CHAPTER17
TANNER
“Just the guys tonight.” Shawn whooped when Jeremiah arrived and Stephanie wasn’t with him. He waited for Jer to get to our table before he grinned at him. “Where’s your better half? It’s been a while since we’ve seen you without her.”
“She went out with Tiana,” he said. “They’re doing a cake tasting and narrowing down the options for the flavor she wants for the wedding. Then we’ll make the final decision together.”
He dropped into his chair, shaking his head as a frown appeared on his forehead. “They’re going on a girls’ night after. Dancing. Can you believe they told me we’re not allowed to join them?”
“Uh, yes,” Shawn replied immediately. “I know you’re head over heels for each other, but you’ve got the rest of your lives together. Just don’t think about all the guys who’ll be checking out your fiancée while she’s shaking her ass in some club, and you’ll be fine.”
I swore I saw one of Jeremiah’s veins popping at the thought, and I laughed as I held up my hands. “Easy, tiger. Even if they do check her out, it’s not like she’s going to do something with any of them. Have a little trust.”
“It’s not her I don’t trust, it’s them.” He let out a heavy sigh. “I just don’t like the thought of it, but at least I didn’t get here last.”
He flicked a finger toward the door and grinned. Bart walked in, and his face fell when he realized that he was the last to arrive.
As he dropped into the seat beside mine, he grumbled good-naturedly. “I can’t believe I have to pick up the tab again. We’ve had this rule since grade school. Maybe it’s time for a change.”
“Nah, some things never change,” I said. “All is right in the universe again now that you assholes have stopped cheating.”
“It was once,” Shawn protested, laughing as he shook his head. “I should’ve known you’d never let us forget it.”
“It’s on the permanent record.” I tapped my index finger against my temple. “For the rest of time, you shall be known as a bunch of cheating assholes. I should get a freebie in the bank. If I’m ever the last to arrive again, I shouldn’t have to pick up the tab.”
“No can do,” Jeremiah said. “There are no freebies in the rules.”
Bart pushed his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose. “To be fair, the rules weren’t very well thought out. We could make some changes to them, such as adding in a provision that you shouldn’t be obliged to pick up the tab two nights out in a row.”
“You’d stop even trying to be on time if we do that,” I argued, smirking as I checked my watch. “It’s only ten minutes this time, though. You’re getting better at it. I wouldn’t be opposed to adding some leeway to account for traffic. A fifteen-minute window?”
Shawn shot me a grin that told me he was about to let me have it, his dark eyes shining with glee. “Is this because you’re buying that house all the way out of the city? You know you’re going to start needing that window soon, so you’re preempting it. How many doors will you have to check are locked before you can leave that place anyhow?”
“I won’t be moving out there permanently,” I argued. “It’ll be a weekend place.”
He laughed. “For now. Until you turn all domestic on us and settle down like Jeremiah did after he met Steph. Then you’re going to start hosting dinner parties and forcing our asses to drive all the way out there to see you.”
“Before you know it, you’ll start keeping an eye on your watch and insisting that you have to leave by nine or you won’t get home at a decent hour,” Bart chimed in.
Jeremiah sat back and a smug smile spread on his face. “You guys are just jealous that I have someone to get all domestic with and you’re still pissed that we didn’t invite you to the last dinner party. When was the last time I had to leave by nine? Never. That’s when.”
“Tanner will have to leave by nine because he’ll claim to have a long drive ahead of him, and you’re not going to have to leave by nine because you won’t be here once there’s a baby at home.” Shawn gave Bart a mournful look. “It’ll just be me and you, buddy. At least the tabs you’ll have to pick up will be halved once they stop hanging out with us.”
“Dramatic much?” I laughed, raising my eyebrows at him. “You’re going to be begging me to let you come to my place over the weekends. Once you see it, you’re never going to want to leave.”
Shawn scoffed. “What? And join you in your domestic bliss?”
“What domestic bliss?” Jeremiah joked. “He’d need a steady relationship to have that, and for that, he needs a girlfriend, but he goes through women like some men go through beers. I wouldn’t start worrying about Tanner just yet, guys. He’ll be around, but he might need to crash on one of your couches a little more regularly.”
“Hey, I haven’t actually slept with anyone for a few weeks,” I objected. “So unless those men you’re referring to have stopped drinking beer and gone into rehab, I’m not like them.”
Bart shrugged. “My couch will always be available to you, Tanner. You’re my new favorite out of all you assholes since you suggested we allow a window to account for traffic.”
Shawn arched a brow at me, skipping over Bart’s comment as he leaned forward, beer in hand, and gave me a look that said, I’m not buying it. “Do you honestly expect us to believe that you’ve changed your ways and gone weeks without a hookup?”
“I don’t expect you to believe anything, but it’s true. After that weekend at the lake house, I got some perspective and I stopped fucking around.”
He took a sip of his drink while I was talking and nearly spat it all back out when I mentioned the lake house. “That was, what, six or so weeks ago? There’s no way the greatest playboy of them all, present company excluded, has gone six weeks without sex.”