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and looked compassionately into her eyes.
    “Honey. Jessica, honey. We do this to each other all the time. Don’t take it personally.” Amy put her arm around her. “You guys, she’s as sensitive as me.”
    “Have a shot, Jessica. It’ll take the edge off of our backward humor.” Bella pushed her shot glass up toward Jessica’s mouth.
    “So, you aren’t making fun of me? Because I’m kind of slow on the uptake, I think. I’m not used to this sort of joking around.” Why was her throat thickening? Damn it. Why couldn’t she be stronger, like her mother? At times like this it might help.
    Sky pulled herself up and sat on the counter, while filling everyone’s glasses again. “They do this to everyone. They just noticed that Jamie had his eye on you, and…” She motioned for Jessica to drink.
    Jessica clenched her eyes closed and licked the awful salt from her hand, then tossed back the tequila— Gross! —and sucked the lemon. She drew in air between gritted teeth just like each of them had.
    “Well?” Jenna brushed Jessica’s hair from her shoulders. “You still with us?”
    Jessica nodded, reeling from the taste. “It tasted like burning water. Is that what it tastes like to you?”
    Bella licked her hand and began dabbing salt on it. “It tastes like I’m about to get shitfaced to me.”
    Jessica pressed her lips together, suppressing a smile. The four of them were so different from one another, but they got along like sisters. Thong Thursdays and tequila shots? What else had she missed out on while she was spending hour after hour with music instructors and, later, playing with the orchestra? Heck, what else had she missed out on since she first picked up the cello at six ?
    Two shots later, Jessica felt a little numb as they went back outside. The guys were standing by the fire, beers in hand. Jamie looked over and his mouth lifted in a crooked smile. Jessica returned the smile, or at least she thought she did. Her entire body felt relaxed, and all the proper rigidity in her back, shoulders, and even her neck had somehow disappeared.
    And she liked it. She liked it a lot.
    Jessica swayed a little and reached for the bench as the men came toward them. Jamie’s jeans hung low on his hips, and there was no mistaking his flirtatious smile or the heat in his eyes as he raked them down her body. She held tightly to the bench for support.
    “So the strawberries were a ruse?” Pete laughed and wrapped an arm around Jenna. Joey lay down beside his feet and rested her head on her paws with a loud huff of breath. Pete whispered something that made Jenna blush.
    “Crap. We left the margaritas inside.” Bella glanced at Jenna, then waved a hand in the air. “Oh heck. We’re good.” Bella plastered herself to Caden’s side, and he looked up at Tony and shook his head.
    Blue and Tony exchanged a laugh.
    “It’s a good thing I drove tonight.” Blue pulled Sky down to a seat.
    “Hey, don’t even think about making a move on my sister,” Pete warned.
    “ Pfft . Just getting her home safely. We’re friends,” Blue said.
    “So were we,” Pete and Jenna said in unison, then shared a kiss.
    “Come here, sweet one.” Tony guided Amy to a chair and sat beside her, leaving Jamie and Jessica to look at each other like two kids at a middle school dance.
    She couldn’t look away, even though she was sure his gaze was burning a hole right through her and at any minute someone was going to yell, Fire! and douse her with cold water.
    Jamie leaned in close and touched her hip. “I guess they initiated you?”
    Good Lord, his hand was flaming hot.
    “Care to share a bench with me?” Jamie asked.
    His voice sent a shiver down her back. Her body was doing all sorts of things it had never done before, including walking with an extra little sway of her hips and getting warm between her legs. She liked that, too. A lot . She settled into the bench and pulled her feet up next to her. Jamie sank down beside her