Page 12 of Just Past Two

Maybe she was the one who needed to be afraid of what they’d begun.

Chapter Three

The Night Owl was arguably the best bar in town for the drinks alone, never mind the nostalgia. Every time Sam walked in the place, it felt like home. He had years’ worth of memories there: back when he and Abby were dating, they used to grab a nightcap at the Night Owl after seeing a show, cozied up in one of the booths in the back where nobody bothered them. But now, it was the bastion of guy time, the favorite hangout for his CrossFit buddies after another grueling workout. He was last to arrive, the others already gathered around their usual round table in the front window, holding beers and mixed drinks.

They were an odd group: on the far side of the table sat Mitchell, the person Sam had met first when he joined CrossFit. Built solid and broad like a refrigerator, Mitchell, with his blond hair and crystal blue eyes, he had a sort of “European warrior” look. Next to him, Deshawn sat in stark contrast, short and lean, a light-skinned Black man with thin dreadlocks tied back. Deshawn was the scrappy sort of workout partner, the kind who could outlast almost anybody and was competitive enough to try to really do it. Rounding out the trio was Jack, average build, average height, a white guy with short, spiky brown hair and glasses. He’d joined their group most recently, a student at the university using CrossFit to unwind from the stress of his PhD program. They all looked up as Sam slid into the empty chair and joined them.

“Geez, did I take that long? You’ve all got drinks already.” Sam looked around for their server, who was nowhere to be seen.

“You take the longest showers.” Mitchell shook his head. “I managed to shower and get over here before you, and I walked.” He managed a cross between soft-spoken and no-nonsense, probably useful when he was running the kitchen at the Mapleton Pub. Out of everybody in this group, Mitchell was probably the one Sam felt closest to, but they didn’t really hang out outside of these guys’ nights and the gym.

“Walking’s easier, though,” Sam protested. “Parking’s a bitch.”

Deshawn, shaking his head, lifted up a glass in a toast. “Here’s to that, man. I’m in the garage.”

“The garage is a pussy move.” Jack shook his head. “Real men parallel park.”

Deshawn raised his eyebrows. “Dude, I saw you park, and you are like three and a half feet from that curb. Don’t give me shit about the garage when you’re out here parking like my half-blind grandma.”

Sam laughed, along with the rest of them, even Jack. He looked over the menu. “Mitchell, what’s good on tap right now?” There were perks to having friends who owned a brew pub.

“They’ve got one of our seasonal ones, and they also have an IPA that Ben’s been really into.” Mitchell raised his rocks glass. “I have had it up to here with beer right now, so I am drinking whisky.”

Sam ordered the seasonal beer, and conversation shifted to the holidays and what they’d done since they last grabbed a beer together, well before Christmas.

“You spent New Year’s at Abby’s college reunion?” Deshawn shook his head. “Reunions are horrible. Do you know how much shit my classmates give me about being a nurse?”

“Your classmates are assholes,” Mitchell responded before turning back to Sam. “How was the reunion?”

“It was actually pretty fun. I got to meet some of her old college friends.” Sam hadn’t minded at all, even without the kinky shit at the end. That wasn’t something he was going to bring up here, though.

“You mean her college boyfriends?” Jack grinned, drinking his beer.

Sam had gotten his beer by then, so he knocked his glass gently against Jack’s like it was a toast. “We’ve been married almost seven years, guys. It’s not like her past makes much of a difference anymore.”

Fat likelihood that was true, but these guys didn’t need to know the difference. Sam raised his chin to Mitchell. “What about you? You do anything fun over the holidays?”

Mitchell smiled the small, tight-lipped smile he often gave that seemed as though he had more going on than he let on. He was an enigmatic guy, a tough nut to crack, as it were. “Visited some family before the holiday, and then we stayed local. Ben made me close the restaurant on Christmas and New Year’s Day, so I actually had some rest.”

Ben. Ben ran the restaurant with Mitchell, shouldering the brewing half of their operation. His relationship with Mitchell, though, was a lot less clear. Sam had always just assumed they were partners, because they spent so much time together, but maybe they weren’t. It was difficult to know with Mitchell, and if he wasn’t telling, Sam wasn’t in a place to ask.

Even if he was curious from time to time.

By the time they got back to Jack, he was halfway done with his drink and had this mischievous, shit-eating grin on his face. “Listen. I know we don’t normally talk about this shit. But I have to tell you what Collette and I did over New Year’s.”

Deshawn put his glass down. “I know that look. It’s something freaky, isn’t it?”

Sam couldn’t help his own curiosity. Deshawn was right; they weren’t the type of guys to dish locker room talk at the bar, except maybe some innuendo and harmless jokes. Jack looked like he was gonna explode, though, actually vibrating with excitement.

Jack didn’t wait any longer for them to guess. “We went to a sex club!” he shouted. Realizing his volume, he ducked his head and repeated it, more quietly. “We went to a sex club.”

Mitchell put down his whisky. “Where is there a sex club in Mapleton?”

“Not in Mapleton. In Boston. There’s this club, and it’s invite only. Really high-class. But Collette, she knows the owners through her last roommate. And she got us an invitation.”

Sam shifted on his barstool. A sex club in Boston? He’d never been to one of those, never even knew what went on at one. Was that legal? So many questions started bubbling up, but the thought of asking them was embarrassing.

Thoughts of Abby flashed into his mind, of her insinuating that he wasn’t the type of person to push his boundaries. Well, he could be that kind of person. He just had to tap into that part of himself. “I don’t know what happens at a sex club,” he managed to ask out loud. “Is it just group sex?”