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I tipped her generously and made my way through the café, avoiding making eye contact with the two men. I took a seat facing their backs and busied myself with the little sugar packets on the table, hoping they wouldn’t turn my way.
I needn’t have worried. As soon as Caleb finished his call, Hugh nudged him and pointed to the young woman behind the counter.
“Her.”
Caleb glanced over with a bored expression then back at his friend. “Her face looks like she fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down.”
Hugh sniggered. “Yeah, but those tits. Fucking huge. Can always put a pillow over her face when I bang her.”
I gripped the sugar packet so hard it ripped and spilled all over the table. Someone needed to put a pillow over his head. And push down on it. I’d never liked these guys. Something had always been off about them.
The door opened while I was simultaneously fuming and sweeping sugar crystals into my palm. By the time I lifted my head, Leonn Edrington was dumping his man bag on Caleb and Hugh’s table and slumping down into a chair facing his friends. Which also meant if he looked slightly past them, he’d see me sitting there, eavesdropping.
It had been a decade since we’d last seen each other, but I didn’t think I’d changed so much they wouldn’t recognize me. I’d recognized the three of them easily enough, even though Leonn had put on at least twenty pounds, and Hugh was prematurely balding. Caleb looked exactly the same, the poster boy for wealth and privilege. He hadn’t changed at all. He’d had that air about him since we’d started kindergarten together.
Hugh flicked his head towards the barista. “Whatya think? Hot or not? I vote yes. Caleb votes too ugly to be fuckable.”
Leonn glanced over, but he was clearly distracted by something else because the blonde didn’t hold his attention for more than a second, and he didn’t answer his friend’s question.
Caleb cocked his head. “What’s wrong with you?”
Leonn glared at him. “What’s wrong with me? Maybe if you ever answered your fucking phone, you’d know. I’ve been calling you!”
Caleb glanced down at his cell and shrugged. “Been on calls most of the day.”
“Yeah, well, lucky you, that your morning was so sweet and calm. Want to know how my morning went?” He didn’t wait for either of the men to answer. “I just spent the morning in lockdown at the hospital after that little bitch you brought us accused me of raping her.”
I couldn’t help it. I glanced up. I had to know if they were talking about Rebel.
The man’s face was mottled pink and purple in his outrage.
It probably matched mine. If the waitress hadn’t come over and placed my coffee down on the table in front of me, I might have flipped it.
Hugh laughed, and when Caleb turned side-on to look at him, I could see the amusement on his face too.
Leonn glared at them both. “It’s not fucking funny! The boyfriend is massive, and he was wearing a Slayers jacket. He went on a rampage through the entire hospital searching for me.”
Definitely Rebel and Fang then.
Caleb took a sip of his drink before he answered. “Well, you’re still alive. So what do you want me to do about it?”
“I don’t know. Something! If she’s going around accusing me, then what makes you think she’s not going to say the same about the two of you? We were all there. What if she goes to the cops?”
Caleb sat back, folding his arms across his chest. “Then we’ll sue her for slander. Watch how quick she changes her tune then. They always do. She knows she’s just a Saint View slut. Nobody is going to believe her against us. Now can we talk about something more interesting? Like my Halloween party?”
I couldn’t hear any more of it. I pushed my chair back, cringing when it made a grating, scraping noise across the tiled floor.
All three men turned to me.
Caleb was the first to recognize me. “Vaughn?”
I shoved my fingers in the pockets of my jeans and tried to act surprised, like I hadn’t just heard every word of their conversation. “Caleb? Shit, hey. It’s been a long time.” I let my gaze slide to the other two men. “Leonn. Hugh. The three of you still hang out?”
Caleb nodded. “Yeah, from time to time. College friends are the best kind, right? Not that we’ve heard from you in forever.”
I rubbed the back of my neck like I was embarrassed. “Yeah, well. I moved to California after graduation. Got married. Haven’t been back since. You guys never left?”
The three of them shook their heads, but the other two let Caleb do the talking.