Beautiful Oblivion (The Maddox Brothers, #1)(60)

By the time I left Skin Deep for the day, I had extensive line work on my left shoulder, and a new nose piercing. Hazel was right. It was tiny; dainty, even. I would have never thought to get a nose ring, but I loved it.

“See you tomorrow, Hazel,” I said, walking toward the door.

“Thank you for preserving my sanity, Cami!” Hazel said, waving. “Next time we’re slow, we’ll put gauges in your ears.”

“Uh . . . no,” I said, pushing the door.

I started the Smurf, and then Trenton jogged up to my door, signaling for me to roll down my window. When I did, he leaned in and kissed my lips.

“You weren’t even going to say good-bye?” he asked.

“Sorry,” I said. “I’m a little out of practice with this whole thing.”

Trenton winked. “Me, too. But it won’t take long.”

I narrowed my eyes. “When was the last time you were in a relationship?”

The look on Trenton’s face was one I couldn’t quite read. “A few years. What?” he said. I had looked down and chuckled, and Trenton tucked his chin, forcing me to make eye contact.

“I didn’t know you’d ever dated anyone.”

“Contrary to popular belief, I am capable of being a one-woman man. Just has to be the right woman.”

My mouth pulled to the side in a half-smile. “Why didn’t I know about this? Seems like the whole campus would have been talking about it.”

“Because it was new.”

I thought for a moment, and then my eyes widened. “Was it Mackenzie?”

“For about forty-eight hours,” Trenton said. His eyes lost focus, and then they snapped back to mine. He leaned in and gave me a soft peck on the mouth. “See you later?” he asked.

I nodded, rolled up my window, and then backed out of the parking lot, and pulled into the Red parking lot fifteen minutes later. The roads weren’t getting better, and I wondered if the Red would be just as dead as Skin Deep.

Everyone’s vehicles except Jorie’s were parked side by side, leaving one space open between the employees’ cars and Hank’s. I ran into the side entrance and rubbed my hands together as I hurried to my stool at the east bar. Hank and Jorie were standing on the other side together, hugging and kissing more than usual.

“Cami!” Blia said, smiling.

Gruber and Kody were sitting together, and Raegan sat on the other side of me. Immediately I sensed that she was being quiet but didn’t dare ask when Kody was nearby.

“I thought you weren’t here, Jorie,” I said. “I didn’t see your car.”

“I rode with Hank,” she said with a mischievous smile. “Car-pooling is definitely a plus for shacking up.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Yeah?” I said, standing up, opening my arms wide. “She said yes? You moved in together?”

“Yeah!” they both said in unison. They both leaned over the bar and hugged me.

“Yay! Congratulations!” I said, squeezing them. My head was between both of theirs, and even though I considered the employees of the Red my work family, they felt more like the real thing than my own family did lately.

Everyone else hugged and offered their congratulations. They must have been waiting for me to get there before they announced it so they could tell all of us at the same time.

Hank pulled out several bottles of wine—the good stuff from his personal stash—and began to pour glasses. We were all celebrating. Everyone but Raegan. I sat next to her after a while, and nudged her arm.

“What’s up, Ray?” I asked quietly.

A small smile touched her lips. “Nice tat.”

“Thanks,” I said, turning to the side, showing my tiny nose ring. “Got this, too.”

“Wow. Your dad’s going to shit a wildcat.”

“Spill it,” I said.

She sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to ruin the party.”

I made a face. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s happening again,” she said, her shoulders sagging. “Brazil’s getting busy. He’s made it pretty clear that he’d rather be with his frat brothers and at football parties than with me. He had that Abby chick’s birthday party at his apartment last month and didn’t even invite me. I found out about it from Kendra Collins last night. I mean . . . really? We got into it bad today. He said almost all the things he said last time.”

I raised an eyebrow. “That’s shit, Ray.”

She nodded and looked down at her hands in her lap, and then, for less than a second, glanced over at Kody. She laughed once, without humor. “Daddy loves Brazil. All I hear about at the house is”—her eyebrows pulled together and her voice deepened to emulate her father—“Jason Brazil would be accepted into the Naval Academy in a heartbeat. Jason Brazil would be a contender for the SEAL program . . . blah, blah, blah. Daddy thinks Jason would make a good soldier.”

“I wouldn’t let that cloud your judgment. Sounds like sending him off to the Naval Academy is a good way to get rid of him.”

Raegan began to laugh, but then a tear fell down her cheek, and she leaned into my shoulder. I put my arm around her, and the celebration half a bar away instantly died down. Kody appeared on Raegan’s other side.