“I’m not rich,” I say.
Sawyer snorts. “Buddy, you live in a penthouse.”
I don’t respond.
Because for the first time, the thought doesn’t matter as much as it used to.
Sawyer lifts his glass. “To the single guys.”
I clink mine against his. For now.
The door opens, and I look up without thinking. Melissa walks in first.
She pauses just inside the entrance, eyes scanning the room until they land on me. She smiles, and it’s immediately softand familiar, like she’s already comfortable here. Like she belongs. Despite this place not being the bar she brought me to on our date.
A woman like her belongs everywhere.
Her friend follows a step behind her, taking everything in with a sharper eye. She’s dressed casually but confidently, the kind of woman who doesn’t need to announce herself to be noticed.
“There she is,” Sawyer mutters. “And she brought backup.”
Melissa reaches our table, greeting Dean first, then Sawyer, then me. She leans in slightly when she hugs me, her hand brushing my chest in a way that feels easy.
“Hi,” she says.
“Hey,” I reply, my voice lower than usual.
Kayla steps forward. “So, these are the infamous men.”
Sawyer straightens immediately. “Infamousis a strong word. Accurate. But strong.”
Dean laughs. “I’m Dean.”
“Sawyer,” Sawyer adds, flashing a grin. “I assume you already know Colton.”
“Oh, intimately,” Kayla says without missing a beat. “Not in person yet though.”
I choke on my bourbon.
Melissa groans. “Kayla.”
“What?” Kayla shrugs. “I’m establishing tone.”
Sawyer looks delighted. “I like her.”
Drinks are ordered. Chairs are pulled in. The conversation slides into place like it’s always existed this way.
Once everyone settles, something subtle shifts.
It isn’t dramatic. No grand moment. Just the quiet realization that Melissa isn’t performing here. She isn’t leaning on me for reassurance or hovering at the edges of the conversation the way most people do when they’re dropped into someone else’s friend group.
She just … belongs.
She talks easily with Dean, listening closely, asking questions that show she’s actually paying attention instead of waiting for her turn to speak. When Sawyer throws out a story, clearly exaggerated for effect, she smiles politely at first, then raises an eyebrow and calls him on the part that doesn’t make sense.
Sawyer looks offended for exactly half a second before laughing.
I watch it all with a strange mix of pride and unease. This is dangerous territory.