Page 172 of Chasing Hope

All I can manage to do is grunt, the sound earning chuckles from around the table.

“There’s our moody bastard. I was worried you went soft on us.”

That has my head pulling back so I can glare at Johnson.

“Hey, don’t rain on his happy parade,” Kieran chimes in, arm firmly wrapped around Layla’s middle as she sits on his lap. Johnson just shakes his head before taking a swig of his beer.

Irving, Lewis, and Mitchel sidle over to the booth, each carrying towers of beer. My brows pull down into a frown.

O’Connor jumps in for me. “Ah, wrong table, guys. Heavy drinkers to the right.”

Irving gives everyone his classic puppy dog look. “But we never party together anymore.” Clutching his chest, he all but whines, “It hurts my feelings, guys.”

Bella places a hand on Grayson’s chest. “Well, Grayson is out for obvious reasons.”

Irving swings those eyes toward me and all I have to do is grunt with a simple head shake before he moves on to Kieran.

He lifts his beer in the air. “I’m limiting myself to one. Layla and I are taking Emmy camping tomorrow.”

“Ooh, which mountain?” Evie asks beside me.

Kieran and Evie fall into conversation about camping, all the while I watch as the veins in Johnson’s veins begin to protrude asIrving yaps behind him, trying to coax everyone into a bigger night than we all want. Johnson silently mimics him, his eyes rolling so much I’m waiting for them to get stuck.

Evie effectively derails the shit show as she pipes up, addressing the table. “Before I forget, I’m having a small birthday dinner at a restaurant downtown this Sunday. Would you guys like to come?”

“Would I like to come?” Irving scoffs. “What a stupid question. Of course I want to come!”

Snorting at Irving’s dramatic acceptance, everyone chimes in their agreement, saying they’ll be there. All except for the one person thatshouldbe here right now. Craning my neck, I try to seek Caleb out in the bar but can’t find him anywhere.

“When’s the big day?” Grayson asks.

“Monday.”

“She’s finally entering her quarter-life crisis along with us,” Cindy teases. “Welcome to the over-twenty-five gang.”

Evie chuckles. “Thanks, Cin.”

Mitchel throws his hands in the air. “Can we go back to our problem now? What are we supposed to do, drink by ourselves?”

Irving pulls a disgruntled face as if Mitchel just said the dumbest thing in the world.

O’Connor juts his chin. “There’s a group of bunnies in the corner that look pretty lonely. You should?—"

Irving snatches his large tower of beer before O’Connor even finishes his sentence. “Come on, grumpy bastard!” he calls over his shoulder at Johnson. “Show us how young you think you still are!”

Mitchel and Lewis burst out laughing as Johnson slams his empty beer bottle on the table, standing swiftly. “That’s it, I’m going to strangle him,” he grumbles under his breath.

Mitchel and Lewis snatch their own beer towers before hightailing it after Irving and Johnson, no doubt ready for a night of pure entertainment with those two.

Kieran whistles. “They’re going to give Johnson a heart attack.”

“I don’t know. One of these days Johnson is going to knock Irving on his ass,” Bella says.

“One of these days?” I chime in. “He already has in practice. I can’t even count how many times we’ve had to get Johnson off him.”

Bella’s eyes widen. “Really?” She playfully whacks Grayson on his chest. “You never told me they get into fights!”

Wincing, he rubs his chest, the gold band around his wedding finger shining off the lights. He told everyone that he wants the world to know he’s engaged, too. He proudly flaunts it, taking every opportunity he can to talk about the wedding he and Bella are planning.