I wasn't surprised that Renee had sent her drink back, but Matt and Jake seemed to take this as some personal challenge, and I could tell that this would not end well. Matt and Jake were my best friends and brothers, but they were two men who didn't get turned down often. I didn't know what they were expecting, but apparently, this wasn't it.
"Who does she think she is?" growled Jake, popping his knuckles angrily like the dumbass buffoon he was. "Didn't she know that we're trying to make peace?"
I rolled my eyes, scoffing at him. "Bullshit," I said, an annoying itch rising under the collar of my shirt. "Why would she want to make peace with us? We were horrible to her, and so were others. We did nothing to stop it. Nothing. She was alone, and we didn't care."
"That was a long time ago," Jake huffed. "Stop being such a pussy about it."
"It was, like, less than six years ago."
"Whatever," Jake muttered. "We were all kids. Any teasing was good fun, and you know it. She just wasn't a popular person."
"Didn't be a fucking douche, man. No one deserved that, not even her." Anger simmered below the surface as I glared at him, wishing he'd grown up far more since high school. If anything, he'd gotten worse.
"Yeah, well, look at her now," Jake continued, and I wanted nothing more than to reach out and bloody his nose. "Maybe we got her to work on herself a little. We're like Picasso, and she was the Mona Lisa."
"Da Vinci did the Mona Lisa, man. Not fucking Picasso."
"Either way, we created a masterpiece. Admit it. She was the ugly duckling, and we've turned her into a swan."
"I highly doubt anything she accomplished in life has anything to do with you," I growled. Finally, Matt, who hadn't said much about it, wheeled on Jake, fists pumping at his sides. His eyes burned fire, and I saw Jake cower just a bit.
"Shut the fuck up, Jake." The words rolled off Matt's tongue with pure confidence, and the corner of my mouth ticked up slightly at how much this made Jake uncomfortable. Jake didn't take much shit from me, but no one fucks with Matt, not even the cocky college quarterback.
"Whoa, man, I was just fucking with her." Jake put his hands in the air in surrender. Finally, someone had put him in his place. But it wouldn't be the last time, I was sure. "She's hot now, you know? I'd tap that."
"Don't kid yourself, Jake. You'd tap anything." I reached for my beer and took a long gulp, wishing we'd started drinking earlier. Jake and I were still facing the bar, but Matt had turned back around, and when I sneaked a glance over my shoulder, Renee was still staring at us, her eyes burning a hole in the back of our heads. Matt, however, was holding her gaze steady. Always the brave soul, Matthew Nelson.
"Maybe you're right," he said suddenly. Jake was midway through a drink of his beer when he coughed, spewing sticky foam all over the countertop. I probably slapped his back harder than necessary as he whirled around in his seat.
"Did you just say I was right?" he asked, shrugging my hand off.
"Yeah," was all Matt said, seemingly under Renee's spell. Then he broke eye contact quickly as if he'd inadvertently looked into the eyes of Medusa. Thankfully, he hadn't turned to stone…yet. "The bitch broke my nose, remember?"
Jake once more choked on his drink. "Yeah, that was lit," he said with a high-pitched laugh. "You didn't look normal for months."
"You're so fucking cocky, Jake," said Matt. "Maybe you should do it."
I emptied my mug, holding back the shock that filled me. I cleared my throat. "There are three girls at that table, Matt. What about the other ones?"
Jake and Matt both shot me a look, then broke eye contact. Perhaps they were thinking what I was thinking—the other two girls had nothing on Renee. But I didn't dare speak those words.
"Fuck it," Jake said, tossing a crumpled bill for our drinks on the counter. "Watch and learn, boys. You're about to witness a miracle."