“Katie-bear!”
She turned at the sound of the recognizable male voice to see Brent dancing toward them. He had a familiar, boyish smile underneath his mature face. His hairline had receded a bit. Otherwise, he looked exactly the same.
“B!” She shouted, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him. He smelled musky with just a hint of whiskey on his breath.
The Three Musketeers danced in a circle together, their faces radiating pure joy. When the song ended, the crowd roared and clapped. The DJ brought it down a notch and played a slow song. Katie smiled and winked at her friend as Brent held his hand out, asking Stacey to dance, just like old times. It was déjà vu all over again.
Making her way back to the table, she stopped and chatted with a few old friends before settling down to finish her gin and tonic. She recognized the quarterback of the football team surrounded by his same entourage from the past. They were still loud and obnoxious, throwing back bottles of beer with their wives leaning in and talking animatedly among themselves. A mirror ball slowly twirled in the center of the ceiling making the whole room look like it was covered in falling stars. The slow song was nostalgic; her heart suddenly yearned for the glory days of youth when she didn’t have a care in the world. As she sipped and finally relaxed for the first time all day, her eyes wandered over to the entryway where she caught a glimpse of a very handsome man signing something for a couple of women. One of them held up a cell phone and took a selfie with him. She watched, trying to remember who the guy was.
“Ladies? How about another round?” Brent asked while pulling a chair out for Stacey to sit. “Don’t tell me. Cosmo for Stace and ginny juice for Katie-bear?”
Katie laughed. “You know it!” She watched him amble off toward the bar.
Stacey leaned in closely. “He’s staying here tonight. Wanted to know what I was doing after the festivities.”
She eyed her best friend like a mother would to a teenager begging for a sleepover. “You sure about this?”
“Oh, hell yes!” she shrieked, digging through her purse and pulling out her lip gloss.
“Stace? Who is that guy over there?” She pointed toward the entryway and watched the handsome man throw his head back and laugh among the group surrounding him.
Stacey swiveled her body effortlessly to look over her shoulder to where Katie was pointing, recognition immediately crossing her flushed face. She turned back with an eyebrow raised. “Don’t you remember the guy everyone used to call, ‘Cowboy’? That’s him. He’s some big wig in Nashville now or something. You oughta go over and say ‘hey.’ He’s kinda cute, don’t you think?”
Katie propped her head onto her hand and leaned on the table. “That’s ‘Cowboy?’ You mean, Clay Watkins, right? The new kid who came our senior year?”
“Cowboy, Clay, whatever,” Stacey replied. Brent was back at their table handing out drinks, diverting her attention once again.
With her best friend preoccupied, Katie studied Clay from afar. He was a lot taller than she remembered, his lean physique fitting perfectly in black denim. His dark hair was longer than most guys, curling around his ears and neck. His muscles bulged in the tight tee he wore as he shoved his hands into his pockets. She vaguely remembered him from their Senior Variety Show. He was tall and gangly back then; a shy boy who had moved to Atlanta the summer before their senior year. She had felt sorry for him. He kept mostly to himself and it was only during that last week of school where people really took notice of him. The brave boy got up on stage the night of the show with an acoustic guitar and sang a song he had written. It was very John Mayer-ish, and the audience went wild when he finished. She remembered feeling something back then when he performed—something like a premonition that he was going to go far with his amazing talent.
She looked to her right and noticed Brent and Stacey smiling back at her. Brent had his arm stretched across the top of Stacey’s chair. The flashbacks of them as a couple in high school were uncanny.
“What?”
“He’s single, and he’s very successful,” Brent announced with a devilish grin.
Perplexed, Katie leaned back into her chair taking a hefty sip of her drink. “So?”
“Girl! You need to at least say hello. I remember back in the day you were really impressed by his performance.”
“I was?”
Stacey ignored her last comment and turned to Brent, their faces inches apart. “Do you remember the variety show and that stupid dance we did?”
Hip-hop was all the rage when they were seniors and Stacey had somehow talked Brent into joining her on the stage as a faux-bodyguard. Dressed in head-to-toe black and sunglasses, her devoted boyfriend stood during the entire song with his arms crossed while Stacey danced around him. It was hysterical.
“How could I ever forget?” he chuckled. Katie knew right then her best friend was going to get lucky that night by the way they were looking at each other.
“I need the ladies room. Care to join me?” she asked.
Stacey looked up with big, green eyes. “I’m okay right now.” She offered a sweet, innocent smile. Katie knew that naughty look.
“Suit yourself.”
She was glad to be out of the stuffy, loud ballroom and blinking lights, the cooler, air-conditioned hallway a welcome relief. While washing her hands in the restroom, she chatted with another girl who she had shared oceanography class with many years ago. As she pulled open the bathroom door to exit, she nearly collided with Clay Watkins.
“Whoa!” His baritone voice was smooth like butter.
“Oh God, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to exit without looking.” She stepped back and palmed the wall.
