Page 2 of Reunion

Cole:Check the drawer under the microwave

Jason:Already did.

Cole:Okay, well, I didn’t take it.

Jason:Oh, here it is. Was in the junk drawer.

Cole:Great. Is that all?

Jason:Yes. Enjoy the wedding.

Cole:I plan to.

I tucked my phone away and rattled the cubes in my cup. Swallowing the last of a gin and tonic, I let my gaze roam the crowd, engaging in the classic wedding pastime of scouting for a potential hookup. I had no plans to be picky. Easy, down, and dirty were the only things on my wish list.

Our sex life is boring…We’reboring. I think we’ve run our course.

I cringed at the memory. Jason had spoken the words in a way that made it sound like our relationship had been a virus. Maybe it had. Not that it had made the breakup any easier. It was over and done with now, I reminded myself. Time to move on.

I crunched down on a piece of ice, scattering the thoughts, and eyed the guy I’d spotted in the buffet line earlier—a pretty twink with artfully disheveled hair and pouty lips who’d given me a quick but promisingly coy wink before my mom had tasked me with helping Merkle to the buffet.

Now my twink was on the dance floor, shaking his ass enthusiastically with a group of women. He threw his hands in the air and shimmied, hip bumping the petite blonde next to him, then happened to glance up again. When our eyes locked, he gave me a flushed, cheeky smile and clamped down on his lower lip before a returning hip bump threw him off balance and he dissolved into laughter as he flailed to stay upright.

He’d do fine, I decided. If he surprised me by being a top, all the better. I just needed a solid rebound fling, not perfection.

I considered my approach: Join him on the dance floor? Wait until he headed to the bar and refresh my own drink, as well? There would be the required small talk that would hopefully transition into flirting. That would then lead to a few more drinks and, best-case scenario, end with us dirtying up some fresh hotel sheets. It could also be that this twink was more of a cut-to-the-chase kind of guy. I could appreciate that. Or maybe, just maybe,Icould be that kind of guy. I snorted at the thought, because I’d rarely made a first move in my life. Then again, when I considered my current status as sideline wedding creeper…maybe I should go all in. I squared my shoulders and took a deep breath, some opening lines flashing through my mind.

“Very attractive.”

I startled at the nearness and suddenness of the voice even as a prescient flush warmed the back of my neck. Iknewthat voice. A little deeper, a little rougher, and with an added confidence in it that time or profession lent. But I knew it, and it sent an unexpected flutter through my stomach as I swiveled my head to meet its owner and damn near did a double take. Not that I’d expected Dane Miller to be any less handsome than he’d been in high school. Good genes and excellent symmetry rarely evolved badly, but Jesus, there should be some kind of statute of limitations on this man’s attractiveness. Because he was, if possible, light-years hotter than he’d been the last time I’d seen him almost a decade ago. And he’d given me butterflies back then, too.

I’d just been too damned determined not to acknowledge them.

“What?” I said smartly.

“The guy you’re ogling over there, Chase Halstrom. Hardly recognizable, right?” Dane ticked his chin toward my intended hookup, razor-sharp smile softening to a mellow curve that was somehow even more appealing. I quickly tried to catalog the differences between the man standing before me now and the one I’d spent most of my high school years in the company of. He was leaner, the cut of his jaw more pronounced, with those attractive shadows in the hollows of his cheeks broadcasting great bone structure. His eyes were still the stunning slate blue I’d always envied. In short, he was still a masterpiece. To me, at least.

“What?” I repeated. Christ, I did go to school, right? I was capable of speaking English? I blinked away the daze. “That’s Chase Halstrom? Really?” Chase had been filed away in my mind as a shrimpy, bookish type who’d never spoken a single word during the entire year of the senior history class I’d shared with him.

“Mmm.” Dane nodded mildly as he slid his coat from his shoulders and draped it over his arm, and I couldn’t be entirely certain he didn’t know what kind of effect the gesture would have. Generally speaking. Not that he was aiming it at me in particular. But of course I noticed the breadth of his shoulders, the perfect fit of his shirt. My gaze pinged back and forth between Dane and Chase as I tried to compose myself. Dane had an air about him that made me instantly want to square my posture.

He extended his hand smoothly. “Good to see you again. It’s been a while.” He sounded genuine, which I supposed meant we’d be going the diplomatic route, which was perfectly fine. It wasn’t as if I was expecting his eyes to light up with excitement or to dim with fury. We’d been friends in high school and had drifted apart. It happened all the time. A decade later, did anyone really care?

I gripped his hand in return and tried not to imagine those long, agile fingers around my cock. I failed, of course. But that was my fault for coming in hot to a wedding weekend after an extremely long, extremely dry post-breakup spell. My bedroom was a desert wasteland. A knot in a tree might’ve gotten my motor running at this point. “So it has. You live here, right?” I knew the answer but was scrambling for something to say.

“Moved back about five years ago, yeah.” Dane let his arm fall back to his side, gaze shifting over my shoulder. He waved to someone, then turned his attention back to me. “I hear we’re walking down the aisle together tomorrow.”

I barked out a surprised laugh. In going the nontraditional route, Shay had also insisted the best men—hers and my brother’s— walk down the aisle together. “I hear the same. Hopefully you’ll actually be on time for that,” I teased. There we go. That was better. Less stiff. “I heard about your flight. That sucks,” I was quick to tack on when Dane grimaced apologetically, because I knew the delay hadn’t been his fault.

“I’ve always wanted to try out a Mini Cooper, but maybe not for three hours straight. I’m still waiting for the circulation in my legs to return,” he quipped, and then another wide smile broke loose as Shay squealed and cut between us, wrapping her arms around Dane’s neck. Dane swung her in a quick hug and then set her back down as she swiped hair from her forehead.

“You made it! I thought you wouldn’t be in until tomorrow. Did you find another flight?”

“Nope. Everything was grounded, so I rented a car.”

Shay swatted his shoulder. “You didn’t have to do that. You could’ve waited until tomorrow. God, I’m sure it was a zoo.”

“It was absolute chaos,” he confirmed.