10 Years (Time for Love 5)

I turned, keeping one arm wrapped around his waist as we began to walk down the street toward the Main Street area, where the restaurants and bars were.

We walked at a leisurely pace, chatting and laughing, and I was struck with how nice it was, the four of us together. I had a moment of longing. Regret that we’d all let so much time go past, when we could have been this way all along, but I quickly swept it aside. What was the point in wallowing in regret, when the good moments were happening right now?

Chapter Twenty-Four ~ Craig

Present Day (20 years old)

The crowded pub was alive with music, chatter, and Rugby playing on the hanging TVs. Like most of the other bars in our college town, you had to be eighteen to enter the bar, and although the legal age to drink was twenty-one, it wasn’t enforced unless there was a series problem.

One of the perks of college life, I guess.

We weaved our way through the crowd, and when I noticed some people getting up from a table in the back corner, I shouted to Liam and pointed in that direction. He nodded, then redirected and led the three of us back to the table.

As Liam, Aliyah, and Gwen scooted into the booth, I leaned in and said, “It’ll probably be faster if I go to the bar. What do you want?”

I went to the bar and picked up a couple of Guinness’s for Liam and me, and Black and Tans for the girls. I’d just realized that I didn’t have enough hands to carry four mugs when Liam placed his hand on the bar.

“Need some help?”

“Yeah, thanks,” I said with a grin for my friend.

Once we were seated comfortably with our beers in front of us, a waitress came around with shots and asked, “Wanna turn those into Irish Car Bombs?”

I looked around the table, and when everyone nodded, I passed some cash to the waitress and watched as she placed the shots in front of each of us. We all took long drinks of our beer to make room, then Liam asked, “Ready?”

Once everyone was ready, we dropped the shots of half whiskey, half Irish cream, into our beers and tilted our heads back to down the milkshake-flavored beverage. Liam and I finished first, and I wiped the foam off of my upper lip as I watched Gwen struggle to put hers down.

When she took the last sip and put the mug down with a wince, I chuckled.

“First timer?”

Gwen brought her eyes to mine and grinned back.

“That was delicious!”

“Dangerously so,” I responded. “Liam and I have stumbled home man

y a night after a few of those.”

“Let’s have another one,” Aliyah said when she finally finished hers.

“Probably better to pace ourselves,” Liam told her. “Let the first one hit you, then see how you feel. They tend to sneak up on you.”

“Okay,” Aliyah said, looking up at him with adoring eyes. When she scooted over to snuggle into his side, I figured she was already starting to feel the effect.

“You good?” I asked Gwen, who had the beginnings of a perma-grin on her face.

“Yup,” she replied with an exaggerated nod, and I figured I’d have to try and ensure that was her only Irish Car Bomb of the night.

“You want another drink? Water?”

“Yeah, but I’ll get it this time,” she responded, tugging on Aliyah’s arm to get her to go with her.

I got up to let them out of the booth, then sat back down and turned to my friend.

“I don’t think they drink a lot.”

Liam laughed and responded, “I agree, bro. This may end up being a shorter night than we thought.”