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Jensen pointed behind him, and I saw Emery leaning over the bar in an all-black ensemble, gesturing to the bartender.
“What do you mean, you don’t know where your wife is? I’d rather not have her run into Emery. She still acts like a…” Jensen looked at me, and his eyes said that the word he was looking for was psychopath, but he didn’t want to say it in front of me. “Well, she doesn’t like Emery.”
“Nothing to worry about then because I didn’t bring her,” I said. Then, I tried to push past him to get my drink.
Jensen grabbed my arm. “How the hell did you get away with that?”
“Give it a rest, Jensen.”
He sighed and dropped my arm. “What happened?”
“Look, we had a fight, and I left without her. The end.”
“Must have been a pretty big argument for her not to come with you,” Jensen prodded.
Jensen, like the rest of my family, hated Miranda with a fiery vengeance. He might think he was able to keep his distaste for her under wraps—unlike my sister Morgan—but he didn’t fool me. Only my youngest sister, Sutton, was any good at pretending that she liked Miranda. Not that I blamed them at this point.
“I’m leaving her, man. Is that what you wanted to know?” I spat at Jensen.
He stared back at me, stunned. Maybe he never thought I’d actually do it. Miranda had pushed and pushed and pushed, and I’d never broken. There were reasons for all of that. Reasons I’d handled the Wright way with no one else knowing about them. But she’d crossed the line, and I’d had enough.
“Landon, you know that I just want you to be happy.”
“Yeah, well, I need a drink, not a lecture. Leave it be.”
I stumbled over to the bar and ordered that drink, making sure to angle away from Emery. We were on all-right terms now, but since this was all about high school, I didn’t want to dredge up those awkward memories. Maybe I’d find some of my old football buddies.
Or the blonde at the pool table in the back of the bar.
My eyes found Heidi Martin, Emery’s best friend, as she stood up to her considerable height. She was surely making a fool out of her opponent since I’d personally seen her hustle more than her fair share of unsuspecting victims.
We’d known each other for years. She’d been a cheerleader when I was the starting quarterback in high school. We’d hung out more times than I could count while I was dating Emery. But, when I’d come back over for Sutton’s wedding, it was like seeing a whole new Heidi. She oozed confidence and power, she made everyone smile, and she did it all effortlessly. Heidi Martin had completely come into her own.
We’d started talking after the wedding. Nothing serious. Or at least that was what I had told myself. Our conversations became intimate…and then New Year’s had happened. We’d almost kissed, and fuck, I’d wanted to. But it hadn’t been fair to Miranda. And so, after that, I’d cut off all contact with her.
Time to fix that mistake.
I strode down the bar and straight to the pool tables. Heidi curved a ball and knocked it into the pocket. Her blue eyes lifted from the table and landed right on me. Her smile grew but warily. She hadn’t forgotten how abruptly I had ended things.
“Heidi,” I said, taking her in like a breath of fresh air.
“Hey, Landon.” Her eyes looked over my shoulder, as if she were trying to figure out if I was alone. “Where’s your wife?”
“She’s not here.”
“Oh,” she said. Though she didn’t seem upset by that notion. “Sorry she couldn’t make it.”
“Are you?” I asked curiously.
She laughed and shook her head. “Are you drunk?”
“I might be a bit inebriated, yes.”
“Ah. Inebriated, are we?” she asked with an eye roll. “Guess you can’t be too drunk then.”
“Never know. I’m still an intelligent drunk.”
“Sure you are.” She pushed her blonde hair out of her face and smiled, as she seemed to be warming up to my presence. The next person missed his shot, and she proceeded to run the table. “Another round?”
