My eyes widen. “Fuck, that was sweet.”

“Totally,” Clara adds, looking impressed.

Trillian and Xander start making out until Ryan tells them to get a room.

Dash returns and we listen to a few people sing, most of them trying but not really succeeding.

When I hear Ryan mutter, “Fuck,” looking behind me, I turn around to see what he’s looking at. When I see Vanessa standing there, a good-looking man by her side, the same word leaves my mouth. Not because Vanessa is there, which is definitely a fuck moment, but because I know the man by her side.

The bitch had shown up here with none other than my ex-boyfriend.

*****

“Maybe if we ignore her, she’ll just disappear,” Ryan suggests, probably trying to calm Dash down, because he looks kind of pissed.

“Why the fuck would she show up here? She has no fucking shame,” he says, scanning my expression, probably to see if I’m upset.

“Actually, Dash,” I say, cringing.

“What?” he asks, and suddenly I have the whole table’s attention.

I look over at Vanessa and Riley and notice him staring at me. Well, fuck. Is he in on this with her? Is it a coincidence? I don’t think so. Riley and I didn’t exactly end on the best terms, and I have a feeling Vanessa is going to use him to start some shit.

“The man Vanessa is with is my ex-boyfriend,” I blurt out, rushing the words. “So I have a feeling she’s just here to stir the pot, so to speak.”

Dash’s eyes dart straight to Riley, and his scowl deepens. “You dated that fucker?”

I nod with my mouth set in a grimace. “Yeah, I guess you can say that.”

“Vi,” Dash growls, eyes boring into me. “Tell me, now. And don’t skip on any fucking details.”

“I was engaged to him about three years ago,” I say, noticing the ‘well, fuck,’ expressions on everyone’s faces. Well, they all might as well hear it. They’re going to find out anyway, one way or another.

“You were engaged?” Dash asks, eye twitching and his jaw tighter than I’ve ever seen it.

“Yes, I was, and I don’t like to talk about it, because it wasn’t a good time in my life, and apparently Vanessa must’ve somehow found this out, because there’s no other reason he’d be here. Things didn’t end well with us.”

That was the understatement of the year.

“How did it end?”” Dash asks, looking at Riley likes he wants to kill him.

“With me running away from our wedding while he waited for me down the aisle,” I say, cringing more and more with each word.

“Cutthroat,” I hear Xander mutter, while Ryan whistles. “That’s rough, Vi.”

I rush to explain. “I wasn’t ready to get married, especially not to him. He was a total douche, and I was young and stupid.”

“I don’t care what you did to him,” Dash says, muscle ticking in his jaw. “I’m just happy you didn’t walk down that aisle.”

I exhale in relief.

Trust Dash to see it that way.

Then he says, “But we will be talking about this later.” He pauses. “In detail.”

I gulp.

Chapter Nineteen

“I guess I can’t deny the fact you slept with someone else now, when the bastard is staring me in the face,” Dash says, drinking from his bottle of water. “What the fuck do they want anyway? Let them be together, as if we give a fuck. They need to just leave us the fuck alone.”

“So much anger,” Ryan says, sighing. “Do you want me to kick them out? You do realise this is our bar, right? We don’t have to put up with them standing there looking smug. Smug over what, I have no fucking clue, because they look like total dickheads right now.”

“No, don’t kick them out,” I say, not looking in their direction. “Then they will know they got to us. They want a reaction; that’s why they’re here. We need to just ignore them.”

“I feel like I’m in high school again,” Dash groans then gives me a look. “No, actually we never had to deal with shit like this in school either.”

“What about the Jackie thing?” I point out unhelpfully.

“Who the fuck is Jackie?” Dash asks, making me smile. He doesn’t even remember her. I like that more than I should, considering she was just some girl he kissed in high school.

“No one,” I mutter, laying my head on his shoulder. “No one at all.”

“Baby, we have bigger problems right now,” he says, kissing my forehead. “Because if that man even looks at you in the wrong way, I’m going to get arrested for beating the shit out of him.” He groans. “At a charity event, no less.”

That did sound pretty bad, I have to admit.

“Just let him be. He’s not even worth it,” I say, taking Dash’s hand in mine. “I’m so happy we decided it was me who gets to drink tonight. I see some shots coming my way.”

Dash chuckles, and I put my finger on his right dimple. If we ever have children, I hope they get his dimples. And his eyes.

Okay, I hope they just look exactly like him.

Summer comes to collect me to draw the raffle and to hand out the prizes. After I’m finished, I head to the bathroom, where I bump into Vanessa. I knew this would happen eventually, but I really couldn’t control my bladder any longer.

“He’s going to get sick of you,” she says, her pinched face scowling. “He will do to you exactly what he did to me.”

I blink. “You need a hobby or something to keep you occupied.”

She huffs, “Make a joke of it all you want, but you know it’s the truth. By the way, Riley is amazing in bed, isn’t he?”

I shrug and consider her words. “He’s all right. Nowhere near as amazing as Dash. Riley isn’t very good at going down on a girl. It’s almost like he thinks he’s eating corn on a cob, you know? Just kind of chews at your box. It’s pretty fucking painful actually.” I put my hand on her shoulder. “Good luck with that, though. Enjoy my sloppy seconds.”

“Enjoy mine,” she snarls back.

I smirk and look her dead in the eye. “Dash was mine long before he was yours, or anyone else’s, and he’ll be mine long after.”

I turn my back on her and walk back to the table, back to Dash.

This bitch isn’t going to rain on my parade.

When I see Riley at the bar, I change my course and walk right up to him. “What are you doing here?”

“On a date,” he says, chewing on an ice cube. “With a beautiful woman. Nice to see you, Viola. Run away from any grooms lately?”

“No,” I say in a dry tone. “That was just for you, Riley. Now, I repeat, what the fuck are you doing here?”

“Vanessa found me, said you’d ruined her life. I said you’d ruined mine too, so we kind of bonded over that.”

“I ruined her life? Dramatic much?” I groan, looking around to see how long I had until Dash saw me. “You know one of the owners of this bar is an MMA fighter, right? Plus, Dash could kick your ass any day, and this is a charity event, so we don’t need any drama. Couldn’t you pick a normal Saturday night to be a nosy bastard?”

His blue eyes narrow and he opens his mouth to reply, but then I’m suddenly pulled back against a hard chest, and I know my time to tell Riley to leave me alone has come to an end.

“Vi,” Dash growls, staring at Riley over my head. “Summer wants you.”

Oh, hell no, I’m not about to leave these two alone.

“Does she really?” I ask, suspicion lacing my tone. “Are you sure?”

“Vi.”

“All right,” I say, reluctantly stepping away and looking for Summer. I find her sitting at the table next to Reid, her eyes already on me as I walk toward her.

“This is better than a soap opera,” she says, patting the seat next to her. “Tell me everything I’ve missed.”

“I’m sure the peanut gallery has filled you in,” I reply, glancing toward Ryan, who just winks at me. I sit down and look at Dash, who is now talking to Vanessa and Riley.

This can’t end well.

“What did you want me for, Summer?” I ask her, eyes on Dash.