Wild Side (Rose Hill, #3)(59)
But Rosie’s snark doesn’t miss a beat.
“Oh weird. It’s like you’re putting on too much blush right before our eyes.”
CHAPTER 27
Rhys
WE WALK INTO THE REACH AFTER WINNING OUR VERY FIRST bowling match. Ford, West, Bash, and I are here to celebrate.
After weeks and weeks of losing, the competitor in me is preening. I only wish we’d beaten Stretch and his team, because I fucking hate that guy and will never forgive him for how he spoke to Tabitha.
In fact, sometimes in the ring, I imagine his face just to help with emoting for the crowd. Works every time.
But tonight, it’s Tabitha’s face that stops me in my tracks. Her head is thrown back in laughter, her eyes are bright, and her cheeks are warm. She’s surrounded by friends, and she’s glowing.
She looks happy, and god, I love to see it.
I’m not oblivious to the fact that she’s been feeling low since Erika’s death, but sometimes her stoicism makes it easy to forget how deep her grief must run. So the stark contrast of seeing her happy now hits me with a hard pang in the center of my chest.
It only makes me wish I could make her look like that. Instead, I’ve mostly succeeded at making her scowl, look confused, or look like she wants to rip my clothes off—which was great until she followed that up with awkward reasons she needed to leave. Most likely brought on by the reminder that I’m me…and she thinks I evicted her sister.
“What the fuck is going on in here?” Bash grumbles, looking around at multiple tables, each one scattered with small pencils and squares of paper.
West shrugs as he assesses the bar. “Beats the fuck outta me.”
Doris yells out over the tables from behind the bar, “Last question. It could be a tiebreaker since we have two teams with the same number of points right now. What is a group of unicorns called? A herd, a flock, a blessing, or a rainbow?”
Ford’s brows knit together as he whispers, “What the fuck?”
“Oh, a blessing. Duh,” West says with an eye roll. Bash shoots him a scornful glare, which only makes him laugh. “You’re just mad you were thinking rainbow, aren’t you?”
“You’re an idiot.”
“A happy one,” West volleys with a wink.
I turn my attention back to Tabitha’s table, watching the heads of four women drawn together, all different shades of hair, but it’s the shiny black strands that I watch closely. Just her hair makes me think of how it felt to fist it, to have her climb on top of me, kissing me like nothing else in the world mattered.
My cock thickens as I recall our moment on the stairs. The thrill of chasing her across the basement. The almost that will provide shower fodder for the rest of my life.
West bounces on the spot, peeking across the space at the sheet. “I swear Skylar knows this one. She’s got this. When did they start a trivia night? And why does it have to conflict with bowling? This would be so fun.”
Bash crosses his arms. “This would not be fun.”
“Rosie would kill me if we started crashing girls’ night,” Ford adds. And he’s got a point. Between him, West, and me, our significant others are all here tonight. Plus, one more who I have yet to meet.
“Time’s up,” Doris calls out. “Please drop your answers in the pitcher in front of me, and make sure your team’s name is on there, or I’m not giving you any points. This isn’t kindergarten. You should all know how to identify yourselves.”
My lips twitch at the older woman.
West just looks amused. “God. Doris is such a legend.”
I nod my agreement as I watch a person from each table stand up and head toward the bar with their answer in hand. And I now recognize the fourth team member who was sitting with Tabitha.
“Who’s that?” Ford asks, tipping his chin toward her as she makes her way to the front, wearing a long flowy skirt and bracelets on each arm.
“That’s my yoga instructor. Gwen.”
“You do yoga?” West turns and looks at me like I just said I can walk on water.
I shrug. “Yeah. I like it.”
“Like for inner peace and shit?”
I scoff. “Something like that.”
“You should take Bash with you. He looks like he needs some inner peace.”
I glance over at Bash, expecting his usual level of resting bitch face. He’s grumpy, sure, but it’s part of his charm at this point. I like to think of him as honest and direct. He says what he means and means what he says, but he’s also reliable. He helped me out with the alarm system and is always forthcoming with bowling tips.
Deep down, Bash is a pretty nice guy.
Which is why it’s hard to make heads or tails of his expression right now. Cut from stone and devoid of all color.
I nudge him. “You okay?”
One sharp nod.
Doris starts going over the answers, but Bash’s eyes stay trained on Gwen. He’s tracking her every movement across the floor, jaw flexing when she slides back into the booth next to Tabitha.
“Okay, enough loitering,” Ford says. “Let’s go find a table.” He strides away with authority.
“Near the girls!” West calls as he heads after him.
Bash and I follow, and where I feel a stirring of excitement at the prospect of seeing Tabitha, Bash looks like he’s heading to a funeral.