Reece followed, spotting Brock’s hand around mine, and his smile kicked up a notch. I could feel my cheeks heat as the guys did their weird one-arm man-hug thing and then I got the full hugs. From both of them!

“It’s been forever since I’ve seen you,” Reece said in my good ear, drawing back. “You look amazing.”

“Thank you.”

Colton moved in next, and I heard Brock grumble something under his breath that caused Reece to laugh. “You doing good?” Colton asked. “Abby said you are, but you know how she is, she worries about everyone.”

“I’m doing good. Truly,” I said, pulling back, feeling the bitter bite of shame. There were long gaps in time when I didn’t talk to Abby, talk to anyone really, and I knew she had worried. “Where is Abby?”

Colton looked over his shoulder and tilted his chin up. “The girls have a seat back . . . there they are.” With a hand on my shoulder, he pointed to one of the large round tables toward the back. “You see them?”

Stretching up, I thought I saw the back of Abby’s head. I turned to Brock. “I’m going to go over and say hi.”

“Cool,” he replied, but as I started to step away, he caught my arm and hauled me back. My hand landed on his chest. “But first.”

I opened my mouth, but whatever I was about to say was cut off with his kiss. It was quick but deep, and he kissed me like no one was standing right in front of us. When he let go, I swayed a bit and his grin was smug.

“I’ll swing over there in a bit,” he said.

“Okay,” I whispered, feeling dazed. There was a good chance I would’ve agreed to anything at this point.

Brock lowered his mouth to my left ear and said, “Fucking cute as hell.”

“What?” And then I realized he was acknowledging that I was still standing there and staring up at him like a doofus. Like a doofus who Brock found “fucking cute,” but still a doofus. “I’ll go now.”

Brock chuckled.

Turning around, I wiggled my fingers at the incredibly hot cop duo and then navigated the throng of people. The partial hearing made me feel slightly unbalanced as I walked through the crowd.

I rounded the set of high-top tables and saw them. Abby was sitting at the table, toying with a straw in her drink. Standing beside her was Roxy, a bartender at Mona’s who was married to Reece. I didn’t know Roxy too well, but she was hilarious, extremely quick-witted and very talented. The woman could paint anything.