Dani’s brows curl in, her beautiful face turning from worried to confused. “Final step to what?”

I hear Liam’s parting words filter through my mind and with a smile I tell them, “Grab the rope.”

AFTER THE HEAVINESS OF OUR conversation earlier, the girls all agree that we need to lighten things up. Mainly, Dani decides that we need to have some time to just relax and laugh.

So that leads us to now. Another attempt at girl’s night, this time it’s more like girl’s night plus chaperones.

We decided to head to a local bar that caters to more of a mature crowd and not so many college kids looking to get drunk.

Mike’s, has been one of the places that we’ve often spent a Friday or Saturday night. The music is always good and the bar is big enough that a group our size has enough room to lounge. The bar opened about four years ago, from what I understand, and since its opening night, has been one of the top karaoke joints north of Atlanta.

I never joined in on the actual singing, but it really was too much fun to watch some of our crew get up there and belt it out like they didn’t have a care in the world.

Dani called Lyn and Lila to see if they wanted to come before we left my house to head over to the Reid’s to drop Molly off with their parents. Lyn was all in, but Lila had plans already and promised to come next time. When we got to Dani’s parents, Cohen was already there and after we said goodbye to the kids, we headed out. When we got to Mike’s, Zac, Zac’s little brother Jax and his girlfriend, Ivie, had been waiting in the huge back corner. It was blocked off like some kind of VIP area, holding two couches and four chairs that formed a closed off square.

Zac, always ready to have a good time, was surprisingly quiet without his sidekick, Nate. We got a chin lift from Jax, but otherwise he was too busy keeping the blush on Ivie’s face. She gave us a wave, but was distracted when Jax shoved his hand up her shirt. They were sickly cute, high school sweethearts that everyone was convinced would be married before they graduated college.

I used to see them and just hurt with how close they were. Same with Dani and Cohen, but now—it’s so much easier to see their love and not feel a pang of depression wrap tightly around my neck. The fact that I can see them now and feel nothing but happiness that they’ve found that person that makes them whole, is a testament for how far I’ve come in the last year.

I look around our little corner, sip my third heavy-handed drink, and let myself enjoy this newfound sense of life. One where I’m able to laugh a little easier and sit a little straighter without that damn cloak of pain holding me back. I can’t explain the way that feeling makes me feel. It’s like I’m reaching for something and I’m just a touch away from it. Like my glass is just a breath away from being full. I guess that’s part of healing the gap, in a sense. I’m almost there—so close—and I’ve never felt better.

Well, that’s a lie.

I close my eyes when Liam’s face pops in my head. His eyes bright with happiness and that smile that makes me weak at the knees blinding me with his power. I let my lips tip up with the thought and slowly let my lids open.

And gasp.

“Boo, darlin’.”

I look down at my almost full glass, trying to figure out if I had enough drinks that I’m starting to hallucinate. Surely I’m not drunk enough to be conjuring up Liam’s face just a breath away from my own.

The couch dips and I move my eyes from my drink to the large body that joined me. My view is blocked temporarily by a tan arm that is corded with muscle as it comes up slowly. My eyes follow the limb as it moves up and over before I lose it and feel it’s warmth like a burn when the weight settles against my shoulders. When I move my gaze down from where the arm had been, I see Liam’s handsome face so close to my own.

He doesn’t say a word before his handsome face moves and his lips touch mine lightly. “Hi,” he breathes against my lips.

“Hey.” My voice comes out on a wisp of air. I know with the music floating around us that there’s no way he could hear me, but his smile grows all the same and I have to shift in my seat when the throbbing starts between my legs.

“Don’t you two look all cozy like? Any room for this stud?”

My eyes don’t leave Liam as he turns and flips off Nate. I study his strong jaw, stubbled with hair. My eyes roam over his skin drinking him in with every inch. When he swallows, his jaw clenches and I can feel my body responding to just that small movement. His hair is stylized in that sexy way, the thickness tamed with whatever product he shoves in it, slightly longer at the top and I just know he effortlessly must run his hands through it, almost as an afterthought while getting ready.