AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“But seriously. Not cool. Which is why I set up a little gift for both of you, because I believe in love. What you two share is rare and sacred and should be respected. Enjoy the show.”
“Aria,” Max warned, unsure what she’d done, and afraid of whatever it was jeopardizing what he and Kenna had finally gotten back.
Aria put her hand on his forearm. “Trust me. I only want your happiness. And while you wanted to have fun with Kenna tonight, I wanted that bitch to get what she deserves for fucking with my family. Andme.”
Another alarm went off. “What are you talking about?” Max didn’t like the sadness in Aria’s eyes. He wanted to hurt whoever hurt her.
She notched her chin up to the table Melody had indicated earlier. “Watch.”
Kenna leaned in. “What’s going on?”
“You’ll see,” Aria said and pointed across the room. “Recognize her.”
“Hillary.” Kenna gasped out the name. “What is she doing here?”
Max sighed. “She’s here all the time. She works down the road as a cashier at a gas station minimart.”
Aria added, “Yeah, after what she did to you two, her life didn’t turn out so hot. She’s got a job she hates that barely pays the bills. She lives with two roommates who hate her, because she’s inconsiderate and steals their stuff and brings home men at all hours of the night, keeping them up.” Aria continued to fill in Hillary’s sad life. “She picks up guys who have good jobs, hoping they’ll fall for her and take her away from her shit apartment and shower her with love and gifts and give her a better life.
“Some guys fall for it,” Aria went on. “But it never lasts more than a couple weeks before she’s on the prowl again.” Aria glared at Hillary like she had her own vendetta against her.
Kenna frowned. “Sounds like she’s stuck in a loop and getting nowhere in life.”
“She only cares about herself. Once the people she pulls into her orbit figure that out, they leave, because who wants to be around someone like her?” Aria continued to stare down the woman across the room. “The guy she’s with right now... She met him last night. He’s new to this area. Arrived a few weeks ago to help out his aging grandparents on the little ranch they own nearby. What he doesn’t know is that she’s been fucking someone else for the past couple weeks.”
Max’s gut went tight and an alarm went off in his head. “Aria, who are you waiting for to show up?”
She pointed to the man making his way toward Hillary’s table.
“Oh shit.” Max put his hand over Aria’s on the table.
Kenna leaned in. “Who is that?”
“The man who doesn’t know that my overprotective brother added extra security cameras around this place because he’s worried about his sisters, Lyric in particular, and he got caught cheating. On me.” Aria never took her eyes off her boyfriend, now an ex, even if he didn’t know it yet, as he approached Hillary’s table.
“Aria, I’m so sorry.” Kenna put her hand on Aria’s forearm right next to Max’s hand.
“I’m sure you know exactly how I feel about that woman. And him. He made a commitment. She went after him. He didn’t have to cheat, but he did. They’re both at fault. But he doesn’t know I know about them. He thinks I’m too busy at the bar to notice. He’s wrong. On so many levels.”
Jax came out of the crowd and approached their table. “Uh, hey, Max and Kenna. Happy to see you back together, but, um, Aria, what’s going on over there?”
“That stupid idiot thinks he can cheat on me, in my bar, in front of me and my whole family and get away with it.”
“Hell no, he can’t.” Jax took a menacing step toward Dan.
Aria grabbed her brother’s arm. “Let it play out.”
And it did. Loudly, because Hillary didn’t do anything without making a scene.
“I can see anyone I want.” Hillary stood and pointed her finger into Aria’s ex’s chest. “I’m not the one cheating. You are. You said you’d leave her, but you didn’t.”
“It’s complicated.” Dan used that banal statement like it meant something to Hillary or Aria.
“It’s really not. You got tired of fucking her and wanted something exciting, so you fucked me on the side.”
Max wondered if they realized they were shouting over the music and everyone could hear them. He guessed not, because they kept talking. And making things worse.
“I told you once I had the money, we’d leave Wyoming and go someplace new together.” Aria’s ex dug his grave deeper.
