“Where’s Aerie, then?” I asked. “I thought that was how you four always paired off, Cane with Tate, you with Aerie.”
He lifted a shoulder. “It’s…complicated,” he said, watching me roll the speed bag in a quick pattern of lefts and rights. “Aerie had some shit to take care of. We’re catching Emolution together later.”
“Emolution?”
“A local band. They’re doing some cool stuff, I hear, and apparently Aerie is into indie music now, so we’re gonna check ’em out.”
“How long are the girls in town for?”
He shrugged. “I dunno. They were in school, but I guess they’re taking some time off? I haven’t really had a chance to catch up much; we’ve all been too busy. I literally just chatted with Aerie for like five minutes, and she was yammering on about her stupid East Coast gossip most of the time.”
“East Coast gossip, huh?” I laughed. “Sounds awful.”
He nodded, chuckling. “No shit. I literally could not care any less, but it’s her world, so whatever.”
Even the mention of the East Coast had my ears pricking up even as my heart twisted. It had been two weeks and four days—not that I was counting days or hours since I’d seen Eva—and I still couldn’t quite squash the stubborn-ass feelings that kept cropping up whenever I thought of her.
Corin eyed me, an odd expression on his face. “You know, she did mention something that may or may not interest you.”
I stopped the speed bag and cut away from Corin, unwrapping my hands as I headed for the dressing rooms. “If it’s about Eva or whatever, I don’t want to hear it.”
“I think you do, asswipe.”
“I think I don’t, dick-knob.”
He trotted to catch up to me, cut in front, and turned to face me. “Dude, this is me. I give zero fucks about pretty much everything. Yeah?”
I rolled my eyes. “So?”
“So if I’m saying I think you may be interested, I’m not saying it idly.” He twisted a heavy silver ring decorating one of his fingers. “Hear me out, and then do what you want with the info. Just don’t be a petulant fucking child.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and swelled up. “How the shit am I being petulant?”
“I didn’t even say her name,youdid, and you turned all ogre on me. And the fact that you had a hard time even saying her name tells me this information will interest you. You’re storming off, acting all mental and shit. Like, get a grip, bro.”
“I’ll get a grip on your skinny fuckin’ neck is what I’ll get a grip on, pencil-dick.”
He wasn’t bothered by my threat. “Get a shirt on and meet me back at the bar. You’ll wanna hear this, all right?”
“All right, all right.” I waved him off. “Ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes,” he agreed.
It wasn’t until I was back at the bar letting Lucian pour me a beer that I realized Corin may or may not have faked being bored just so he could worm this little talk out of me. The sneaky fucker.
He strolled in seconds after me, buds back in his ears, head bobbing to the beat of whatever he was listening to. He sat down and put his phone away as Luce poured him a beer, and we both took long drinks before he turned on the stool to face me.
“So, dick, what’s this big news?” I started shredding a napkin, hating the nerves I felt, but not able to stop them.
“Aerie and Tate are big into the whole East Coast socialite thing, right? They keep up with the who’s who, and who’s dating who and what’s big news and all that. They’re actually pretty influential in that scene themselves, I guess. They have this blog they do, and Snapchat and Instagram and Twitter accounts with a shitload of followers, and they even have official sponsors and shit.” He saw my warning glare, and took a sip to buy time. “Okay, okay. Whatever. They keep up with this shit, so the info is good, is my point.”
“Just fucking say it, Corin.”
“The talk of the entire coast, according to Aerie, is that Eva is marrying that tool Thomas Haverton. It was this big sudden announcement, and the real kicker is that it’s supposedly happening next week, like…in four days.”
Ice rolled through my veins, freezing me in place for several long seconds.
And then, without warning, the pint glass in my hand shattered. Pain sliced through my palm, and cold beer spilled everywhere. Corin yelped in surprise, and the ever-imperturbable Lucian appeared with a handful of bar towels and a napkin for my hand.
