AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Of course.” Jared nodded in return before pulling me into the warmth of his solid body as we all walked back to our separate cars.
Mario kissed me quickly on the cheek and hurried over to his car, making me already long for him but by the time I turned from Jared to look back at him, he was pulling out of the parking lot.
As I stared after him in confusion, Jared turned me toward him to give me a kiss on the forehead. “I’ve got some stuff to attend to at the office now after all of this.” He waved his hand to encapsulate my father’s confession to the court and the week that had been wasted. “But can I call you later?”
“You most certainly can.” I smiled at him and turned to look again for Mario, who was well and truly gone.
A sense of worry crawled within me as I stood by my car, alone once again. It blew my mind, and I could hardly believe it but were they still avoiding me after everything we just went through together?
Chapter 31
Chris
Lettinggoofabreath that sounded like the engine of a motorbike, I stepped into Lion’s Bar because damn, a drink was very much needed. What the fuck was today? It must have been the longest day in history. Hell, my head felt heavy, and my body felt weak.
There was one thing I was certain of for sure now; there was no way of ever getting back into my mother’s good graces after this. I may as well consider myself disowned along with Tiffany and you know what, who gave a fuck? My actual family was waiting for me to come home, which was why I wouldn’t get bat shit drunk. Just a few drinks, nowhere close to my limit. If my body felt relaxed, that was enough for me. Nice and easy, that’s all my body needed.
There was an orange glow lighting up the room as the sun reflected off the transparent windows and bounced off the brown liquor sitting on the mirrored shelving. As I wandered toward a seat right up in front of the bartender, the music was loud but not so loud that it would be a shouting match just to order a drink. The television was on mute, but it was on a sports station, which gave me something to look at as the thoughts of today raced in my head.
You know what, cheers to my father for growing some balls. And well, perhaps the day of reckoning had finally come for my mother. It had to at some point, right? She needed the wakeup call and hopefully, it did what it was supposed to. Hopefully, she learned something from today. That was if she weren’t too proud to learn which well, one could never mistake Valerie Levine for being humble.
“Hey, man, tough day today?” the bartender asked me. He recognized me though he was only one of the many on staff. He was dark haired and Italian looking. He sported an impressive mustache and no beard.
“Not exactly for me,” I said, allowing my ego to take a backseat and acknowledging that today had been way tougher for my sister. And my former best friends. “I’ll have a mug of light beer.”
“Light beer? Well, that’s different.” He raised one brow.
Grinning, I shook my head. “Why does everyone think I’m an alcoholic?”
He cocked his head and pursed his lips before turning away from me with a smile. He filled my mug with the cold, refreshing beverage and placed it before me. “Anything else you want, you know where to find me.” He winked and wandered away. Laughing in return, I took a sip and shook my head once more.
He had flirted with me so many times that at this point, there was an understanding between us by now that there was no chance in hell. Not that he would be hurt by that as he was already on his way to flirt with the next good-looking guy sitting by the bar. To be fair, it did give me quite the confidence boost knowing that I hadn’t lost my looks with fatherhood and the far too many beers, which thank goodness hadn’t given me a beer belly just yet. Eh, there certainly wasn’t a six pack under my shirt, but I mean, it was decent.
Already halfway through my beer, I looked across the room to order another one when my hands stilled on my glass, while it was still perched at my lips. My gaze locked into Anthony’s, and I froze. He rolled his eyes upon seeing me and sighed, turning his head back to his drink.
It took me awhile to look away as I sat there unmoving and unsure how to react. Maybe it was the tension my gaze created, but he seemed to decide that perhaps being in the same space as me wasn’t worth it as he tossed some money on the bar counter and rose from his seat. The bartender looked between him and me, picking up the money before sauntering over to me with curiosity dusting his expression.
Clearing my throat, I dropped my eyes back to my own glass and planted them on the mirrored shelf where Anthony could be seen walking past me on his way to the door. Biting down on my teeth and closing my eyes, I sighed.
Groaning and jumping up from my seat, I turned around just in time to see his hand on the door.
“Wait,” I said, stopping him.
He paused and took his time turning around, studying me. If he had fur, it would be standing on end like a cat’s.
“Hmm, oh, so that’s why you’ve never given me the time of day,” the bartender said.
Whipping around to look at him, my lips quivered in my attempt to hold back a smile of disbelief. He gave Anthony a once over and nodded. “To be honest, I get it. He’s fine,” he said.
“What?” Anthony and I said at the same time which caused us to look at each other.
“We’re not…” I started.
“Yeah, we’re REALLY not,” Anthony continued with his eyes wide open.
“I’m married,” I said, showing the bartender the ring on my finger.
“Hasn’t stopped some guys,” he said with a head tilt.
