“Wes,” Harper warned. “He’s made his apologies to me. We’re okay.”
“Yeah, well, you were always the forgiving one, Harper. Don’t mean the rest of us are the same.”
“Let’s get drunk and kill shit,” Aaron said.
Ryder’s hand shot in the air. “Yes, I want to do that.”
“By ‘kill shit’ do you mean stake vampires?” Harper asked.
“Uh, yeah,” Aaron said with a shrug and a baffled expression, like Harper should understand their man-language by now.
Wyatt swallowed his laugh, but mostly for Weston’s benefit since he was still glaring at him.
“Harper, tell me you didn’t get a mom-wagon for your rental car,” Ryder demanded, his face all puckered up at her ride.
“Don’t judge me, bird. It was all they had.”
Ryder sure looked judgmental. “You traded your diesel truck for that shit?”
“You drive a truck now?” Wyatt asked. She’d driven one of those little pastel-colored slug-bugs when she was in high school, solar-powered flower bobble-head included.
“There’s about a million things you don’t know about me now, James,” she said through a cocky grin. When they were kids, she had used his last name when she was flirting with him. Oooh, he wanted to suck that bottom lip until she said his first name again.
Weston shoved him hard, and Wyatt had to catch his balance. “Why are you starin’ at her like she’s a steak. She ain’t yours anymore. Cut that shit out, or I’m leaving.”
“Weeees,” Ryder drawled, eyes rolled heavenward. “Chill out, man. Our Queen Sky Lizard has that same dopey look in her eyes.”
“I really hate when you call me a sky lizard,” Harper muttered.
“I saw a bar on the way in.” With a grin Aaron said, “I can drive us.”
“Yeah, let’s see how many idiots can pile on the back of your bike,” Wyatt said. “I’ll drive.”
“Are you designated driver tonight?” Ryder asked, waggling his eyebrows.
“Might as well be. My liver could use the break.”
“Bender James, back at it again,” Ryder crowed as he sauntered toward Wyatt’s black F-150 parked on the side of the house.
“Bender James?” Wyatt asked, confused as everyone followed Ryder.
“You partied hard when we were teenagers,” Harper explained as she walked past him. “At least your nickname isn’t Sky Lizard.”
Well, there was that. Shaking his head at the strange turn his life had taken in the last couple of days, Wyatt pulled his keys from his back pocket and jogged to catch up with the others.
And as he pulled out of the yard, Ryder opened the window and whooped. And then he yelled into the beyond, “The band is back together!”
“Temporarily,” Weston muttered under his breath in the back.
But when Wyatt looked over at Harper, he was stunned by the moment. There was an easy smile on her lips as she watched the others, and her giggle was so damn beautiful. When she stuck her hand out the window and caught the breeze between her fingers, her eyes twinkled with happiness. Her dark hair floated this way and that, and when she looked at him, he didn’t know how he’d done it. How had he gone this long without seeing her smile like this? How had he survived away from her infectious joy? Harper was so different from anyone he’d ever met. She’d always been to-the-death loyal, strong, and clear-headed. Every decision she made was quick, but right. She had been the glue of their group when they were kids, and now look at her. Even grown, she was still the glue.
After what he’d done, Harper had still hugged him and broke him back into a shape he recognized. She’d brought his friends back, and even if it was only for a short time, he wasn’t going to take a minute of this for granted.
With a grin, he hit the gas and took the truck off-road through the fresh mud. Ryder and Aaron hung out the window, yelling sounds of pure happiness, and Wyatt knew he wasn’t alone in how damn good this felt to be back together.
When Harper yelped and slid closer to him to avoid the splash of mud outside the window, he snaked his arm around her shoulders and kissed her hairline quick.
She grinned up at him, her shoulders shaking with a laugh. She bit his arm playfully and murmured, “You’re welcome,” as if she could tell his affection was a thank you.
From this moment on, no matter what happened, Wyatt was going to be better. He was going to work hard and long to be anything Harper wanted him to be. He was going to work to earn Weston’s respect again and to deserve the embraces Ryder and Aaron had given him.
He wasn’t where he wanted to be, but he was going to get there. They deserved the effort, because even if they left tomorrow, these people right here were his crew.
Chapter Seven
Harper was two drinks shy of three sheets to the wind.
It had been a long time since she’d cut loose, so perhaps she should slow it down a little. Especially since Wyatt was staying true to his word and drinking water.
He smiled for the tenth time in five minutes, and Harper’s heart rate hadn’t settled since he’d kissed her forehead in his truck. She’d expected it to feel like old times if he pressed his lips against her, but it hadn’t. It had felt like new times. Like a new adventure, a new crush, with a new man. The miniature dragons fluttering around in her stomach were proof that she was in deep mud, and sinking deeper with every smile he gave her.