They all looked down at Caitlin’s admittedly gorgeous rock. “I know I’m lucky,” she said quietly. “Dillon’s got a great job, makes a solid living, and he’s good to me.”

“Um,” Heather said. “Aren’t you missing something?”

Caitlin blinked and thought about that. “Oh! Of course! He handles all the yard work, and he even puts the seat down.”

“Nice,” Heather said. “It’s hard to get a man to do that. But I was talking about love. You didn’t mention love, not even once.”

“Sure, I did.”

Heather shook her head.

“Huh.” Caitlin raised a hand to gesture to Boomer for another round. “Maybe because I’ve got love right here.” She smiled a little dopily and took Maze’s and Heather’s hands. “I love you guys.”

“Me too,” Heather said. “I love you both so much.”

Maze smiled and sipped her drink, feeling happily snockered before realizing both Caitlin and Heather were staring at her. “What?”

“You love us too,” Caitlin said. “Right?”

“Right.”

Caitlin sighed. “Seriously? Even drunk you can’t say it?”

“I’m not drunk.” She paused and considered the fact that the room was sort of spinning. “At least not one hundred percent.”

“One of these days,” Caitlin said, “you’re going to say it out loud.”

Maybe. But Maze was pretty sure not. The last time she’d said it out loud had been right before CPS dragged her away from her mom. Maze had cried “I love you” to her mom, who’d been too wasted to say it back. Remembering that, she pushed her drink away from her.

“Truth or dare?” Caitlin said to Maze.

“It’s your turn.”

“No, it’s not,” Cat said, and Maze was just snockered enough to be unable to figure out if that was true or not.

“Aren’t we done with this game yet? I mean, I’d much rather play Pin the Penis on the—”

“Truth or dare?”

Maze took one look at the seriousness on her face and said, “Dare,” because no way was she doing truth again.

“Dares are forbidden,” Heather reminded her.

“No, wait.” Cat smiled. “A dare is fine,” she said, and Maze got scared.

“I dare you to go for Walker,” Cat said. “For real. For keeps.”

Heather clapped her hands. “Yes! I double down on that dare! You two were made for each other. Two young kids given up by the people who should’ve loved you the most, screwed over by the system, and yet you found each other, you found something real in all that chaos . . .” She sighed. “It’s so romantic. Plus, he’s the most amazing man on the planet.”

“Stop,” Maze said. “I’m begging you. None of us are going to talk about this anymore, and I hereby forbid either of you to talk about it too. Not to each other and not to Walker. In fact, don’t even think about him, okay, because I think he can read minds.”

They both sighed dreamily.

“Oh my God.” Maze pointed to Caitlin. “Pick another dare.”

“Fine. I dare you to tell Walker you’re in love with him.”

Heather burst out laughing. “Wow, you’re evil. I like it.”

“It’s the same dare,” Maze protested.

“No, it’s not,” Cat said. “Trust me, I know what I’m doing.”

“This is ridiculous. My life’s ridiculous.”

“Aw, honey, no,” Cat murmured, hugging Maze. “It’s not. Not even close.”

“It’s the universe telling you that you two are meant to be,” Heather said, or sort of yelled. “Listen to me—you’re awesome, and Walker would be lucky to have you. Now repeat that back to me.”

“But—”

“No.” Heather put her finger on Maze’s mouth. Or probably that’s what she meant to do, but she got Maze right in the eye.

“Ow!” Maze pushed her hand away. “And how can you still believe in all that mushy stuff after everything you’ve been through?”

“Because knowing someone loves you is the best thing in the whole universe.”

“Whoever said that never had grande cock cookies,” Maze said, and bit into one.

“I’m wearing my sexiest lingerie,” Caitlin said, apropos of nothing. “And no one’s going to be seeing it.”

Heather hooked a finger in the top of Caitlin’s T-shirt and sundress and peeked at her bra. “Ooh. Pretty. And now someone’s seen it.”

Caitlin smiled at her. “Thanks.”

“Sure,” Heather said. “I’m not wearing a bra or I’d show you mine.”

They both looked at Maze.

Since she couldn’t remember, she looked down her own top. “Oh yeah. I’m wearing my sexiest bra, but only because it’s laundry day. Oh, and I’m commando for the same reason.”

This set them all off on a case of the giggles, which for Heather turned into a case of the hiccups, the really loud kind that come from deep in the chest. Caitlin, cracking up, choked on her drink and nearly had to be resuscitated by Boomer. Maze laughed so hard she fell out of the booth and hit the floor on her hands and knees.

Just in front of her was a pair of long legs wrapped in well-worn, buttery-soft-looking jeans. She lifted her head and found Walker looking down at her, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Oh my God,” Heather whispered from behind her. “He can read minds!”

Maze found herself being lifted off the floor and onto her feet, and she met his amused blue eyes as he steadied her because she couldn’t find her sea legs. Damn, he was hot. When she could stand on her own, she glanced back at Heather and Cat. “Okay, which one of you thought about him too loudly?”

They both raised their hands.

“You guys suck,” she said.

“Hey, at least I’m wearing panties,” Heather said.

This set both Heather and Caitlin off on another round of uncontrollable laughter.

Maze sighed and looked at Walker. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m the man of honor. I can’t join the bachelorette party?”

“Truth or dare?” Caitlin yelled, while also grinning at him.

“No, dares only!” Heather yelled. “We get sad at our truths.”

Walker raised a brow.

“Oh, for God’s sake.” Maze yanked them both out of the booth. “It’s time to dance,” she said, feeling smug because she knew Walker wouldn’t dance.

But the joke was on her, because he started to come along with them.

“Wait!” Heather yelled, and ran back to the booth and her bag. She pulled the fourth T-shirt from the pack, hastily wrote MAN OF HONOR across the front and then PROPERTY OF MAZE across the back, and made him put it on.

“Not even going to ask,” he said.

“Okay, now we dance,” Caitlin said, and tugged them all to the dance floor.

Chapter 20

Walker’s man of honor to-do list:

—Make sure the girls get to do their thing during their bachelorette celebration, while at the same time keeping them safe from harm. Best of luck while you’re at it.