Syd shot her friend a look, and I hid a grin. Andrea shrugged and turned back to Tanner. “The infected are not the same as the zombies in The Walking Dead.”
Tanner shook his head. “Is there really a difference?”
I shook my head as she went into a deep description of the differences. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Syd grin as she speared a piece of steak with her fork. She glanced at me. “The infected are different,” she whispered.
A smile pulled at my lips and tugged at my heart. “I believe you.”
She met my stare for a moment, and then attacked another piece of steak, dipping it into her mashed potatoes.
“Are you going to your grandparents for Christmas?” It was a stupid question to ask. She always did, but I wanted to say something.
Syd nodded. “My parents want to leave Christmas Eve and stay the night with them. How about you?”
“Grandpa is coming down this year, doing the Christmas morning thing with us.”
“Wow. He’s driving down from Morgan County by himself?”
“Yep.” Pride filled my voice. “The man is as old as dirt, but he’s still running around like he’s twenty.”
“Your grandpa is so funny. Remember when he tried to build a redneck playground in your mom’s backyard with the crane?”
I laughed. “Yeah, Mom wasn’t too happy about that.”
“Neither were the neighbors.” Out of habit—and I knew that was what led to this—she pried off half the shrimp off the skewers and placed them on my plate. She didn’t even seem to realize she’d done it until she was done, but then her brows knitted and she fell silent.
I already missed the ease of conversation and felt the chill like a harsh arctic wind. “I told Mom about going to vet school.”
“What?” She dropped her knife as she twisted toward me. “You did?”
Thrilled with the fact I had her full attention, I ignored Andrea and Tanner, who’d stopped arguing for five seconds. “Yeah.”
“Well?” Excitement turned her eyes into shining sapphires. “What did she say?”
The dreaded conversation had happened about fifteen minutes after I’d walked through the door when I’d gotten back from Snowshoe. And approximately fifteen minutes after that, I’d started drinking. “Ah, she wasn’t too thrilled about it. There were tears, but I think in the end, she knows it’s what I want.”
“She cried?” Syd winced. “Oh, no.”
I nodded. “She seems better with it now, but I think it’s going to take a little bit for her to get used to it.” Leaning back, I spread my legs until my thigh pressed into hers. Totally on purpose, and she didn’t shy away. I took that as a good sign. “I’m glad I finally got it out in the open. It’s really because of you.”
“Me?” she squeaked.
Tanner tilted his head to the side, brows raised.
I was going to punch him in the face later. “Well, you know, after we talked about it, I knew I had to say something to her soon. You…you gave me the courage to do it.”
Tanner choked.
I was seriously going to spin-kick him in the balls, but Syd smiled—smiled so widely and beautifully that Tanner’s balls might be safe. “That’s great,” she said. “I’m happy for you. Really. I know that’s what you want, and you’ll be great at it.”
Pressure clamped down on my chest, and there was so much I needed to say. Now wasn’t the right time, but I had to say something, because I was two seconds from climbing all over her. “What are you doing afterwards?”
“Nothing,” Andrea answered for her. “She’s doing absolutely nothing.”
Syd slowly turned to Andrea, and I wanted to hug the damn girl. “So you have nothing to do,” I cut in before Syd could say anything. She turned back to me, and I felt like everything came down to this minute. If she said no, then I knew it was done. My muscles seized like I was about to hit a high slope. “Can we—?”
“Kyler Quinn,” a smooth, throaty voice interrupted. “Hot damn, it’s going to be my lucky night.”
Sydney
The dinner had started off in the seven different circles of hell, but over the course of the meal, I’d relaxed. Not completely, because sitting next to Kyler was a true test of self-control. I was torn between wanting to crawl into his arms and wanting to kick him out of the booth.
But with him looking at me like I was the only thing he needed in his life? I was starting to side with the crawling-into-his-lap part when a voice made to get guys drop their pants slithered over my skin like snakes.
Forcing my gaze away from Kyler’s dark brown eyes, I saw a girl I barely recognized. Took me a few minutes to remember her name was Corie. We’d gone to high school together. Had no idea what she’d been up to over the years, but I remembered who’d been up her several times in high school.
My gaze traveled over her red, skintight sweater. Corie had boobs dreams were made of. She looked at me, and I knew she dismissed my presence outright. Like there was no way the fact that Kyler was sitting next to me at a table meant anything.
Any other time, this probably wouldn’t have bothered me. If anything, I was used to random chicks approaching Kyler everywhere we went. The boy was well-traveled, but right now, after everything? Yeah, it did not make me feel warm or fuzzy.
Andrea muttered something under her breath as Kyler turned slowly. “Hey,” he said evenly. “How’ve you been, Corie?”
Corie popped a hand on her hip as her red-painted lips spread into a smile. “I’ve been good. Haven’t seen you around lately. Guess you’re home for Christmas?”
“No shit,” Andrea muttered under her breath, and I was sure Corie hadn’t heard her.
Tanner pressed his lips together as he suddenly became invested in the food on his plate.
“Yeah, I’m home for a little while.” Kyler dropped his arm along the back of the seat behind me. “Then we’re heading back to school.”
If “we’re” was a hidden code for something, no one got it, especially not Corie. She tossed pretty blonde waves over her shoulder, and then crossed her arms. Even my eyes went straight to her cleavage. “I’m on break, too, from Shepherd, until the fifteenth of January. We should get together.”
It was like I wasn’t even sitting there.
“I don’t know about that,” Kyler replied diplomatically. “I’m going to be real busy, but it was good seeing you, okay?”
Corie blinked, and her lips formed a perfect O. I was doing the same thing. I couldn’t even think of a time that Kyler had shot down a pretty girl. Granted, it could be because I was sitting right there, and given our newly acquired history, he was being a little more discreet than normal.
My gaze caught Andrea’s and she had this biggest cat-ate-every-canary-in-the-cage grin, and I couldn’t help the smirk that graced my lips.
“Well, call me. I’ll make time for you, if you make time for me.” Corie smiled, but it lacked the confidence of earlier. “See you around.”
Kyler nodded.
After Corie bounced off somewhere, silence descended on the table and the smirk slipped away from my lips. Unease turned the food in my stomach and I wished I hadn’t eaten what I had. Tanner was still studying his food like he was going to be tested on it. Andrea was remarkably quiet, which meant the apocalypse had started, and Kyler was staring off in the distance, a muscle working in his jaw. I don’t know exactly what made it all sink in then, but I suddenly realized, like really understood, that what had happened between us affected every aspect of our lives.
Even our friends.
Because right now, Tanner and Andrea were most likely experiencing a mad case of secondhand embarrassment, or they just didn’t know how to handle the situation. Maybe they felt bad for me, or they felt awkward on behalf of Kyler. They were probably waiting to see how I’d react, if I’d get mad or jealous or run off in tears.