Chapter 22

Luis jumped when he felt a strong hand clamp down on his shoulder. Whirling around, he released a relieved whoosh of air when he discovered it was only Hank, Beth by his side. "Hank, you surprised me," Luis grinned at his own refusal to admit the truth to his friend—that he'd nearly scared the living daylights out of him.

"Yeah, well," Hank shrugged, a jovial smile on his face, beneath the Santa hat he sported, "You were off in another world, Pal. I said your name three times to give you a little warning, but I guess you didn't notice." Hank smirked knowingly when he spotted Sheridan. "Isn't that…"

"Sheridan Crane," Luis answered him, caught up in the blue of her eyes again, even from afar.

Hank and Beth exchanged amused smiles, clearly enjoying their friend's dumbstruck amazement. Finally, Hank cleared his throat, a couple of times actually, to recapture Luis's wandering attention. "Beth and I thought we'd throw you a little welcome home shindig at Jake's tonight. What do you say, Buddy?"

"Uh, yeah," Luis said distractedly. "Sounds nice."

"You can invite Sheridan if you'd like," Hank suggested with a wicked twinkle in his brown eyes.

"That's fi…wait a minute. WHAT did you say?" Luis wore a distinctly panicked expression when Hank's suggestion finally sank in.

"I said you could invite Sheridan," Hank repeated with a faked air of nonchalance.

"Beth," Luis addressed his former girlfriend. "Did Hank just say what I think he said?"

"Hank just said what you thought he said," Beth laughingly replied.

"You two have been spending way too much time together in my absence," Luis commented with a disbelieving shake of his head. Glancing around at the milling crowd, he wasn't surprised to find several other potential suitors admiring the recent arrival to their party, and why not, he berated himself silently as a ridiculously premature pang of jealousy coursed through his veins, she was an exceedingly beautiful woman. With regret, he told Hank, "We don't even know each other."

"That the best you can do, Pal?" Hank rolled his eyes in response. "I'll just have to make the introductions then. Come on, Luis," he grabbed Luis's arm and started dragging him toward Sheridan. "She's just a girl," he teased, dodging the playful smack upside the head Luis tried to deliver. "That's what you used to tell me, remember?"

Watching them go, it was if the years just melted away. "Why do I feel like I'm in junior high again?" Beth laughed.

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