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“He had an affair,” I blurt, and immediately I want to slap my hand over my mouth. I can’t believe I just said that.
His face softens in sympathy, and I want to crawl under the table. I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me. It makes me feel somehow…less.
“He’s a fucking idiot. I know Stacy’s your friend, and I don’t know how much you know about our situation.”
“Not much. Just that you divorced. I lost touch with her after she moved to Charleston to be closer to her family.”
He takes a deep breath. “She cheated on me. Said she couldn’t handle being alone so much when I came home from a trip to the Amazon. I filed for divorce immediately. At first, I was so righteous in my anger and wouldn’t listen to anything she had to say. I mean, she should have talked to me, right? Told me she was unhappy. Instead, she found someone else. I felt hurt, humiliated, and so damn angry. I immediately took another commission, and for a year after, I made sure to be out of the country as much as I could. It felt like I had failed, and I didn’t want to face anyone. But as my anger cooled, I realized that no one was looking at me like I was a failure.”
His words go straight to my heart, and I squeeze his hands in gratitude. I’m definitely going to introduce him to Lillian.
“Thank you. It’s all just so fresh, you know?”
“Bumping into each other where we did would make me think so. Do you want to leave?”
“If you don’t mind?”
His smile is easy. “Only if you promise we can do this again?”
I don’t hesitate to agree because all I see in his eyes is a friend enjoying another friend’s company.
***
Lucas
Copper Blues is busy, but it’s still early enough that Eric and I find two spots at the bar quite easily. The only thing I want to do tonight is drink. To drink until I get lost in sweet oblivion. I’m on my third beer when I feel a hand on my arm, dragging my eyes away from the football game playing on the TV in the corner of the bar. Annoyance surges through me when my eyes land on the face belonging to the hand. Two seconds tell me all I need to know. Her artfully curled hair, her carefully applied makeup, the low-cut top and short skirt she’s wearing are all telling me she’s on the prowl, and her prowling has led her straight to me.
“Do you mind?” I snarl. She snatches her hand away as if it’s burning, but I ignore her, looking back at the TV. I feel her moving away, and I don’t give a shit.
“That’s cold, dude.” Eric chuckles next to me. Again, I don’t give a shit. How can I see her when all I can see is Alexis? The constant despair that fills my veins like molten lava surges when I think of her name. Every time she looks at me, and I see the hate shining from her eyes, I can’t breathe. I want to clutch my chest and beat it to force my lungs to work properly. It feels like nothing works right anymore. Where my heart used to be, there’s this yawing black pit of nothing. Lifting my beer to my lips, I down it, then order a whiskey, but quickly change my mind. Whiskey is what I drank at Monica’s house that night, and I’ll be dead before I touch that stuff again. Beer won’t get me where I need to be, whiskey’s out, so I order brandy. That should do it. Two brandy’s later, I have a nice buzz going.
I hear a mumbled fuck my life next to me and look over at Eric in surprise. When we got here, he tried talking to me, but my grunts must have clued him in to the fact that I didn’t want to talk. Since then, he’s been sitting next to me in silent support. His head is in his hands, but when I ask him what’s up, he shakes it. Whatever. I down my brandy and order another one. The bartender lifts his brows, but fuck him. Walk in my shoes, asshole, then you get to lift your brows. I try to focus on the TV, but Eric’s head is on a swivel and it distracts me. I turn to look at what’s getting up his ass and immediately wish I hadn’t. The despair erupts into rage, the simmering molten lava surging up and exploding like a volcano. My body stiffens, and I have to clench my barstool to keep myself in place at the sight of my wife sitting in a bar having drinks with another man. I want to storm over there and rip him away from her. I want to punch him until he can’t move, then grab Alexis, take her home, and fuck her until there’s no other man in her world but me. My body moves forward, my ass lifting from the barstool. Eric mutters a curse, his hand on my arm pulling until my ass hits the barstool.
“Chill, man. Alexis will never forgive you if you do anything stupid.” I know he’s right, but fuck, it does nothing to help me with this rage.
I take a deep breath and shudder on the exhale. I can’t pull my eyes away from them. They follow every move, every gesture, my heart fracturing every time Alexis throws her head back and laughs. My eyes zero in on the asshole she’s with and he looks vaguely familiar, but I can’t place him.
“I have to go to the john. Can I leave you alone for a minute?” I nod my head at Eric’s hesitant words, but don’t take my eyes off the soon-to-be-dead asshole. I’ll follow him when they leave, find out where he lives, then beat the shit out of him. Make sure he knows to keep his hands off of my wife. Me and brandy? Yeah, we’re new best friends.
“Okay then.” Eric blows out a big breath. “But if I come back and you’re in handcuffs, I don’t even wanna fucking know.”
I pay him no mind when he leaves, my gaze still laser-focused on the asshole. His eyes lift and meet mine, and I see recognition flash in them. I knew he looked familiar, but my head’s foggy from alcohol, and I still can’t place him. He looks away and says something to Alexis, making her head turn, and finally, her green eyes meet mine. Just like that, the asshole disappears and she’s all I see. Even from all the way over here, I can see all the emotions crossing her face, a face that I know so well, that I studied for so long that she can’t hide anything from me. She’s so fucking beautiful. Easily the most beautiful woman in this place, both on the inside and on the outside. I’m taken aback when her surprise turns to panic. Why panic? I would expect guilt for being caught out with another man, not panic. It’s only there for a few seconds before it turns into anger. Ahhh, there it is. I’m much more familiar with that emotion. She turns her back to me, and it’s as if my lifeline has been cut, leaving me cold and free-falling into nothingness. That coldness quickly evaporates when asshole takes her hands, and my eyes follow the small circles his thumbs are drawing on the back of her hands.
I’ve been so engrossed in the circus in front of me I hadn’t realized Eric’s come back. He’s staring at me, but I can’t take my eyes off them. I see when asshole motions the waitress over. I see when he settles the bill, and I see when they stand up to leave.
Grabbing my wallet, I throw a handful of bills on the bar and rush out behind them.
“Lucas, wait. Don’t go there, man. Just let them go.” Eric’s voice is like white noise at this point. There’s no way I’m letting her go home with that fucker. I’m a bit unsteady on my feet. It must be from the pure alcohol pumping through my veins. Drinking myself into oblivion and reveling in the revenge I got against Monica has become my nightly ritual. The fresh air when I exit the bar is like a slap to the face, but I power on, my eyes scanning the parking lot until I find them standing on the sidewalk a couple of feet away. I don’t think. I move.
“So this is how it is? You leave our daughter at home so you can fuck around with other men? What kind of mother does that make you? Does he know you’re married?”
I don’t even know what words are spewing out of my mouth. All I want is to destroy any chance of her going home with him. I will say anything and everything to achieve that. I know my words have hit their mark when her face pales and she inhales sharply. My heart clenches at the pain I’m causing her, but it doesn’t stop me. It’s all I’m good for lately it seems, hurting her. Might as well go for broke and apologize tomorrow. I see red when the asshole puts his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his body. I surge forward and yank him until he’s forced to let go.
“Get your fucking hands off my wife,” I growl.
He shoves me, and I stagger back a step, my balance already not the best. “Chill out, Lucas.” So, the fucker knows my name. My hands clench into fists, and I take a step forward, ready to punch.
Alexis darts between us, putting her hands on my chest and stopping me in my tracks.
