I shook my head and laughed a little over his form of apology. Besides, the brightness of his black eye helped me get over it a lot. “Nothing to forgive, man,” I told him. “Like you said, we’re even now.”
His shoulders eased, but then he nodded. “Fuck yeah. As long as you stop flirting with Caroline just to annoy me.”
“Oh, hell, no. What would be the fun in that?” When I caught sight of his wife nearby, watching us, I motioned her forward so I could sling an arm around her waist and cuddle her into my side. “Hey there, beautiful. Why don’t you give the best man a little sugar?”
With a grin, Caroline pressed her lips to my jaw and hugged me closer before Ten growled and pulled her away. “Okay. Enough, asshole.” Then he pointed at me and scowled. “That’s it, you’re on my shit list again.”
I laughed, glad we were really back to being friends. Then I turned and caught sight of Remy next to the stage, watching me interact with Caroline and Ten. My grin died and lungs expanded tight against my ribcage. But then someone nudged her arm, taking her attention away from me, and I had to scowl at the big guy standing at the sound system with her.
Who the fuck was he?
I wasn’t jealous. Fuck no. But I might’ve curled my hands into fists as he shifted closer to her. Too close.
As Remy answered him, her hands moving with a flourish, I found myself wandering toward them, unable to stay away.
She didn’t see me approach—her back was still to me as she rattled off shit in Spanish to the guy. But he caught sight of me, and his glancing at me over her shoulder made her turn to look as well.
She yelped when our gazes met. Pressing her hand against her heart, she lurched backward and right into the chest of the big guy, who clasped her arm to steady her. When my gaze went to his hand on her, she breathed out my name. “Asher! Uh, what’re you doing over here? I was supposed to stay away from you.”
I looked into her wide, worried brown eyes. When I didn’t say anything but shifted my attention to the guy with his hand still on her arm, she cleared her throat and stepped away from him so she could introduce him.
“This, uh, this is my cousin Tomás. Big T. He’s agreed to be my assistant tonight. You might remember him. He played the guitar at Castañeda’s when you were there and I sang...” She didn’t bother to finish the explanation, as if she feared the reminder would pique my temper.
I nodded to Tomás, refusing to believe it was relief ballooning in my chest as my tensed muscles relaxed. “How’s it going?”
He sent me a head bob in return. “¿Qué pasa?”
Forgetting him, I turned back to Remy. “What’s wrong?”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Wrong? Why do you think anything’s wrong?” She darted her cousin a quick glance before she turned back to me. Then she sniffed as if my question were completely ridiculous. “We’re fine. Go back to your friends and have fun.” She even nudged my arm to get me to move along. “I’m sure they hate me enough already without me hogging any of your time away from them.”
I resisted her nudging. “What makes you think they hate you?”
“Well...” Her brow knit with confusion. “You hate me, so wouldn’t they hate me too, in loyalty to you? Besides, I also lied to them about who I really was. It seems only logical.”
I opened my mouth to tell her I didn’t hate her. But then stopped myself. Was I supposed to hate her after telling her I never wanted anything to do with her again, after publically rejecting her the way I had last night?
An uncomfortable feeling slithered up my spine. Uncertainty and guilt mixed with longing. As much as I wanted to hold on to my anger and hurt, I really couldn’t outright hate her. Had I been too hasty to completely turn her away? Damn it, I didn’t like this sensation of wanting to be closer to her and yet not trusting anything I wanted.
So I settled with telling her, “They don’t hate you. If anything, they’re rooting for you and think I should forgive you already.”
“Really?” Her face lit with excitement as she brought her hands to her chest and glanced across the bar. “Aww...I love your friends. You know, you should listen to them. They have your best interest at heart.”
I couldn’t help it, I cracked a smile. But then I faltered. Damn it. I didn’t want to be charmed by her. Remy had betrayed me in one of the most embarrassing, demeaning ways possible. Curling my grin into a snarl, I said, “Stop changing the subject. What’s really wrong?”
She scowled back and made a sound of frustration. “Seriously, how could you tell anything was wrong?”
Because I’d seen Sticks distressed before, and Remy was showing similar behavior now. “What’s wrong?” I repeated.
Her shoulders deflated as she scowled at me and reluctantly admitted, “I can’t get the sound system to turn on.”
My brows furrowed. “Have you tried the main power switch?”
I usually kept it on because it had a sleep mode, and I didn’t recall turning it off last night after karaoke, but I didn’t remember much from last night, and with my forgetfulness...anything was possible.
As I reached for the switch, Remy scowled. “Oh, gee. Why didn’t I think of that idea? Yes, I flipped the damn power switch!”
I grinned because her response was so typical Sticks. It made me miss my friend. But my grin fell when the system didn’t respond to my command.