by Nash, Willa
The ten-minute drive home from the courthouse had been miserable. The waves of anger radiating off of Hux had turned the cab so stifling hot that I was sweating by the time he pulled into the garage. That scowl of his had never been harsher as he’d shut off the truck, climbed out and marched inside.
Shit. Two weeks was better than none.
But it wasn’t enough.
I took a fortifying breath and followed Hux inside, bracing for the conversation to come. Could Aiden recommend me a decent divorce lawyer? Or was that a conflict of interest? I had a feeling I’d need representation before too long. If I was still married by the time summer hit, I’d be shocked.
Hux was in the kitchen, chugging a glass of water when I found him. He’d stripped off his coat, laying it on the island. I did the same with mine.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I know two weeks wasn’t what you wanted, but it’s a start. We can try again.”
He set the water glass down too hard. He braced his hands on the island, his gaze locked on me.
My heart thundered. “Hux—”
He shoved away from the island and charged across the space. One moment he was staring at me, the next his body was flush against mine and his hands were threading into my hair. His thumbs caressed my cheeks as his lips crushed mine.
I gasped.
He took advantage, sliding his tongue between my teeth.
What the hell? I was so stunned that all I could do was stand there while he plundered my mouth. While he licked and sucked and nipped. With one last nibble on my bottom lip, he broke the kiss and dropped his forehead to mine.
“Thank you.”
“Huh?” I panted.
“Thank you,” he repeated. “Two weeks a month is more than I’ve ever had. It’s . . . everything. Don’t know why but when the judge came in, looked at you and smiled, I just knew it was going to work this time. This whole thing worked. Because of you.”
I blinked. “So you’re not mad? Because you seemed mad.”
“No, I’m not mad.” He looked at me like I’d completely read him wrong. Which, I had. But seriously, this man’s moods were as hard to solve as a Rubik’s Cube.
“We really need to work on that scowl of yours.”
Hux chuckled, leaning back. “I was afraid if I touched you in that courtroom, I’d fuck you in that courtroom.”
“Oh.” A flush bloomed in my cheeks as I registered the hardness swelling against my hip.
“Thank you,” he said again. “I’ll make it up to you.”
“In orgasms?” I grinned.
Hux laughed, the smile on his face spreading wider than any I’d seen before, just before I lost it and his lips dropped to mine. His hands roamed over my shoulders, falling to cup my ass in his palms.
I inched closer, sliding my hands up his broad chest. Hux was steel disguised as muscle and bone. Beyond that steel was a bleeding heart shielded behind concrete walls built from years of pain. But today, there was no pain.
Today, we tasted victory.
Hux’s lips brushed mine, testing and teasing. He flicked the tip of his tongue at the peak of my top lip, demanding I open for him.
I was just about to drop to my knees, unzip his pants and take him into my mouth when the doorbell rang.
A growl, low and feral rumbled from my chest. “I’ll get it.”
He sighed and let me go, nodding toward the bulge behind his zipper. “It’s probably Aiden checking in. Just give me a sec to cool off.”
I didn’t want him to cool off. Hux was at his best when he was fire and heat and burning desire. But when the doorbell rang again, I frowned and walked away.
Hux didn’t have a peephole to check. If he wasn’t home, I didn’t answer the door. But with him in the kitchen, I shoved old fears aside and twisted the knob.
“Hi.” I gave the man on the stoop a forced smile. “Can I help you?”
He leaned back, looked at the house number tacked outside. “Reese Huxley still live here?”
“Um, yes.” Who was this guy? He wasn’t much taller than I was at five seven, but he was nearly twice as wide. Even with a coat on, the extreme bulk of muscle was hard to conceal. He must spend a lot of time in the gym.
And on steroids.
His dark hair was buzzed short and he wore a pleasant smile. But there was something about his dull brown eyes that made me want to take a step inside and bolt the lock.
A single, fast flick of his gaze and he scanned me head to toe. It happened quickly, a size-up similar to the one I’d just given him. But his perusal didn’t feel like an assessment. It felt more like he’d seen me before, from afar. And now that he was closer, he was getting a better look.
I inched back, only to collide with Hux’s chest.
“Chase?” Hux asked. “What are you doing here?”
Chase grinned. “Hey, man. Long time.”
“Uh . . . yeah. Didn’t realize you were in town.”
“Just passing through the area. Wanted to stop by and say hi.”
Hux nodded as a tight smile spread across his face. Either he was still cooling off from our kitchen escapade, or he wasn’t all that happy to see Chase.
Chase’s gaze dropped to me.
“This is my wife, Everly.” Hux put his arm around my shoulders. “Ev, this is Chase Yelder. An old . . . friend.”
“Nice to meet you.” I gave him a little finger wave as I tried to get over the feeling from earlier. Chase was Hux’s friend. Nothing more. I shook off the unease and smiled wider.
Hux shuffled us to the side and waved Chase inside. “Come on in.”
“Thanks.” Chase smacked Hux on the arm as he walked inside. “I can’t believe I’m standing in front of your wife. Didn’t think you’d get married again.”
“Uh, yeah. Me neither.” Hux sighed. “How long are you here?”
“Not long. I’m headed to North Dakota. Hoping to find some work in Williston.”
“Good.” Hux nodded, clearly searching for something to say.
Who was this guy? Because the longer the silence hung, the more I knew friend was a generous term.
Chase scanned the room and zeroed in on the couch. “I know this is out of the blue and I hate to ask, but I’m trying to save cash for my trip. Would you, uh, mind if I crashed tonight on your couch?”
No. I did not want this guy sleeping here. It was too bad that Savannah’s visitation didn’t start immediately because that would be the perfect excuse to boot Hux’s friend.
“Um . . .” Hux swallowed hard. “This is kind of a strange time for us.”
“Say no more.” Chase held up a hand. “I’ll just crash with Katie.”
Katie? He knew Katie.
Chase took one step for the door, but Hux shot out a hand. “No. It’s okay. You can crash here tonight. Don’t call Katie.”
“Thanks. Appreciate it.” A smile stretched across Chase’s face. A victorious smile, like he’d played the Katie card and knew Hux would falter.
The unease crept further into my veins. I shoved it aside and assumed my smile, biding time until Hux and I could have a word alone. “We were going to order—”
“Go out to dinner.” Hux cut me off and shot me a look to keep quiet. “We were going to head out to dinner. Grab your coat, babe. Let’s go.”
Chapter Fourteen
Everly
“You look ready to fall asleep in that chair.” Jane collected the empties from our last round of drinks. And by round, two waters for Hux and me, plus a beer for Chase.
“I am.” I yawned. “No offense, but I’m ready to get the hell out of your bar.”
She smiled, the leathery skin of her cheeks forming lines around her mouth and eyes. “Honey, even I want to get the hell out of my bar. Any chance you can round those two up?”
“I’ll do my best.”
In the past hour, I’d watched as she’d wiped down the tops of every table, except ours, and cleaned the bar itself. Then she’d washed glasses and taken o
ut the trash.
Hux had gotten the hint that it was well past time for us to go, but he seemed to be dragging the evening out, like he didn’t want to go home with our uninvited house guest.
The three of us had been the only patrons here for going on two hours. There’d been a crowd for dinner—the cheeseburger special had drawn in some locals who, like us, hadn’t wanted to cook. But now it was pitch black outside and well past midnight.
I yawned again and looked up to see Hux at the pool table, watching me.
“We’re almost done,” he mouthed.
I nodded, my eyelids heavy.
Maybe I’d learn how to play pool so I wouldn’t be consigned to watching when Hux’s friends from prison decided to stop by Calamity for a Monday night on the town.
Hux and Chase had spent most of the evening reminiscing about old times. The stiff tension had slowly bled from my husband’s shoulders as the night had gone on, but it hadn’t disappeared entirely.
Maybe because Chase was a serious douche bag.
I’d learned that Chase had been in prison with Hux, the two of them cellmates. Chase had been rather forthcoming about his crime—aggravated burglary. He’d broken into an auto-parts store intent on stealing some parts to resell. Unbeknownst to him, a janitor had been in the building, and instead of going home and rethinking his nefarious plan, Chase had clocked the janitor over the head with a flashlight and gone about his merry theft.
He’d laughed and joked during the entire retelling of his story.
Silly me, I hadn’t found it funny. Hux hadn’t either.
But Chase had kept on chuckling, talking like it was fate that he’d been arrested and sent to prison where he’d then befriended Hux.
After their respective paroles, Chase had come to Calamity to visit Hux a few times over the years. From what I could glean, Chase was a wanderer. Either by choice or circumstance, the guy didn’t have a permanent address or a bed of his own—unless you counted the bed of his own truck.
For Hux’s sake, I wanted to like Chase. My husband had so few friends, and since Katie and I hadn’t found our groove yet, liking Chase would have been a welcome change. Though, Hux didn’t seem to enjoy Chase’s company either. It was more like he tolerated it.
He nodded along at Chase’s stories. He gave more of those tight smiles. Maybe something had happened in prison and Hux felt obligated to host his friend.
Whatever the reason we were here at the bar, that creepy vibe I’d had from the beginning hadn’t disappeared. It had only gotten worse.
Call it paranoia, but I knew what it was to be watched.
And Chase was watching.
My neck prickled, and sure enough, when I glanced again at the pool table where Hux and Chase had been playing for hours, it wasn’t my husband’s eyes waiting. It was Chase.
He grinned, like he was glad that I’d caught him staring.
A shudder rolled down my spine and I hugged my arms around my middle.
It’s not the same. I’d been telling myself all night. It was not the same.
Chase was not a stalker. Tomorrow morning, I wouldn’t wake up to pictures of me in the mailbox. He was not out to hurt me or my friend. This was just a strange man who happened to be friends with Hux. Maybe his social skills were rusty from prison and time spent living out of a vehicle.
When we’d run into Kerrigan last week, Hux had mentioned that the reason he hadn’t been introduced to her was because they didn’t run in the same circles. Was this his circle? People like Chase?
Because if so, we were finding him a new circle.
The clack of the cue ball hitting the eight ball echoed in the empty room, as did the plunk of Hux sinking the last shot.
Thank God. Game over. Time to get the hell out of here. Before Chase could put two more quarters into the pool table, I stood and pulled on my coat.
“That was fun,” I lied. “But Jane wants to close so we’d better head home.”
“One more game,” Chase protested.
Hux hung up his pool cue, then came to the table to grab his coat. “I’m getting tired too.”
“Come on. Don’t be that guy, Hux.”
“What guy?”
“The guy who does whatever his wife tells him to do.”
Hux’s nostrils flared. “Let’s go.”
“You used to be more fun,” Chase muttered, tossing his pool cue on the green felt.
Super douche. I fought an eye roll.
Hux took my hand, lacing our fingers together. Then he waved at Jane and led us to the parking lot.
“You remember Matt?” Chase asked as we climbed into the truck. “Big guy. Three cells down from ours.”
“Uh . . . not really,” Hux muttered.
“Sure you do. Anyway, he got sent back,” Chase said, then proceeded to tell us all about how Matt was such a fuckup.
It wasn’t his first story about a former prison acquaintance. Chase had been throwing names into the conversation all night, asking Hux if he remembered Jim or Greg or Bob. He was metaphorically peeing on Hux’s leg, marking his territory, so I’d know that I was new here.
You knew Hux first. Got it.
If Chase wasn’t talking about old prison buddies, he was asking about Katie. It was unfortunate that Hux had intervened before Chase could crash on her couch instead. Why hadn’t he just let Chase leave? Why stop him?
The second we were alone, I was asking Hux all the questions I’d been sitting on tonight.
Chase had hinted at making his stop in Calamity two nights. Which meant tomorrow I was going to plan a sleepover at Lucy’s place because there was no way I could survive another evening like this.
I didn’t need reminders that Hux had been in prison, and a shut the fuck up, Chase was on the tip of my tongue. Not that I was ashamed of Hux. No, what I hated was the fact that every time Chase brought up prison, Hux would tense. He’d withdraw deeper. He didn’t need or want the reminders either.
“Well, I’m beat,” I said the second we walked inside our house. “I’m going to bed.”
“Same.” Hux slapped Chase on the shoulder. “You need anything?”
“All good. I’ll grab my bag and make myself at home.”
“See you in the morning.” Hux placed his hand on the small of my back and led me up the stairs.
“Ugh,” I said when he closed the door to our bedroom behind us. “Okay, what’s the deal with that guy?”
Hux walked to the edge of the bed, slumping to the edge. “He was my cellmate.”
“Yeah. I got that.”
“There were some fights in prison. He always had my back. When we got out, he kept in touch. Would come visit sometimes.”
“When you lived with Katie? Is that how he knows her?”
Hux nodded. “He rubs her the wrong way. She doesn’t like him much.”
“In that, Katie and I are in agreement.”
“I didn’t want him going over there. Bothering her. Figured if we could just put up with him for a night, it would be easier on everyone.”
Katie. It would be easier on Katie. Meanwhile, his wife had to suffer.
“Why did we have to stay at the bar so long?” I yawned.
“Did you really want to sit around here and make small talk?”
“Fair point,” I mumbled. “You can’t let him stay here. Tonight has to be it. He’s . . . annoying.”
Hux rubbed a hand over his jaw. “One night. Then he’s gone. I finally got Savannah. Last thing I need is April getting wind that someone I knew in prison is hanging around.”
“Another good point.” Would it be rude to evict him tonight? Yes. Damn.
“It’ll be fine.” Hux stood, working free the buttons on his flannel shirt. “Knowing Chase, he’ll get restless and be gone from Calamity tomorrow morning.”
“I hope so,” I said, going to the bathroom to get ready for bed. I was asleep seconds after my head hit the pillow.
So when I heard a clang in the middle of the
night, I sat up gasping for air and searching the darkened room, listening for another noise. Other than Hux’s breathing, it was silent. He was sprawled on his stomach beside me, totally dead to the world.
I twisted toward the alarm clock’s green glow. Ugh. Three forty-seven. I needed at least five hours of sleep to be functional. Snuggling into my pillow, I squeezed my eyes shut and willed myself back to sleep. But thoughts of Savannah drifted into my head. Would she like living here? How had she taken the news? Had Julian and April even told her yet?
After thirty minutes, I knew sleep was pointless. No matter how tired I was, my mind was awake and there’d be no shutting it off. So I slipped out of bed and tiptoed into the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash the makeup off I hadn’t bothered to last night. Then I pulled on my red satin kimono robe, one Lucy had gifted me two Christmases ago, and tied its sash around my waist.
I was halfway downstairs when I remembered we had a guest. Shit. Cinching my robe tighter, I padded as quietly as possible, hoping Chase was as sound a sleeper as Hux because I really needed some coffee. Then I’d disappear into the office upstairs and hide until everyone was awake.
But my hopes were thwarted. The couch only held a rumpled blanket. Clothes were piled on the floor beside the coffee table.
“Morning.” Chase’s voice startled me as he rounded the corner of the kitchen. He was wearing a pair of black briefs and nothing else. He’d probably caused the noise that had woken me up.
“Hi.” This is awkward. I kept my gaze glued anywhere but on his almost-naked body. “I’m just going to get a cup of coffee. Then I’ll get out of your way.”
“No worries.” He nodded, keeping his gaze glued to me.
Chase stood between the island and the fridge, his large body filling the space, so I walked all the way around to get to the coffee machine. I plucked a mug from the cupboard and set it in place as the water percolated. Never in the history of the world had a cup of coffee filled so slowly.
Brew, damn it.
Chase walked closer, coming to the space at my side. He leaned against the counter, crossing his massive arms over his chest.
