”Kiss” by Prince was their song of choice and it made me chuckle when Eden made kiss noises during the beat of the song. I could tell from all the way back at the bar, which was on the other side of the tavern from the stage, that she was more than a little inebriated and she had absolutely no idea that I was in attendance. So I took the opportunity to perch my ass on one of the unoccupied barstools and watched with amusement as she flaunted herself around the stage. At different points during the song, she and Marcie would glance at each other and end up busting out in a fit of giggles.

Dean came over to where I was sitting and leaned up against the counter, “I got us a table over there,” he pointed and I just nodded my head, not taking my eyes off of the stage. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” he asked.

There was no hesitation on my part, “Even more so than I remember.” Her hair was still the same chestnut color, but it looked like she had added some highlights and layers to give it a bit of definition. She was wearing a black dress that hugged her curves and accentuated the most glorious pair of breasts that I think I had ever seen; those were definitely new and Maisie now had some competition in that department. But I would almost bet that Eden’s were all real, all her, because that was just the type of person that she was. Maisie’s on the other hand cost her a pretty penny to look that good.

She tipped her head back and laughed and just seeing the action of her smiling made my heart ache. What had happened to cause us to lose all that time?

The song quickly ended and I didn’t want to see her free spirit exit the stage. It was almost as if she could read my mind, even though she had no idea I was there. She held up a finger and spoke into the microphone, “One more! I want to do one more song.” She looked at Marcie to gauge her reaction and she shrugged a shoulder and went along with Eden’s request.

She hurried down off of the stage in her heels which was another first for me to see and went to type in her request onto the computer. Once she was settled back in place on the stage her choice started playing on the speakers.

”Do What You Want” by Lady GaGa came on, and it was unclear to me why she would’ve picked that song, but it was sexy as hell. Watching her sing about doing whatever you wanted to her body, I couldn’t shut off my mind from the numerous places I imagined that I could take her. I finally moved from my place at the bar and went to the table that Dean had saved for us and took a seat. It wasn’t long until Eden’s eyes glanced past our table and then landed back on us, causing her to falter in her words. She stood rooted in place and began singing again with absolutely no emotion. I wished like hell that she wouldn’t have noticed us; it was almost as if the life was sucked out of her. As soon as that song ended, she rushed off the stage and to her table on the other side of the building.

After a few minutes the karaoke music went away and was replaced with sounds from the old jukebox that was against the wall behind Eden. A slow song came on and several people got up to dance. Looking around I noticed many of the same faces I had graduated with; it seemed like that night was a little pre-reunion preview. I was intently watching the table Eden was occupying and soon Marcie’s husband got up and asked her to dance, leaving Eden sitting alone. I wondered why Eden’s husband hadn’t accompanied her on the trip, and then my mind wandered, wondering if he was good to her. I’d never had so many different questions swirling around in my head.

Dean’s chair scooting across the floor pulled me from my conundrum of thoughts. I eyeballed him as he stood up and smoothed out his button-down shirt. “Where are you going?”

“I’m not going to let Eden sit all by herself, I’m going to ask her to dance.” He fixed the collar of his shirt before standing tall and walking towards her on the other side of the tavern. A pang of jealousy hit me square in the chest and I was pissed that I actually didn’t think of the idea first.

I watched closely as he walked up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders and leaned down to whisper in her ear. A bright sexy smile formed on her lips, the same type of smile she showed me yesterday. That smile should’ve been for me. My breath hitched when she got up and placed her hand in his as he guided her out towards the open area where everyone was dancing.

Picking up my glass full of beer I quickly gulped down the majority of it, trying to calm my nerves. I had no right to feel anything towards her, she was a married woman. And even though Dean was my best friend, my jealousy had never been stronger.

Seeing her mold into his embrace as they danced along the floor killed a part of me inside. It took everything I had to see them dance for the entire song but once it was almost over I knew I had to talk to her. He kissed her on the cheek as they broke apart. She turned around to head back to her seat but I quickly came up behind her and grabbed her hand. My heart rate increased dramatically as electricity ricocheted throughout my body from just one single solitary touch. She gasped as she looked back and her eyes widened in surprise then quickly darkened full of desire. One thing that didn’t go unnoticed by me was the lack of ring on her left hand when I grasped her soft skin.

“Eden, would you do me the honor of dancing with me?” I asked shyly, not knowing where the bashful side of me had come from.

Chapter 5

Eden

The evening started off with a bang; I had never been into Tillie’s Tavern but remembered growing up wishing that I could just see the inside. After crossing the line from the dreary weather of Oregon into the dimly-lit wooden structure, I could see why the place had been a favorite for so long. I could almost imagine the entire process it took to make it into the beautiful structure that it was. From the lumberjack finding the best-grained wood from the tallest of oak trees, to the contractor working closely with the architect making sure his vision was fulfilled in every way possible. That took me back to thinking about Baylor, who admittedly hadn’t been off of my mind since I saw him at the airport. Would he appreciate everything that had gone into the building? I knew he had a passion for architecture since that’s what he had wanted to go to school for. I felt a pang in my chest because I really didn’t know anything about Baylor or Dean anymore, even though at one point in time I would’ve said that I knew them almost better than they knew themselves.

I took in all of the faces in Tillie’s, some I recognized but most I didn’t and it was almost a relief. I took a little extra time trying to scope out the room to make sure Baylor or Dean weren’t there. And since the coast was clear, it didn’t take me long to loosen up my tension and indulge in several rounds of alcohol. It wasn’t long before I started to feel a little tipsy, and then Marcie had the ingenious idea to partake in a little karaoke.

As we looked through the song catalog on the computer she released a little squeal and pointed to her choice, “Can we do this song? Please! I absolutely love it.” I inwardly grumbled at her selection, because I still remembered that Prince was the last artist I had heard during the graduation party at her house and there she was picking another song by him. Can we say ironic? What was the deal?

After my brief hesitation she glanced up at me, “Do you not know the song?” Which caused another grumble to threaten to erupt. Of course I knew the damn song, I knew most songs. IT WAS MY JOB!

I had to mentally chide myself to simmer down and not let something so meager get me all worked up. “I know it,” I replied with very little emotion backing my statement. After releasing a deep sigh, I said “Let’s do this.” I supposed that I couldn’t make any bigger of a fool of myself than the screamer on stage was doing already.