Completing the Pass by Jeanette Murray

Carri handed the cashier some money and turned a little to wait for the pizza she’d obviously ordered.
    â€œShe got hotter. Damn.” Tony slapped a palm on the table. “Okay, let me out. I’m gonna give that a try.”
    â€œShe’s too old for you,” Derrick said mildly, not moving.
    â€œShe was a year younger than us,” Tony said, then looked at Josh for confirmation. Josh nodded tightly. “Yeah, there. Only a year younger.”
    â€œWhich is still about five years past your preferred expiration date.”
    Tony shoved at Derrick, but the man didn’t budge.
    â€œLeave her alone,” Josh said softly, but Tony didn’t miss the edge in his voice.
    â€œOh, I see. You already staked some claim there? Wait, Carrington . . . Gray . . . you two were super-enemies back in high school.”
    Derrick grinned and pointed his crust at Josh. “You totally hated each other.”
    â€œWe both thought you two were secretly going at it behind everyone’s backs.”
    Josh stared at his friends, jaw dropped. “What the hell? You did not.”
    â€œTotally did,” Derrick confirmed. “It was the only explanation to either of us as to why you two couldn’t get along.”
    â€œWe hated each other back then, and we’re not that keen on each other now. I’m just warning you off for your own sake,” he told Tony.
    â€œWell, if you’re not going to call dibs, then . . .” Tony stood up halfway in the booth, since Derrick wouldn’t let him out. “Hey! Carri! Over here!”
    Josh let his head fall into his arms on the table.
    ***
    â€œHey! Carri! Over here!”
    Carri fought against the rising panic. Of course, of damn course, there would be someone at Pizza Dan’s who knew her. And she’d crawled out of the house looking like baked Southwestern roadkill. Just lovely.
    Pasting a smile on her face, she scanned the crowd and quickly found him. Or rather, them. Three men sat at a booth toward the back, one of which was standing up and frantically waving. She glanced back to the cashier. “Uh, I’ll be right back.”
    â€œPizza will be ready in about five,” the cashier told her, and Carri wandered toward the back.
    She realized, after a moment, that the third man sitting with his back to her was none other than Josh Leeman. Which made the two facing her his best buds from high school, Tony and Derrick. Derrick had definitely filled out, and then some. But Tony looked remarkably unchanged.
    â€œHey, pretty lady,” Tony said as she approached.
    No, he definitely hadn’t changed.
    â€œHi. Tony, right?”
    He flashed her a grin that she was sure had charmed girls in high school. It looked a little underwhelming on a twenty-seven year old man.
    â€œYou got it. You remember Derrick?”
    Derrick gave her a friendly, nonthreatening smile and waved a little. His left hand had a wedding band on it. He had always been a pleasant enough guy, despite his lack of judgment on friends. She’d bet his wife was quite content with her choice. He’d be the kind of guy to never let his eye wander, be home before midnight, even on guys’ night out, and bring home flowers on their anniversary.
    â€œAnd Josh, of course.”
    He glanced up at her—or halfway glanced up at her. “Hey.”
    â€œHello.” She stood awkwardly for a moment, hooking her thumbs into her pockets. “So . . . you guys live around here still?”
    â€œJust south of here. I do IT for the hospital,” Derrick confirmed.
    â€œManager at Debraugher’s,” Tony added. Debraugher’s was the local grocery-store chain.
    â€œNice.” She nodded, unsure of what to say next. These guys hadn’t been her friends in high school. She’d simply known them through Josh, who was not her favorite person at the moment. “Well, uh, I should probably