Page 326 of Blackwood

Cal’s already laughing. “Some guy Bells met at the concert. Invited us to a bonfire after party.”

“He was nice,” I say sweetly.

“He was clingy,” Cade mutters.

Ellie grins. “Cade went full-on bodyguard mode when Tucker kept trying to dance with her.”

Lex’s eyes cut to Cade. “Really?”

Cade shrugs, smooth. “Didn’t like the way he kept touching her.”

I glance between them, biting back a laugh. “Babe, you shoved the guy into a hay bale, went full on Lex-mode and everything.”

“Good job, babe. Making me proud,” Lex hums, amused. “So what happened to this Tucker guy?” he asks, eyes flicking to me.

I lean back into his chest, swirling the ice in my glass. “No idea.”

“She ghosted him,” Ellie grins.

Lex’s mouth twitches. “You ghosted a bull rider, baby?”

“He said I had buckle bunny potential,” I reply. “I panicked.”

Cal snorts. “He sent you that belt buckle in the mail.”

Cade arches a brow. “And you kept it.”

“It was cute!” I protest. “I wore it with my cutoff shorts.”

Ellie fans herself. “It was a look.”

Lex groans under his breath. “Jesus Christ, baby, are you talking about the one you wore—”

“Yep,” Cade says cutting him off and smirking.

Lex sets down his glass with a thud. “That buckle’s not surviving the week. When we get back home, it burns.”

Cade leans back, smug as hell. “Easy, babe. You’re gonna break your glass.”

“Not if I break this Tucker fucker first,” Lex growls as laughs break out around the table.

“Pretty sure that was the last time I saw you before you disappeared off to Wexley and fell for this guy,” I say, nodding between Cade and Lex. “We barely talked at all my senior year.”

Cade’s smile falters just slightly. “Shit. You’re right.” His eyes flick over mine, softer now. “I think I was so wrapped up in school and everything else I didn’t even notice how far apart we got.”

That’s when Clay raises his glass, the soft clink drawing everyone’s attention.

“Alright everyone, glasses up. To the ones we’ve lost,” he says, voice steady. “To the ones who fought their way back. And to the ones who walked in later but still made this place feel like home.” He looks around the table, gaze lingering just a second longer on Lex. “May it hold.”

Glasses lift. Drinks swirl. Crystal kisses crystal.

And as the sound fades, Lex leans in—his lips brushing my temple, voice low enough only Cade and I can hear.

“Home,” he whispers.

Chapter 84

BELLA