Best Friends Don't Kiss

“I didn’t see that.”

“Because you were too busy rushing us in the door and away from Callie and her cronies.”

He’s not wrong.

The instant we stepped into the venue, I spotted the three of them standing just to the left of the sign-in table, and I made sure we didn’t dillydally with the damn name tags. It was hard enough getting myself to walk inside this shindig. If I would’ve got stuck in a conversation with those vipers within the first five minutes of arriving, my flight-or-fight response would’ve kicked in.

And my track record doesn’t exactly point to hanging around and fighting.

“Okay, everyone!” Connie smiles toward the crowd. “Tonight’s king and queen are…” She opens the envelope in her hand, and that smile only grows. “Oh my gosh! This feels like senior prom all over again! Tonight’s king and queen are Kyle and Callie!”

Oy vey. Of freaking course, it is.

“Oh my goodness!” Callie exclaims from the floor, but she doesn’t waste time grabbing her high school sweetheart and now-husband by the arm and dragging him up onto the stage.

Though, while Callie bounces around with Connie and Carrie, Kyle looks…annoyed. Or maybe, bored? Honestly, I can’t be sure, but the firm line of his mouth doesn’t exactly give the appearance of happy.

“That dude looks miserable,” Luke whispers into my ear, a soft chuckle on his lips. “Frankly, he looks almost as miserable as you looked when I pulled into the parking lot.”

I snort at that.

Crowns are placed on Callie’s and Kyle’s heads, and the crowd below them offers hesitant applause. The queen waves and smiles, while the king just kind of stands there.

“Kyle, blink twice if you need us to save you from this painful cliché,” Luke teases into my ear, and I nearly spit out my punch, his words and the absurdity of this situation almost too much to bear.

“Now the king and queen will have their first dance,” Carrie proudly announces into the mic, and besides Callie and Kyle on the dance floor, it’s pretty much a mass exodus back to the tables.

Luke wraps his arm around the back of my chair and smirks down at me. “You know, I did manage to get my vote in.”

I tilt my head to the side. “Yeah?”

“Oh yeah.” He nods and presses a kiss to the corner of my mouth.

“And who did you vote for?”

“Well, like, Callie and Kyle, of course,” he replies, mimicking a Valley girl voice. “I mean, like, they just, like, totally had to win.”

“Shut up.” I giggle and roll my eyes, but Luke leans closer, getting all up in my personal space.

“I’m kidding.”

“I knew you didn’t vote, you lunatic.”

“Oh, I voted. Just not for Callie.” He smirks and presses a kiss to my forehead. “I voted for Ava Lucie. The girl of my fucking dreams.”

Goodness. Be still my heart.Luke“Uh, nice crown, man,” I say to the crowned king of the evening, otherwise known as Ava’s old archenemy’s husband. “I guess congrats are in order.”

We both stand at the bar, waiting for the bartender to take our drink orders.

And, yeah, I’m being a bit of a sarcastic dick right now, but I can’t help myself. I’ve heard too many old high school stories from Ava to want to play nice with people who tried to make her teenage years hell.

Though, to my surprise, his reaction is annoyed.

But not at me.

“My fucking wife, man.” Kyle shakes his head on a sigh. And then, without hesitation, he takes the gold crown off his head and sets it down on top of the bar. “I’ll be glad when this damn reunion is over.”

While I didn’t exactly see that coming, I can’t say I’m surprised.

I mean, the guy looked like he was being held captive against his will when he was on the stage and a woman in a pastel-pink dress was shoving that gold plastic crown on his head.

“You’re Ava Lucie’s boyfriend, right?” he asks, and I nod, holding out my hand to shake his.

“Luke London.”

“Kyle Baccus,” he officially introduces himself. “Nice to meet you, man.”

Once the bartender takes my drink order, I turn around with a fresh glass of rum and Coke for me and a punch for Ava and note that she has been commandeered into a conversation with Callie and her cronies.

Uh oh.

But before I step in as her white knight, I stay put and admire the view that is Ava Lucie all dressed up. Her legs look a mile long in shiny black stilettos, and the black dress she chose only accentuates her insanely sexy body.

Goddamn, that body of hers. It does things to me.

“You know.” Kyle’s voice fills my ears and pulls me from my Ava fantasies. “I was surprised Ava ended up coming tonight. Callie was too, to be honest.”

“Why’s that?” I question, unsure of where he’s trying to take this conversation.