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; She wished at that moment that the floor would open up and swallow her whole.

Ducking her head, she rushed past them, praying she made it to the bathroom without him noticing her. Tears were already stinging her eyes and blurring her vision.

There was no reason to cry about this. She and Blake were just friends. No harm, no foul.

If that’s really what you think, then why does it feel like someone just ripped your heart from your chest?

BLAKE SMILED AS he pretended to listen to Bryce go on and on about her friend Jill, who would be perfect for him, but he really couldn’t care less. He had only come to Eve’s birthday dinner to give her the gift card he’d bought and drink some beer with his friends.

Blake caught movement at the door and did a double take as he spotted Hannah, her caramel waves falling across the shoulders of her black sweater. He almost called out to her, but Bryce said his name at the same moment, drawing his focus away.

“What?”

“I said, who are you staring at?”

Blake glanced over and saw that Hannah was walking past him toward a narrow hallway, presumably to go to the restroom. She must not have seen him.

“I thought I saw a friend of mine,” he said.

“If you want to go talk to them, I can wait for everyone else to get here. They said it was going to be ten minutes until we’re seated, anyway.”

Blake hesitated. He didn’t want it to seem as though he was stalking Hannah.

“Nah, I’ll just wait until she comes back,” he said.

“She, huh?” Bryce gave him a wide grin, her blue eyes filled with mischief as she elbowed him in the ribs. “Is this the same she you gave self-defense lessons to?”

“It’s not like that, we’re just friends.”

“Oh, here comes Slater.” Blake didn’t miss the way Bryce smoothed down her hair.

“You like Slater, huh?”

“I will kill you if you say anything,” she warned.

“I’m shaking in my boots,” he said dryly.

“I know you are, you big pussy.” Bryce laughed when he glared at her insult.

Slater pushed into the lobby, his smile flashing as he caught sight of them. “Hey, y’all.”

“Slater.” Blake held his hand out for the other man to take.

“What’s up, man?” Slater nodded at Bryce. “Meg, you catch the game last night?”

Bryce said something in response, but Blake was no longer paying attention. Craning his neck around, he tried to see if Hannah had come out of the bathroom yet.

The waitress called their party’s name, and Bryce patted his shoulder. “That’s us. Do you want to stay here and wait for your friend?”

Blake hesitated. While getting to talk to Hannah would be great, he kept remembering what Sparks had said about jumping into something before he’d dipped his toes back into the dating pool.

“Nah, I’ll just talk to her another time.”

HANNAH WAS DRYING her face off when Nicki pushed into the bathroom.

“Han, are you okay? What happened?”