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I couldn’t respond because she said it so fiercely, like it was absurd that we’d let something like Jonah stop us. If I’d thought there was a chance of Anna wanting more with me than sex, then I’d argue the same. But I wasn’t sure about that.
I wasn’t an idiot. I knew Anna had had a schoolgirl crush on me years ago, but she’d moved on to better pastures and dated the kind of guy she truly wanted to marry in college. All of her boyfriends had been well-educated, white-collar types. I was the exact opposite.
If I thought she could relieve her pent-up lust for a rough-handed man on me and then walk away without a broken heart, yeah, I’d be all for this. And again, if she wasn’t a woman I’d be forced to see for years and years to come after she’d settle down with a lawyer or doctor or whoever-the-fuck and have her perfect kids and her perfect life then I’d yet again be saying,let’s do this.
But I was pretty positive that Anna was at a crossroads in life where she was finding herself and her place in this world. Experimentation came with the territory. Why not have a fling with the guy she’d crushed on as a young girl? Before she settled into a real life with another man. That’s what this was.
I stepped away from her. “This can’t happen.”
She winced, and I gritted my teeth against the pain flickering in her dark eyes. She swallowed hard and tilted her chin higher. “I see.”
She pulled the door open behind her, still staring at me, a defiance in her gaze I’d seen a million times before when her family had told her she didn’t know what she was doing.
“Goodnight then, Reed.”
She walked out with a sharp sway to her step and left me there with a suffocating pain squeezing my chest.
If this was me saving myself from heartbreak, then why did it hurt so goddamn bad?
Chapter Six
~ANNA~
“He’s an idiot,”said my best friend.
Emma Mouton sat next to me at the bar of the Drunk Pelican where we’d been drinking for the past hour.
“Not every guy wants a woman like me,” I told her, having just confessed to her everything that had happened last night at Reed’s.
“What the hell kind of nonsense is that? What kind of woman do you mean? Beautiful? Smart? Kind?”
Rolling my eyes, I sipped my lemon drop martini. “I’m also flighty and impulsive. Reed is solid and grounded. He doesn’t get hair-brained ideas like sinking his life savings into a building that needs serious renovation when there aren’t enough funds to finish the job.”
“He agreed to do the renovations, so it doesn’t look like he thinks it’s crazy.”
“That’s because Reed would never say so. He’s too…Reed.” I tipped back and finished my drink.
“Another round, ladies?”
The bartender, Margot, was a striking brunette with a full sleeve tattoo up her right arm, silver studs up one ear, and a tiny diamond piercing in her nose. She radiated badass vibes. She wore her hair twisted in a messy bun, and her green feline-shaped eyes were intense and watchful just like an actual cat. She wasn’t from Beauville, and I didn’t know her story, but she’d been working at the Drunk Pelican at least two years. She always had a polite smile and kind word for those at the bar.
“Maybe one more,” said Emma before I could answer.
“I should probably go home and wallow in my misery with ice cream and Netflix.”
“No, you don’t want to do that yet.”
“Why not?”
Emma nudged my elbow. When I looked at her, she pointed her chin toward the entrance.
A host of butterflies burst in my stomach at the sight of the three men sauntering in the door. My brother Jonah was first, followed by Hale, then Reed. His hard gaze landed on me instantly and never left.
They eased through the small crowd. The Drunk Pelican had all kinds of fun theme nights, trivia, and improv and stuff. But tonight was just booze and a steady stream of country music.
“Hey, Anna Banana,” called Jonah, his smirky smile all for Emma as he put a hand on the backs of both of our chairs. He wasn’t even looking at me.
“Hey, Jonah.” I spun all the way around to face him, knocking his arm off. “You boys carousing on a Saturday night?” I kept my eyes off Reed, though I felt his on me.
