I ignored the penetrating gaze I could feel on my back as I returned to my previous task, and tried to ignore my thumping heartbeat and trembling hands. God, Beebub was here and finer than ever. All those lies I’d told myself about being okay with everything died a sweaty, unhappy death. And Marlene hadn’t said anything. Damn it, I wish she had.
“You cut your hair,” I heard Beebub say behind me, voice deeper than I remembered it.
I took a shallow breath before I turned and pasted a smile on my face. “It’s been a long time, Beebub. A lot of things have changed, but that may not have occurred to you.”
He frowned, which didn’t make me feel better about my petty jab.
I held out my hand to his friend. “I’m Gabriel St. James. I knew Beebub in his teens.”
The freckled dude looked back and forth between us. He was smarter than his lovesick act portrayed. “Sean Preston.” Our handshake was brief.
“Pleasure.” Anything but.
Beebub cleared his throat. “Wasn’t your birthday last week?”