It seemed like I was easily irritated lately, but really it was because everyone had been telling me how I should’ve been living my life.
A server walked past with a tray full of shots. “Hey,” Abby called. “We’ll take some of those.”
She waved a few bills and the server smiled. “You got it. Girls’ night?”
“Yep,” Kara said. “We’re ready to let go.”
Abby paid her and Kara slid two shots in front of each of us. “Can you also have our server send us fresh drinks?” We’d all drained our first.
She nodded and walked away to tempt the other patrons with the rest of the shots.
“What is this?” I studied the amber liquid.
Kara knocked one of them back. “Oh, it’s cinnamon.”
My favorite. I grinned and held one up. Kara grabbed her second and Abby her first and we clinked the glasses, then all three drank. I followed it up with the second one but wanted more. Cinnamon whiskey was delicious.
“Why is it such a chore to drink eight glasses of water a day?” I waved the shot-lady down. I wanted two more. “But four shots and eight beers go down in no time?”
Kara laughed and got herself two more shots.
Abby hadn’t taken her second one yet. “You might want to slow down a bit,” she whispered. “Those things are potent.”
I waved her off. “I don’t drink often. What’s wrong with having a good time? Besides...” I took my fourth shot. “It’s girls’ night!”
Kara high-fived me and our server returned with my Long Island, Abby’s wine, and Kara’s Sex on the Beach.
It didn’t take long for the whiskey to set in. Kara and I hit the floor and headed over to the jukebox to find something we could dance to. As the first notes of the song we picked came over the bar’s speakers, I whirled around, swinging my hips, and my gaze landed directly on Maddox.
Oh, great. Abby had just joined us on the dance floor, though she wasn’t nearly as loose and comfortable as Kara and me. But then, she’d had half the shots we had. I didn’t mind the drunk feeling. It was nice to relax.
I continued dancing around with Kara and Abby as Maddox and Jury ordered something at the bar. While they stood there, three different women approached Maddox.
None of them spoke more than a polite nod to Jury. The whole town knew he was with Abby, and the Kingstons had a reputation for being fiercely loyal to their women—once they settled down.
When they each had a bottle in their hands, they turned and scanned the room. I tried not to pay any attention to them, but it was hard to ignore them when they were headed our way.
Jury set his beer at our table and sidled up to Abby, wrapping his arms around her waist and moving close. “How drunk are you?” he called over the sound of the music.
She leaned in close and whispered something in his ear that made his face break out into a slow grin.
Ugh. I turned away from them, no desire to see them flirt and hang all over each other. They were freaking adorable, but I was drunk enough to let the envy show. So, better not to look. Being jealous of Abby wouldn’t have made me a very good friend.
Unfortunately, when I turned away, it meant I looked directly at Maddox. Great.
“How are you?” he asked. He leaned against the wall near the jukebox, which put him in my bubble. Way too close.
I didn’t answer. My glare was enough. Swirling my hips to the music, I turned away from him, but that put me looking at Abby and Jury, who were currently playing some sort of tonsil hockey. I kept going until I saw Kara. She winked at me and waved her arms to the music.
I mimicked her and we danced together for a while. In my drunken state of mind, somehow, I forgot that Maddox was right behind me. Dancing around, I turned and faced him again. Damn it.
“I owe you an apology,” he called. His voice drifted over the music just loud enough so I could hear him.
“You’re damn right!” I yelled. “And then some.”
He held out his hand. I stopped dancing and stared at it. With a sigh, I gave in. I’d let him apologize, then go back to dancing.
Nodding toward our table, I ignored his hand and walked to the booth. He slid in beside me.
“My choice of words was terrible,” he said. It was much easier to hear him here in the booth with the tall backs blocking some of the sounds.
“Well, thank you for apologizing,” I said. I was about to tell him that I understood he was trying to be helpful and let it go, but then he kept talking.
“My words were true, but the delivery was all wrong.”
Damn. He just kept digging his hole. Kara and Abby slid into the booth across from us, and Jury grabbed a chair to put at the end of the table as I tried to decide exactly what to say to the pompous asshole.
“It’s a good thing you have a pretty face,” I said. “Because your communication skills blow.” I sipped my tea and soothed myself. He should’ve quit while he was ahead.
But he didn’t look impressed by my words or particularly bothered. “You know, Bethany, in the time I’ve known you, I’ve put my foot in my mouth twice and said the wrong thing. But my intent was never to hurt you. Everything I’ve done has been with good intentions.”
My jaw went slack and the little stirring straw fell out of my mouth and into the glass. “Excuse me?”
“Is this the type of person you are?” He looked at me like he never had in the time we’d known each other. “Do you take shots at someone to
