Grabbing the bottle of tequila, he nodded in Jax’s direction. “He’ll be down to Shepherd before the week is out.”

A grin tugged at my lips as I stepped back, giving him access to the rack of glasses. “Yeah, I’m not making that kind of bet unless I get to say yes, he’ll be down there.”

Nick laughed softly, which was another strange sound, because it was also something he rarely did. I didn’t know what his deal was, he could be moody and he was really bad boyfriend material, but I liked him. “Hey,” I said. “Guess what?”

He raised a brow.

“Banana.”

One side of his lips kicked up. “Is that like a code word for something?”

“Nope. Just felt like I needed to say it.” I grabbed a towel and swiped up a bit of spilled liquor. “But wouldn’t that be a weird safe word during BDSM play? Like the chick yelling banana in the middle of sex? That would be so awkward.”

Nick stared at me.

“I read this book once where the girl yelled cat right before they were about to get some bow-­chicka-­bow-­wow,” I told him. “It was high-­larious.”

“Okay,” he murmured before wandering away.

Jax was standing by the bar, both brows raised. “What in the hell are you two talking about?”

I grinned at him and Calla. “Safe words used during BDSM.”

Calla’s eyes widened. “Um, all right, wasn’t expecting that.”

A giggle escaped me, and in the moment, I felt a lot lighter than I had the whole day. “You two want something to drink?” I looked at Calla and smiled like the Joker on meth. “How about tequila?”

She drew back, and I almost expected her to hiss at me. “Hell no. I don’t want any of that devil’s juice.”

Jax chuckled as he dropped his arm over her shoulders and tucked her against his side, almost protectively. And that brought forth an aww moment from me. “I don’t know. It’s kind of cute when you cuddle a bottle,” he said.

Her cheeks flushed as she placed a hand on his lower stomach. “I think I’ll just stay away from that.”

I ended up forking over a Bud Light for him and a hard lemonade for her. “Like the shirt,” Calla commented as she cradled the bottle close to her pouted rosy lips. “I’m gonna miss you and your shirts.”

“I’m going to miss you, too!” I shrieked, and if I could actually climb over the bar, I would’ve thrown myself on her. “But you’re coming back, right? We have like joint custody of you.”

She laughed. “I’ll be back before you know it. You won’t even miss me.”

But I would totally miss her.

“I’m tagging along with her when she comes back.” Tess appeared beside her, smoothing a hand down the glossy length of her dark hair. “I like it here.”

Calla glanced over to where Jase was talking to Cam. “I hope you aren’t planning to leave him behind, because I don’t think that will work out well for you.”