As lame as it was to admit, I hadn’t been to a bar since that night all those years ago, and knowing it would be the first time I’d stepped into one had me dwelling on how my last trip to a bar had turned out. Sitting in my office, I was thrown back to that night.

Katie held my gaze for a moment and then uncrossed her slender, bare arms from her bedazzled boobs. She reached for the drink she’d brought with her over to where I was sitting. “How are you even in this bar? You’re only, like, eighteen.”

“Twenty,” I corrected her with a sigh. I looked sixteen on a good day, but tonight . . . tonight I thought I’d looked my age. “I’m actually twenty.”

“Still not of legal drinking age.” The little sparkles and beads jiggled as she lifted the double shot and tossed it back in one impressive swallow. “If Jax or Calla catch you in here, they’re going to flip.”

Calla wasn’t at the bar tonight. At least I hadn’t seen her, and Jax didn’t seem to have noticed me yet. Not exactly surprising. I tended to blend right in.

The door opened and some guy strode in, shouting Brock’s name. I tensed and then deflated when Brock pushed away from the bar. “Hey!” he shouted in return. “Where’ve you been, man?”

“Yeah.” Katie shook her head. “You sure you don’t want to me walk you out right now?”

I nodded, not exactly trusting myself to speak at the moment, because there was a good chance I might start hurling curse words at everyone and anything.

Katie walked over to where I sat. Her fruity perfume reminded me of the drinks my mom drank whenever we went to the beach. She kissed my cheek. “Tonight’s not going to be any different, Jilly. I know these things.” Straightening, she tapped her finger on the side of her head. “It’s a gift, but right now, it’s a curse. He still sees you the way he did when he took you to prom. That’s not changing tonight. You should go home.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. That hurt—really hurt, cutting deep into my chest, through bone and marrow.

Katie left then, and I sat on the stool for several moments, not moving and barely breathing as I watched Brock. I’d barely gotten a chance to talk to him since I got here. He’d seen me. He’d looked at me in surprise and he’d eyed me—eyed me up and down. Brock had hugged me, and then he told me we’d be leaving soon. Then Colt and Reece showed up, and I’d retreated to the table before they remembered I wasn’t twenty-one.