“We like ins,” he noted.

“I told her she should go for the head coach position for the girls’ team,” Baylor suggested and Jayden nodded, his arm snaked around Baylor’s waist. Jordie sometimes forgot they were together until they were near each other. They reminded him of two magnets, attracted through any barrier.

“I think you should too. Those girls could learn a lot from you,” Jayden added and Jordie nodded.

“Either is good, I feel,” he decided and Kacey shrugged.

“We’ll see,” she said just as Lacey turned to them, her eyes wild with anger.

Jordie made a face, his brows touching. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Blistering with anger, she burst out, “I’m gonna kill her. She closed my store! Closed it! For a fucking week! No pay for my employees or anything.”

“Who?” Jordie asked, confused, while Karson shook his head.

“Rachel did? Oh my goodness, what are you going to do?” Kacey asked.

“Fire her ass!” she snapped, typing violently on her phone. “Karson, call your mom to see if she can keep Mena. I can’t take her, I might go to jail, and knowing them, this is a big ploy to get me home!”

“Or we can keep her,” Jordie suggested, and everyone stopped and turned their attention to him. “What? It isn’t like we are doing anything. No reason to call Ma and Dad down. We can do it.”

“Watch Mena? You two?” Lacey asked, pointing to the both of them, and he gave her a look.

“I hope you aren’t implying that I can’t care for my goddaughter?” he asked sternly and she shrugged.

“No, but…can you?” she asked and Kacey nodded.

“Sure, no big deal. We’d love to. You two go, fire some folks, and maybe have a little night out, just the two of you. She’ll be great.”

Lacey looked to Karson and he shrugged. “I mean, they are her godparents. If we die, they get her. Might as well give them practice while we’re alive.”

“Way to think, bro,” Jordie laughed, smacking his arm, and Karson grinned.

“I mean, just saying,” he said innocently as Lacey glared, but then she chewed her lip, deep in thought.

Finally, she said, “Fine, thank you. I’ll plan everything tomorrow.”

“Sounds good. In the meantime, I’m taking my woman to dance,” he said, taking Kacey’s water from her and handing it to a guy who was walking around with a platter. When he reached for her, she went willingly, smiling as they headed to the floor to dance. A few couples were dancing, and as he spun her out and back in, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close as they swayed to some slow song he hadn’t heard before. Leaning his cheek to hers, he closed his eyes, dizzy from her perfume. It was a mix between fruity and floral, and it drove him crazy with need.

“We’ve never danced before,” she whispered against his cheek. “Never.”

“Yes, we have,” he said, pulling back to look at her.

“When?”

“Back in college, right before Karson locked you in the room, we danced to ‘Slow Dancing in a Burning Room’ by John Mayer.”

She paused for a moment and then smiled. “We did. You remember that?”

He nodded. “I do, and I remember the Team USA shirt you wore, because your tits looked so good in it. And also the tight jeans, because of your ass—it was so juicy back then, unlike now, when it’s so strong. Oh, and how long your hair was. All the way to your butt.”

Her grin didn’t stop. “I didn’t think you remembered me from back then.”

“How could I forget?” he asked, moving with her as the music played. “I kind of had a crush on ya, but Karson was quick to shut that down.”

Her face reddened as she nodded. “Because I liked you too.”

He smiled, running his nose along hers. “Funny thing, this story of us.”

“And it isn’t even over,” she reminded him.

“Because it won’t ever end,” he promised, and she smiled against his lips before he kissed her long and hard. Every single ounce of his feelings were in that kiss. As much as he wished that they had hooked up back then, he knew it would have been pointless. He was a baby looking for a good time to forget his friend’s death. He had always been looking for something to make him forget. It was the story of his old life.

But now, his story was different.

When the music changed to “Marvin Gaye” by Charlie Puth, Kacey pulled back, her eyes widening as she cried, “Oh, no.”

“Oh, yes!” he said, pulling back and starting to dance, pelvis thrusting to the beat. Anytime this song came on and they were together, he’d serenade her and she hated it. He wasn’t sure why though. Every girl loved when a man sang to them, but Kacey did not. Maybe it was the way he humped her as he did it. Nonetheless, he yelled out, “This is my jam!”

“Please stop,” she begged as he pulled her to him, moving like they did in Dirty Dancing. “Please, tell me you didn’t plan this!”

He sang very loudly, ignoring her. “Of course not, it’s fate.”

“Jesus help me,” she said as he jerked her around playfully, rubbing himself all over her. “Oh my God! Jordie!” she screeched as he started singing at the top of his lungs. Everyone around them was laughing and cheering him on, while Kacey’s cheeks burned the same color of her dress. She was going to kill him, but he didn’t care. If he couldn’t drink to have fun, he’d find another way to do it.