Page 29 of Pucking Forbidden

At length, she reaches out and takes it. I shift on my feet, my body tensing.

She brings the bottle to her lips, takes a cautious sip…and immediately wrinkles her nose in disgust. It’s so funny and cute, I can’t stop the chuckle that slips out of me. The girls all laugh too, catching Carson’s attention.

Carson looks at me in surprise. “What?”

I clear my throat. “Nothing.”

Hadley lowers the bottle and sticks out her tongue with a ‘blegh.’

“That is awful,” she declares.

The girls all burst out laughing once again.

“It’s an acquired taste,” Grace tells her.

Hadley looks down at it again, skeptical. “I feel like people lie about that.”

“Try again,” Skyler urges. “If you want to. The second sip will be better.”

There’s a moment where Hadley grimaces at the bottle, but then she squares her shoulders and takes another sip.

This time, she doesn’t recoil as dramatically.

“Okay,” she nods. “Maybe it’s… less awful the second time.”

Grace grins. “You sure? You don’t have to drink anymore.”

Hadley huffs out a small laugh, shaking her head. “I want to. It’s like a rite of passage.”

I watch the way she takes another sip after that. She’s less hesitant, but still flinches when the beer hits her tongue.

By the time she finishes the beer, her laugh comes easier, and she becomes a lot chattier, her hands moving a little as she speaks instead of staying tucked close to her body.

She’s a lot more of a lightweight than I anticipated.

“She’s gonna feel that tomorrow,” Jensen mutters, following my line of sight.

“She’s having fun,” I murmur.

Seeing the road she’s heading down, I don’t reach for another drink. I want to be able to take care of her so she can just enjoy herself tonight.

Hadley finishes a second beer, and when the girls order another round, she reaches for a third. I push off the wall.

“Your turn,” Carson says, holding out a dart.

“Be right back,” I grunt.

He arches a brow. “Where you going?”

I jerk my chin toward the bar. “Getting some water.”

I make my way to the bar and get two glasses, and by the time I turn back, the girls’ table is louder than before. Hadley’s in the middle of a story now, something about school, her words coming quicker, her smile easier. She gestures with the bottle in her hand, nearly knocking it into Skyler, who laughs and steadies it for her.

She looks happy and more relaxed than I’ve seen her all night. I can’t help but smile as I watch her. Her deep chocolate eyes are sparkling under the dim bar lights, and her face is a little more flushed now, the bright pink color warming her cheeks as she laughs at something Sutton says.

The girls have a small army of cocktail glasses accumulated at the center of the table. The drinks vary wildly tonight. Grace and Skyler are working their way through a pitcher of margaritas, while Rylee is sticking strictly to seltzer with lime.

Across the booth, Stacey is nursing a single glass of white wine, savoring it with a look of pure relief. According to Owen, she’s finally done breastfeeding her son, Henry, which means tonight is her first real night out on the town without having to watch the clock or count her pump sessions.