Beyond the Point(70)

Avery tapped her spoon against her glass. “Okay, my turn.” She stood, straightened her black silk top, and tucked her hair behind her ears. She was horrible at improvising, especially when she was a little bit drunk. But if she couldn’t get sentimental now, then when?

“To West Point. The place that brought us all together,” Avery said. “West Point took a lot from us, but it gave us each other. And for that, I’m grateful.”

“Here, here!” Dani said, looking shocked by the softness of Avery’s toast.

Locke picked up where Avery had left off: “And to all the eighteen-year-old assholes who are finishing their applications and have no idea what they’re signing up for.”

“Here, here!” said Tim, raising his glass.

The toast ended and Dominic sighed heavily. “Well, I’m stuffed,” he said.

“Amanda, your pie was incredible,” offered Hannah. “I wish I could make pie from scratch. Believe me, I’ve tried.”

“I can show you how to do it,” said Amanda. “It’s actually pretty simple. Nothing compared to all this. I still can’t get over the meal, Dani. The sweet potatoes! That acorn squash was divine. What was that cream sauce on top? Did you make that?”

“Didn’t you see the guy in there earlier?” said Locke. “Dani hired a chef.”

Dani laughed. “Life’s too short to chop onions.”

“Locke has told me so many stories from West Point,” Amanda continued, looking up and down the table. “You guys are in all of them. Especially you, Dani.”

Avery fought the urge to cringe. This chick is so completely oblivious.

“He told me one recently. What was it, Locke? Something about New York City and a tongue ring?”

Locke pointed his fork in Hannah’s direction. “Didn’t Coach Jankovich make you rip it out when you got back?”

“She did,” affirmed Dani. “It bled all over the court at practice.”

Tim leaned forward to look at Hannah, whose face was nearly as red as the wine in Avery’s glass. “Wait a second,” he said. “How do I not know this story? My wife had a tongue ring and I didn’t know it?”

Hannah shook her head in embarrassment. “It was when we were on our little break,” she explained. “Junior year. Locke and some of the other football guys went with us to the city for a twenty-four-hour pass. And you kept telling people . . . what was it?”

“That I was—” Locke started.

“That he’d just been recruited by the Ravens,” finished Dani.

“The Ravens!” exclaimed Avery, bubbling over with laughter. “All the other guys with us were acting like Locke’s bodyguards. Which was annoying, because no guys would come near us.”

Dani picked up where Avery had left off. “So, everywhere we go, doors are opening. Drinks are flowing. And suddenly, we look around and Avery and Hannah are gone—”

“We were there to meet men, not to be protected from them,” added Avery.

Dani continued. “—and no one can find them. And when we finally get back to Grand Central to catch the last train back to West Point, there they are—”

“—and Hannah is holding an ice pack to her mouth,” Avery squeaked, barely able to contain her laughter. “You were, like, drooling and couldn’t speak in full sentences, because your tongue was so swollen.”

“You sanctioned this piercing, Adams?” said Tim, looking at Avery.

“Of course I did!” Avery said, holding up her hands. “I was trying to help her get over you! I guess I failed at that job. She needed help. Before that, she was begging to go to the Today show, all right? I wanted her to live a little.”

Hannah’s mouth opened, like she’d just been stabbed in the back. She pointed across the table at Avery. “You know Katie Couric is my idol!”

They were all laughing hysterically now. But when Avery turned to look at Noah, to ensure that he was having as much fun as the rest of them, he’d vanished from the table.

“HEY, WHY’D YOU leave?”

She found Noah on the balcony outside, talking on his cell phone and smoking a cigarette. The river was black, like the sky. Once she stepped outside to join him, he quickly ended the call with a brief, “Yep, love you too.” Stuffing his cell phone in his pocket with one hand, Noah put out his cigarette on the railing with the other, then pulled Avery in for a kiss.

“You know I hate it when you do that,” she said.

Smoking was a disgusting, carcinogenic habit. But then again, his bad-boy persona was part of the ethos that had suckered her in. “Who were you talking to?” she asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

“My mom,” he said. “I was wishing her a happy Thanksgiving.”

Avery checked her watch. “Aren’t they still on a plane?”

Noah nodded, looked down at his feet, and rubbed out an imaginary cigarette on the ground with his toe. “Yeah, it was delayed.”

“Oh. That sucks. I bet your brother’s pissed.”

“Yeah. They’ll be all right.” Noah reached for her waist and pulled her close to his body. “You ready to head out of here?”

“It’s only eight o’clock. Dani has a whole game night planned or something.”