The Whiskey Effect: A Small-Town Standalone Romantic Comedy

by J. W. Ashley

  I smile and nod at everyone, but my friendliness vanishes as Jamie and Kerry glare at Lena. Clearing my throat, I cross both arms as they turn to me. After a brief moment, they both turn away. Smart move. I could kick both their asses.

  Rob—a handsome man with dark hair and bright green eyes—gets to his feet and holds out a hand for Lena.

  “It’s great to finally meet you, Lena. We’ve heard a lot about you.”

  “It’s great to meet you too.”

  Rob kneels in front of Becca, and she smiles shyly at him. “It’s so nice to meet you, little Becca. We’ve heard amazing things about you.”

  “Hello,” she whispers, and he straightens.

  “Jamie’s always been a massive asshole,” Leo whispers in my ear as Graham leads Lena over to set their stuff down.

  “I can see that,” I comment, sparing them one last glance to make sure they aren’t staring at Lena.

  “I mean, I guess I would too if I had to go home to Kerry every day.”

  I shoot him an amused glance, and he shivers, his whole body shaking for just a moment. “That bad, huh?”

  “Oh yeah. That and worse.”

  I smile. “Good. Then they deserve each other. I’m going to go chat with Lena. You okay?”

  “Sure. See you in a few.” He leans in and kisses me softly, his hand gently squeezing my hip before pulling away.

  Stupid butterflies. Just once, I’d like the feeling to fade. That way when I go home, it won’t leave me a broken-up mess. I take a seat on the blanket as Lena sits down and pulls Becca into her lap.

  “I’ll be right back,” Graham says with a smile and heads over to Leo, who’s chatting with a group of men I don’t recognize.

  “So, are you surprised?” I ask, reaching forward and popping a grape into my mouth. The juice hits me, the sweet mixed with the little bit of tart making me want to groan. Damn, I do love me some grapes.

  Becca pushes away from Lena and runs toward Graham, and I grin, watching the new dad scooping her up into his arms.

  “Yeah, especially since I talked to you last night. Were you here?”

  I nod, my thoughts briefly drifting back to the late-night-panic conversation. “Leo had just picked me up from the airport.”

  She wiggles her eyebrows. “You two seem to be getting pretty cozy.”

  Her words hit me hard, a punch to my gut and a squeeze of my heart. Clearing my throat, I throw a confident smile her way and hope like hell she can’t see through it. “What can I say? It’s that lumberjack effect. It’s making me drunk and disoriented. I don’t even know who I am anymore.”

  “You’re so full of it.” Lena laughs, and I swallow hard, knowing she’s right. My gaze drifts back to Leo. He’s standing a few yards away and turned to the side so I can see his profile as he throws his head back and laughs at something Graham says.

  As if my thoughts alerted him, he shifts his attention to me and grins. I smile quickly before looking away. I don’t know when my attraction shifted into something more, but every time I look at him, it’s like a punch to the gut. A big neon sign that reads ‘Stop being an idiot, Claudia. You might as well be in love with him’. When the hell did that happen?

  “How about you? It working on you yet?” I ask, hoping to shift the conversation to someone else's love life.

  Lena sighs and glances wistfully at Graham. “We kissed last night,” she says, her voice barely above a whisper.

  “Really? Tell me all the things!”

  “There’s not much to tell. One second, he had me pinned against the wall, and the next, I was going to bed, alone.”

  “What happened?”

  “I told him I wanted to go to sleep.”

  “What? Why the hell did you do that? Dude, you’re going to get cobwebs down there if you don’t do something about it.”

  Lena slaps my arm gently, her cheeks heating. “I don’t want to rush into it. Those first two weeks were nothing but a whirlwind of sex and more sex.”

  “I’m failing to see what’s wrong with that,” I say, even as I understand what she’s getting at.

  “Eventually, it’ll burn out. I want to see if anything will be there after the new feeling fades. We have a daughter to think about, and I want to make sure she’s happy.”

  I reach over and squeeze her arm gently. “You need to make sure you’re happy too, you know.”

  “I know that. I am happy.”

  I follow Lena’s gaze to Graham, who’s watching her intently as though she were a puzzle he was trying to solve. “He seems different around you now.”

  “I think so too. I hope it’s because he’s forgiven me.”

  “I’m going home tomorrow,” I blurt as much for myself as to let Lena know. Who am I kidding? It was absolutely for myself.

  “Oh? When are you coming back?”

  “I’ll be back for Becca’s birthday, but not before then.”

  “What about Leo?”

  I turn back to Lena, irrational anger surging through me as I think about what I’m going to have to say to Leo before I leave. But if I don’t tell him now, things will just end later, and I’d rather things end now before they get too messy.

  “What about him?” I eat another grape and try my best to look casual. “This has been just a fling.”

  “Yeah, okay,” Lena says, rolling her eyes.

  “What? It really is.”

  “Claudia, I’ve never seen you this way with a guy. You deserve to be happy too, you know.”

  “Relationships don’t make me happy. Casual sex and margaritas—those make me happy.”

  “You don’t ever think about settling down? Finding someone to spend your life with?”

  “Nope,” I lie. “Everything is perfect just the way it is.” My gaze drifts over to Leo, and I watch him kneel and hand Becca a strawberry.

  I could absolutely see a future with Leo. Kids. A house. The whole thing. And that’s why I have to leave.

  19

  Poking The Lumberjack

  Claudia

  “Hey.” I glance over my shoulder as Leo walks up behind me, wrapping both arms around my waist.

  “Hey, yourself.” I’m exhausted, mentally and physically since the fireworks went well past nine. The feel of him against me, his body curled around mine, it’s intoxicating. I pull away, turning to face him in the breezeway of the barn.

  Deep lines form between his eyes, and he shoves both hands into the back pockets of his jeans. “You okay?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “You seem off.”

  “Just ready to go home,” I say. Might as well start pulling back now. Maybe it will make the transition easier. I don’t believe that lie for a second.

  “Oh, gotcha.” He nods and looks past me, jaw hardening.

  “What? We both knew what this was when we started.”

  He’s silent, and I swear I can hear my own heartbeat. The air between us thickens, a brutal breakup on the horizon.

  “If that’s what you want,” he says finally.

  “Excuse me? What I want?”

  “Yeah, Claudia. It seems to be what you want, and if that’s the case, fine. We had a good month of fucking. Nice to meet you. Sorry to see you go.” He turns to leave, and I stop him with a hand on his arm.

  “What the hell, Leo? I told you what I was looking for.”

  He spins back around. “You made it pretty clear. And yet, here you are. Back for more. I feel something for you, Claudia. Call it lust, love, whatever the hell you want, but my world is better with you in it.”

  His words drop on me like a ton of bricks falling from a skyscraper. I know he feels something—but love? Love? The four-letter word I’ve been running from my entire life? “Love?” I scoff. “You barely know me. And let me save you some trouble. I’ve seen what that four-letter word does to people, Leo. It fucking tears them apart. Turns good people into clingy assholes.”

  “Not everyone. You saw my grandparents.”

  “Ye
ah, I saw them. Don’t think I missed that pointed visit,” I say, even though I had no idea at the time. “You’re trying to manipulate me, but I’m broken, Leo. Unable to love, to feel anything past basic attraction. You want to screw around? I’m your girl. But I am not the ‘take her home to momma’ type. I’m a brief passing on your way to who you’re meant to be with.”

  I try to storm past him, but he catches me, hand gripping my bicep as he spins me to him and slams his mouth to mine.

  The heat, the passion, he pours it all in, and I can feel the sparks all the way down to my toes. I reach up and toss his hat off his head, burying my hands in his hair, giving him back all the anger and fear I feel.

  I know I’m afraid. I’m terrified. Because feeling something this potent—it only means the fall would be epic.

  “How the hell do you know we aren’t meant to be together?” he asks, breathless, pulling away from me.

  Heart hammering, I’m unable to form words even as tears burn in my throat. I can picture my mom vividly. The promises made and broken. A father walking away.

  “Because I’ve seen what happens when things end. The cheating. Lies. The sparks never last.” A tear slips down my cheek, and I angrily wipe it away. “And I swore to myself a long damned time ago that would never be me.”

  Leo leans forward and rests his forehead against mine. “What if it works out? What if this,” he says, gesturing to both of us, “what if this is meant to be? Do you not feel it, Claudia?”

  Turning my face up, I swallow hard and press my lips to his. The kiss is soft, my lips moving against his in my final goodbye and one last attempt to distract him from a conversation that will lead us both nowhere.

  His hands slide down my hips, cupping my ass as he lifts me. I wrap both legs around his waist and kiss him like I’m a woman dying of thirst and he’s a tall glass of water.

  Leo sets me on the counter and steps between my legs, kissing me furiously as his hands trail up my body, tossing my shirt to the floor.

  I hope he finds love one day. Hope someone comes along and treats him better than I ever could. But I can give him tonight, give us both one final send-off before I leave with the early morning light. Broken and numb because I know there’s no way in hell I’ll ever move on. No other man will ever match up to Leo Hayes.

  Leo

  Rolling over, I search the loft for her, but she’s gone. Panic surges through me even as anger threatens to boil over.

  Surely she didn’t—“Claudia?” I call, getting out of bed and shrugging into a pair of basketball shorts. It’s still dark, so I flip on lights as I go. “Claudia?”

  No answer.

  “Claudia?” The bathroom is empty, so I head down the steps. The rest of the loft is empty save for a handwritten note on my bar top.

  Stomach sinking, I reach for it, fearing that I already know what it says.

  Leo,

  It was fun.

  -Claudia.

  I clench my fist, crumpling the note and leaning against the counter. Fun. It was fucking fun. That’s all she has to say? I throw the paper, the gentle thud against the wall only furthering my rage.

  She fucking left in the middle of the night. Left me. My chest tightens, a vice around my heart making it difficult to even breathe.

  Never in my life have I felt so much for someone. And she ripped it away with three fucking words.

  20

  Damn You, Leo Hayes

  Claudia

  Casual Sex.

  I live my life by those two words, doing what I want when I want. My only rule for survival: don’t get attached.

  I live, breathe, drink, and fuck. Then, I wake up and do it all over again. With no emotions involved, I can lose myself in the sex. Enjoy the aftermath when my skin is slick with sweat, my body still trembling from the best kind of release. For me, the need to fuck is primal, a deep-rooted desire to feel a connection—any connection, really. And he gave me that.

  Music surrounds me. The thump, thump, thump of the beat pounding straight through me. I can feel it in my bones as I sway my hips. Tears stream down my cheeks, the darkness of the club clouding me in privacy even as people surround me. I might as well be alone in the world.

  Crazy.

  Reckless.

  Wild.

  Three words used to describe me on more than one occasion, but now, I—Claudia Peterson—no longer find the thrill in the fleeting. I can no longer see the allure of a sexy stranger in the dark.

  Now, my heart yearns for one person.

  One man who has brought me more happiness than I ever thought I could possibly experience. Leo filled the giant hole in my heart I hadn’t even realized was there to begin with. He made me feel again, made me believe in love, in a happily ever after. Two things I know are not possible for me.

  After all, love is not in my DNA. My grandmother was alone, my mother’s track record has been spotty at best. Douchebags are drawn to us, flies to shit, and have been for my entire matriarchal line.

  Until Leo. Typically when the weekend ends, so do my relationships. But with him, when the casualness slowly faded away, I was left with heart-wrenching, gut-twisting feelings.

  Dammit.

  The asshole actually made me want more. Had me craving his touch, desperate to spend just one more moment as the subject of his attention. And he almost had me earlier. But when he rolled over and put his arm over me, I knew it was time to go. Because if I didn’t, the past month we spent together would have been tainted with anger.

  And as much as I knew the relationship needed to end, I wanted to hold on to as much of the happiness he gave me as I possibly could.

  Double dammit.

  “Hey there, sweetheart!”

  I open my eyes as a man steps in front of me, moving his hips with the music. I shake my head and turn away. He takes it as an invitation though and grabs my hips, palming my ass and squeezing hard as if I came to this club to be his fucking object. Typically, I’d turn around and give him a verbal lashing. But I’m angry and feeling a bit reckless, so I spin and slam my fist into his chin.

  Pain radiates up my arm as he stumbles back.

  “What the fuck, bitch?” he roars loud enough that a handful of nearby dancers hear over the music. I turn away, shoving through the crowd.

  I told Leo I didn’t want anything serious. Good, filthy fun is what I’d asked for. It’s rule number one: no strings.

  But the asshole broke right through that rule as though it were a pane of sugar glass and he was an action star whose mission was to take me down: repeatedly. Which he did, wonderfully. And when I told him things needed to end, did he let me walk away? No, he sexed me into a delicious stupor where I genuinely wondered if things could work out.

  So, why am I here in a packed club alone as I cry my eyes out to some song I don’t recognize? I’m a coward. I ran. Bolted the moment things felt too real, and now, no matter how much I regret it, I know I can’t go back.

  Part of me hopes he’ll chase after me even as the logical part of my brain tells me that I will never see Leo Hayes again.

  I would hate me. I left him in the middle of the night, caught a red-eye out of Montana and back to Idaho. Hell, I haven’t even gone home yet. I came straight to the damn club. My oversized purse is still slung over my shoulder as I make my way to the exit.

  This is what I wanted, right?

  Then why the fuck does it feel so wrong?

  Claudia

  My alarm clock blares to life, the loud screeching of the tone filling the space of my studio apartment. I crack open my eyes and stare up at the ceiling bathed in a soft orange glow, signaling the start of a brand-new day.

  Not that it holds a whole lot for me anyway. I have work to do—clients who are waiting on my designs—and all I want to do is wither away in this bed. I know I might feel a tad better had I gotten more than two hours of sleep. I probably shouldn’t have gone clubbing last night after my plane landed. It’s not like it got me anywhere anyway
. No matter how hard I tried, there wasn’t a single man who caught my interest.

  Fucking bastard.

  I know who’s to blame for my sudden ineptness, and I wish I could say it is all his fault. But honestly, it has more to do with me and the simple fact that I can be a major bitch when backed into a corner. And Leo backed me into a fucking corner with his words.

  My phone buzzes, so I reach over and grab it.

  Lena: Coffee this morning?

  I shut my eyes tightly. Shit. I haven’t told her that Leo and I ended things yet. Plaguing my friend’s happy memory with my heartbreak is not my style. So, I lie.

  Me: Shit! Sorry, I forgot to tell you. Had to fly back. Big client meeting today.

  I stare at my phone as the message bubble pops up, signaling she is responding. Lena knows me too well, and I imagine this charade is going to be pretty freaking difficult to keep up, especially if she calls me. I don’t trust my voice not to break.

  Late night tangled in sheets. Whispers of love, of a future passed in the dark.

  My phone beeps again, the tone pulling me from the memories of last night.

  Lena: Everything okay?

  Me: Yes, biotch. I’m good. Chat later? I want to hear all about last night. ; )

  Lena: Sounds good.

  I toss my phone to the bed beside me and cover my face with both hands as the tears threaten to overtake me again. Never, in all my years of living, have I felt so completely and utterly broken. Well, I suppose that’s not entirely true, is it?

  My dad bailing on Mom and me to be with his second family had hurt pretty fucking bad. But even then I’d been more angry than anything.

  But this grief, this overwhelming feeling of loss is too much. Leo’s not gone from this earth, ripped away without rhyme or reason. I pushed him away, shoved him to the side because I’m afraid of what he makes me feel.