“Kyler Quinn,” a smooth, throaty voice interrupted. “Hot damn, it’s going to be my lucky night.”

Sydney

The dinner had started off in the seven different circles of hell, but over the course of the meal, I’d relaxed. Not completely, because sitting next to Kyler was a true test of self-control. I was torn between wanting to crawl into his arms and wanting to kick him out of the booth.

But with him looking at me like I was the only thing he needed in his life? I was starting to side with the crawling-into-his-lap part when a voice made to get guys drop their pants slithered over my skin like snakes.

Forcing my gaze away from Kyler’s dark brown eyes, I saw a girl I barely recognized. Took me a few minutes to remember her name was Corie. We’d gone to high school together. Had no idea what she’d been up to over the years, but I remembered who’d been up her several times in high school.

My gaze traveled over her red, skintight sweater. Corie had boobs dreams were made of. She looked at me, and I knew she dismissed my presence outright. Like there was no way the fact that Kyler was sitting next to me at a table meant anything.

Any other time, this probably wouldn’t have bothered me. If anything, I was used to random chicks approaching Kyler everywhere we went. The boy was well-traveled, but right now, after everything? Yeah, it did not make me feel warm or fuzzy.

Andrea muttered something under her breath as Kyler turned slowly. “Hey,” he said evenly. “How’ve you been, Corie?”

Corie popped a hand on her hip as her red-painted lips spread into a smile. “I’ve been good. Haven’t seen you around lately. Guess you’re home for Christmas?”

“No shit,” Andrea muttered under her breath, and I was sure Corie hadn’t heard her.

Tanner pressed his lips together as he suddenly became invested in the food on his plate.

“Yeah, I’m home for a little while.” Kyler dropped his arm along the back of the seat behind me. “Then we’re heading back to school.”

If “we’re” was a hidden code for something, no one got it, especially not Corie. She tossed pretty blonde waves over her shoulder, and then crossed her arms. Even my eyes went straight to her cleavage. “I’m on break, too, from Shepherd, until the fifteenth of January. We should get together.”

It was like I wasn’t even sitting there.

“I don’t know about that,” Kyler replied diplomatically. “I’m going to be real busy, but it was good seeing you, okay?”

Corie blinked, and her lips formed a perfect O. I was doing the same thing. I couldn’t even think of a time that Kyler had shot down a pretty girl. Granted, it could be because I was sitting right there, and given our newly acquired history, he was being a little more discreet than normal.

My gaze caught Andrea’s and she had this biggest cat-ate-every-canary-in-the-cage grin, and I couldn’t help the smirk that graced my lips.

“Well, call me. I’ll make time for you, if you make time for me.” Corie smiled, but it lacked the confidence of earlier. “See you around.”

Kyler nodded.

After Corie bounced off somewhere, silence descended on the table and the smirk slipped away from my lips. Unease turned the food in my stomach and I wished I hadn’t eaten what I had. Tanner was still studying his food like he was going to be tested on it. Andrea was remarkably quiet, which meant the apocalypse had started, and Kyler was staring off in the distance, a muscle working in his jaw. I don’t know exactly what made it all sink in then, but I suddenly realized, like really understood, that what had happened between us affected every aspect of our lives.

Even our friends.

Because right now, Tanner and Andrea were most likely experiencing a mad case of secondhand embarrassment, or they just didn’t know how to handle the situation. Maybe they felt bad for me, or they felt awkward on behalf of Kyler. They were probably waiting to see how I’d react, if I’d get mad or jealous or run off in tears.

Even if Kyler and I got past this and moved on as friends, our friends would always be uncomfortable. The weight of that knowledge settled on my shoulders and I slumped down, wanting nothing more than to go home and crawl into bed.

The truth, no matter what Andrea said or I wanted to believe, was that Kyler wasn’t the kind of guy who was into commitments. And if he wanted to be with me, he would’ve called or done something after I left. Anything other than drinking himself into a stupor, and of course he probably wanted to salvage our friendship. He was…he was a good guy like that.

Andrea smiled at me, and she seemed to sense how far my mood had plummeted. “You ready to get out of here?”

Ignoring Kyler’s sharp look, I nodded. I don’t think at that moment there was anything I wanted more than to get the hell out of there.

Chapter 23

Kyler

The girls made a quick exit, leaving Tanner and me to our own devices. He ordered a beer, and if I weren’t driving, I would’ve ordered an entire bottle of Jim Beam.

“That went brilliantly,” I said, rubbing my temples.

Tanner snickered. “I didn’t think it went that bad. Well, when Blondie showed up, that was about ten kinds of awkward, but…”

“That was just awkward?” I couldn’t believe that Corie had popped by our table. Syd and I seemed to be getting somewhere and then BAM, a blast from the past. Perfect fucking timing. “I’m sure Syd enjoyed that.”

He took a swig of his beer. “Buddy, you need to tell me what happened between you two, because a week ago, Sydney probably would’ve been irked about that, but she wouldn’t have cared that much. So stop with the bullshit and tell me what happened.”

I arched a brow at him.

Tanner winked. “Or I’ll get the girl version from Andrea, in which you will come across as a giant ass. Tell me your side of the story.”

“I am a giant ass.”

He tipped his chin down. “Do tell.”

The last thing I wanted to be doing was talking female problems with Tanner, but shit, I could tell by the way Andrea acted, she knew. He’d find out sooner or later. So I told him the bare basics. No way in hell was I going to go into detail, not about Syd, because that was just wrong. When I finished, I really didn’t feel any better. Sort of just confirmed how much of an ass I’d been this entire time—years of being the King of Assdom.

Tanner sat back, shaking his head slowly. “I think I need another beer to digest all of that.”

“Shit. You and me both.” I ran a hand through my hair. “So yeah, I fucked up. Royally.”

“Well, people have fucked up more than you have, bro. Trust me on that.” He leaned forward, expression serious. “The shit with Zach is fucking terrible, but you didn’t know that stuff was going to happen. Sydney’s a reasonable girl. She’ll get over that.”

“I don’t think I can get over that.” I paused, staring at the table. “The fucker hurt her because of what I did in my past. If it wasn’t for me, she never would’ve gone through that.”

“But you didn’t do that to her.”

“Is there really a difference?”

“Yes,” Tanner said adamantly. “It’s not a huge difference. You did create the situation, but you didn’t force that fucker to do anything. That’s not on you, bro. It’s not.”

I got what he was saying, but it would take a lot to absolve me of that guilt.

“And that’s not the big issue,” Tanner said, eyeing me. “Did you lie to her about Sasha?”

“Shit.” I raised my hands. “I really don’t know. I mean, when Syd asked me about her, it was before anything went down between us. I didn’t think Syd really thought of me any different. All I said was that Sasha and I weren’t like that. And we’re not. We hooked up once over a year ago. I just wasn’t thinking when I said it to Syd.”