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“Actually, yeah,” he replied. “I just signed on to Lincoln Erickson’s new project.” His hand still lingered on her arm.
“Oh, how wonderful! I just met his wife, Harper. She’s in the book club I joined.” Tris beamed at him.
That was enough of that.
Possession hit me hard. I wanted to deck my old friend. He must have sensed it because he quickly backed up. I knew Luke wouldn’t do anything, but right now his natural charm and pretty boy good looks that made fans drool were pissing me off.
I’d warned all of them to be cool or we’d have problems. Jack would be my biggest issue, followed by Archer.
Not Luke.
“Funny, after all this time how you pop up again, Tris.” Jack scowled, his brown eyes hard and unforgiving. His large physique was intimidating on a good day, and I didn’t like how he forced himself into Tris’s space. She wasn’t an opposing player he was trying to wrangle a puck from. I understood that hockey players were some of the most loyal friends on and off the ice, and that he was trying to look out for my best interests, but it was a bit too much.
She stiffened beside me, surprised at his reaction. I wrapped my arm around her waist, silencing Jack with my glare. “Play nice,” I warned.
Jack grunted a response that was neither affirmative or negative. But at least he sat down.
Archer seemed to be taking his cue from Jack, but in the opposite way. He pretty much ignored her. “Hey.” His brown gaze barely registered our arrival before he went back to drinking his beer.
There were days I both loved and hated that Jack and Archer were so close.
Tris gave him a strained smile. “Hey.”
I tugged her into the seat next to me and murmured, “You okay?”
“Of course.” She swallowed hard and turned her attention to the front of the room where the first act was taking the stage.
While we watched the up-and-coming band play, the next hour was a strange mix of nostalgia and tension. The guys were civil enough to Tris, but I felt a clear underlying current of resentment. And if her tight shoulders were any indication, so did she.
They’d been there for me to pick up the pieces after I left. Not that she knew this.
My manager approached. A look of concern crossed his features. “Mr. Hook. I’m so sorry to bother you. We need you in back. The wrong shipment arrived and our distributor is giving us the runaround.”
“I’ll be right there.” I apologized to Tris and gave each of my friends a stern look. “Be nice.”
“It’ll be fine,” Tris reassured me, although the way she didn’t meet my eyes told another story.
I hated leaving her, but didn’t have a choice. If I couldn’t trust my childhood friends with her, they’d regret it by the time I was done with them.
Chapter Twenty-Five
TRISSA
During a break, a local DJ stepped in. I took a gulp of my beer and faced our mutual childhood friends. Jack, Archer, and Luke had been more than clear how much disdain they held for me. I was done with their snarky side comments and their undisguised dirty looks, which had only gotten worse in the ten minutes since Killian left. “Okay, let’s lay it out on the table. What’s your problem?”
They seemed to be just as surprised as I was by my blunt question. A sense of satisfaction swept over me at speaking my mind. It felt more right than every other time I’d backed down in life over the last few years.
Jack shrugged. “Peter’s a dick. He fucked Killian over. Why should we welcome you back with open arms just because you’ve convinced our friend here to blindly help you?”
“No he didn’t. Why do you think that?” I gripped my chair and shifted so I could face Jack head-on.
He eyed me with suspicion. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. The record deal, for one.”
“What about the deal? I get that he and Peter had planned their music career together, but it’s not Peter’s fault that Umbriawanted to sign him separately. Just because Killian turned down their offer doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t have all been happy for Peter.” Why did they have to be such assholes about this?
Archer snorted as he rubbed at his five o’clock shadow.
I whipped my head around to glare at him. “What’s that for?” And why did I feel like I was dropped into the middle of an episode of the Twilight Zone?