
“What I’m trying to say is please don’t hurt her. You have a bit of a reputation around here, but I know that men cannot be defined by their choices over time. And if you do hurt her… I’ll stab you,” she threatens, with a point of her finger to my chest.
My first reaction is to laugh, but I stop instantly because the look on her face is deadly serious.
“Olivia, I love her. It’s really as simple as that. The last thing I’d want to do is cause her harm in any way. I’d rather throw myself on a sword than hurt her. That’s a promise.”
“Good.” She nods once and tosses her hair over her shoulder. “I should go get drunker so I can show you all how to really karaoke.”
***
I make my way over to one of the standing tables by the stage, and I’m quickly flanked by Caleb and Finn, both far more intoxicated than I am.
“You’re not drunk enough, Black,” Finn says.
“I’ve got a nice buzz going. I’m all good.”
“Your girls seem to be enjoying themselves.” Caleb motions just to the side of the stage where Sawyer and Olivia are dancing along to a song that is playing. Sawyer looks so happy and so carefree.
“Olivia gave me the talk. The if you hurt her, I’ll hurt you talk,” I tell them. “Funny timing.”
Considering what I have to admit to her.
“Ladies and gentleman, give a round of applause for Sawyer and Olivia!”
The entire bar explodes in hoots and hollers when they step on the stage, each with a microphone in hand.
Sawyer shields her eyes from the lights and scans the crowd, wrinkling her nose at me when she finds me at the table, and I raise my beer to her to cheer her on.
They both look up at the
