Page 163 of 10 Rings I Hate About You
She grinned, and my dad put his hand on my back briefly. The gesture he’d used since I was young—it was grounding. And I knew it said,I’m here. It’s okay. Then he dropped his hand and stepped away.
I finally breathed.
After they left, Glamma and her squad left too, after she’d handed me a small jewelry-type box and told me to hold on to it for her. I slipped it into my pocket as Delaney approached me. “Well, that went amazing! We should celebrate. I think we should go out!” she declared.
What the hell was she doing?
There was no way Delaney didn’t know I was stressed. She was going rogue, and I just wanted to go home.
“There’s a bar on Main that we could go to,” Grace said, jumping in. “I’ll text Mom, Dad, and Glamma to let them know we’re heading there.”
Josh scowled, and I swear I heard him mumble, “What’s wrong with Axe-hole?”
Fuck.
I had to go with them. Everyone in this space had supported me in one way or another tonight. I couldn't disappoint them.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
DELANEY
The vibes of Maddox Hatten’s bar hit me the second I pushed through the door—noise layered over itself, laughter erupting somewhere to my left, a glass shattering on a wooden surface, and voices rising and falling without any real pattern. Heat wrapped around me next, carrying the scent of something coming from the kitchen, and my stomach tightened in response, reminding me I hadn’t eaten in hours.
We hadn’t fully cleared the doorway before the staff began setting up tables for us. A chair scraped against the floor, and a table edged sideways as staff moved it into place. Another table followed, and you could see the space opening up in real time for us. This was so typical of Ruby River—the way a room reorganized itself around the people who needed it.
While we waited for the server to deliver our drinks, I took a quick look at the menu. Maddox and his girlfriend, Alice, who I hadn’t seen in ages, each ran food trucks during the day and made a limited bar menu available at night and on weekends.
Maddox was behind the bar when we came in—tall, broad chest, oversized biceps with a sleeve of tattoos down both arms, and gorgeous, curly, auburn hair. He looked like he was a secret enforcer for the mafia until he turned his attention to Alice. Then his face lit up with the biggest smile. It was easy to see how much they loved each other.
Maddox appeared with our server when she delivered our drinks.
“Kingsley,” he said to Marc. “Heard it was a night.”
“Word travels fast.” I knew it was true, but to see it happen this quickly was just another reminder for me.
“Welcome to Ruby River, where the only thing hotter than the chowdah is the gossip,” Grace laughed.
“The first round’s on me tonight,” Maddox said. “I hope things go your way with the grant committee.”
Theo and Marc both acknowledged Maddox with quiet thank you’s.
Within minutes, Alice, with a dish towel slung over her shoulder, pushed through the crowd, a huge smile on her face. Maddox watched her progress with narrowed eyes, ready to pounce on anyone who didn’t let his girl through.
“Delaney Hart! I’m mad at you.”
I grinned and stood. “Alice Lidelle. I’ve missed you!”
We hugged the second she got close enough.
“Why did we lose touch?” she asked, pulling back far enough to look at me.
I shook my head. “Because we’re idiots?”
Adele and I had been friends for years, and part of our summer group, just like Alice. She and I shared a bond only kids like us could understand—absentee parents and aunts who stepped in to help raise us. Our lives had always seemed to run parallel.
“I’m sorry to hear about your Aunt Lanie,” I said. “She was incredible. I was so sad to find out that she’d passed, and I missed her funeral.”
I stepped back from Alice and found Marc directly behind me. His arm came around my front, banding across my chest, pulling me back against him—not possessive, something steadier than that. An anchor. My stomach flipped.
