by Nicole Dykes
I look back over at the booth, Blair has her eyes on me, but the other three are engaged in a happy conversation from what I can tell.
I turn back to the nice woman, briefly looking over at the group of local boys and then shrug. “I’ll take a beer.”
She smiles, eyeing me. “ID?”
I walk back to the booth and grab my license quickly before returning to show it to her. “Okay, do you have a preference?”
I look over my shoulder at the townies. “Whatever they are having.”
She gives a quick nod of approval, before grabbing a glass mug and filling it with the golden liquid and setting it before me. “There you go, sweetie. That will be four dollars.”
I’m about to stand up to grab money from my purse when a five-dollar bill is placed on the bar in front of me “Keep the change, Darla.”
I look at the man next to me, wearing a charming smile and baseball cap and then over at Sean, who, for whatever reason, is watching intently.
I focus on the friendly stranger. “Thank you for that. You going to keep me company?”
He flashes a sexy grin as he takes a seat next to me, and I hear his rambunctious friends whistling in the background, but we both ignore them.
If Sean can find love after a hookup, maybe I can too. Perhaps I should be done following the rules I set after he broke my heart.
“Are you really going to let her do this?”
Blair’s eyes roll so far in her head, I’m not sure they’ll ever come back as she folds her arms over her stomach. “Do what, exactly?”
My eyes dart to where Melody is standing with a group of assholes, one douchebag has his arm around her waist as she sways to the country shit the jukebox is playing. They’re all playing pool at the back of the tavern, but the fucker in the baseball cap isn’t thinking about the game.
His hand is hovering way too close to Melody’s perfect ass, and I’m two seconds from completely losing it.
“She looks like she’s going to leave with that asshole.”
Blair drops her arms to her side, shrugging her right shoulder. “And what if she does?”
I stare at her, my mouth agape. “Seriously? You’re cool with some country boy douchebag using your best friend?” I look over at Melody, her second beer clutched in her hand. “She’s clearly drunk.”
Again, Blair rolls her eyes at me. “She’s had a beer and just started a second one. She’s not fucking drunk.”
“And if he spiked that shit?”
Blair’s eyes flicker with the hint of evil I’m accustomed to from her, not even entertaining that idea. “You know he didn’t. And you know what? Maybe she needs to get laid. Maybe he’s her happily ever after. What’s the matter, Sean?” Her cold eyes narrow. “You can use her, but no one else can?”
I really fucking hate Blair.
“That was years ago. I thought she’d learned her lesson.”
“Ah, is that what you did?” She leans across the booth, her eyes like lasers ready to burn a hole straight through my skull. “Teach her a lesson?”
I swallow the bile in my throat, thinking about the Christmas party when Melody told me I was nothing, that I didn’t matter, that she only falls for men who know what they want.
I look back at Baseball Cap, his smile seeming predatory to me. “I thought she only dated real men. That fucker back there is a boy at best.”
“Big words from a boy still playing games.”
“Fuck you, Blair.”
Adele holds her hands up in the air, trying to break up the argument from her seat next to me. “Okay, okay. You guys calm down. We’re all friends here.”
I look directly at Blair. “We’re not friends.”
Adele brushes me off quickly, looking back at Melody and the douchebag with his hands all over her. “He seems harmless.”
“So did Jeffrey fucking Dahmer.” Rhys always has my back.
I nod in agreement with him. “Exactly.”
“Oh please.” Blair rolls her eyes at both of us this time, and then her hateful gaze lands directly on me. “If you’re that fucking worried about it, why don’t you go check on her.”
I stiffen in my seat. I know that’s the last thing Melody wants. I’ve tried like hell to keep my distance from her this trip, staring at her like a fucking creeper every time I get the chance and trying like hell to look away.
“I don’t think that will go over well.”
Rhys is clearly tired of the conversation as he stands up quickly. “Fuck this.” He looks back at Melody, his loud voice overpowering the jukebox. “Melody, get your shit, we’re leaving.”
See? Always has my fucking back.
Melody looks over at us, leaning her head against the stranger’s chest. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“The hell you’re not. Get your fucking purse. We’re heading out.”
Baseball Cap keeps her tucked to his side and stands tall, tipping his chin in Rhys’s direction, but not showing any signs of aggression. “I can bring her home. It’s no problem.”
“Right. I’m sure you don’t have a problem with that at all, but she’s with us, and we’re going home.”
Adele looks slightly nervous now as she climbs out of the booth, and her eyes focus on Melody. “I still have so much to learn from you, and you’re leaving in the morning. Let’s get out of here so you can tell me all the things.”
Melody’s eyes look cold, almost Blairlike as she focuses on Adele. “You know all you need to know about me. And I don’t want to know more about you.”
Adele doesn’t seem hurt. In fact, she brushes it off. “Oh, come on, there’s so much more to you, sweet Mel.”
“I’m not sweet. And I’m not leaving.” She gazes up at the stranger. “I’m learning so much about Josh.” Her eyes meet mine. “And that’s all I’m interested in.”
I stand up now. “Please, you don’t give a fuck about Baseball Cap here.”
She’s angry. I see that same flicker of fury in her eyes from the Christmas party. “I wonder if he believes in fate.” Fuck. “I must find out.”
I swallow hard, the fate thing getting to me, and I feel Adele’s hand squeeze my shoulder. “Fine, enjoy. Don’t say I didn’t fucking warn you.”
I walk out of the tavern, shoving the door open and walking out to the street, a street that literally no one is driving on at the moment. This town is fucking dead.
I can’t believe such a small thing can work me up.
I’m normally completely unbothered by anything in this fucked-up world. Things don’t set me off. I learned to stay calm long ago.
Moments later Adele walks outside, standing on the curb. “You okay, tiger?” TIG-AH
“No. Fuck this shit.”
She chuckles and then takes a seat on the curb. “She won’t leave with him.”
My eyes meet hers. “Why do you say that?”
She shrugs. “Because she’s not the type. She’s not looking for one night.”
“Yeah, well she wasn’t with me either. And she fell for my bullshit.”
Adele just shakes her head from side to side sadly. “Was it really bullshit, Sean?”
I stand there, thinking over her question for a moment before walking to where she is and taking a seat next to her. “No. It was supposed to be. Same game, leave in the morning and be done.”
“But it wasn’t. You’ve thought about her every day after, haven’t you?”
I look into Adele’s soulful eyes. “Are you a fucking guardian angel or some shit? Sent here to guide me? Because you’re wasting your time.”
She grabs my arm and leans her head on my shoulder. “Right place, right time. And don’t sell yourself short, you have more charm than Mr. Baseball Cap could ever dream of having. She doesn’t want him.”
“I can’t have her.”
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
There’s that aching feeling in my chest. The same feeling I always get when I think about going to
Melody, apologizing and begging her to give me another chance, one I know I don’t deserve. “Any promise I could make her, I would break.”
“Says who?’
“History. My DNA.” I look at her. “My heart.”
She takes a deep breath. “Don’t go to her until you’re certain you can keep your promise, but don’t you dare let where you came from hold you back. You’re a good man. I see it. Rhys sees it. And Melody . . .” Adele looks back at the tavern. “She saw it from the beginning. You made her feel like a fool. Show her she was right from the start about you.”
“People don’t change.”
“Exactly, mate.”
My brow furrows lost in her riddle. “What?”
“With her, you were a good man. That didn’t change. Your actions the following morning were out of fear. But you, you wanted to stay with her forever.”
I remember staring at her curled up in my jacket, lying in the pavilion. I wanted so badly to stay there with her forever.
But Adele is wrong, I’m not a good man, and I left her there because that’s who I was then and am now.
“Get in the car.”
I roll my eyes at Blair as I take my purse from her and climb into the backseat after Rhys and she practically dragged me from the bar.
I huff as I buckle my seatbelt, and Adele and Blair join me in the back while Rhys and Sean slide into the front. I’m pissed and maybe a little embarrassed.
A drunken one-night stand is not my thing, it just isn’t. After Sean, I decided to have more respect for myself and stop messing around with childish boys who have no intention of considering a commitment. I don’t sleep with anyone until we’re serious, which in the last six years has only been with two men.
But even then, there was never anything truly serious, nothing that touched my soul. It was fine, but that’s all it was, and eventually both relationships fizzled out.
Rhys drives us back to the house, and when we go inside, he’s the first one to head for the stairs. “I’m going to bed, we have to get up and be on the road by eight. Don’t fuck with the timeline, I don’t care if you have to get up at four in the morning to do whatever the fuck you two do in the bathroom.”
That is, of course, aimed at Blair and me, and neither of us give it any thought.
`He trudges up the stairs like the angry hulk he is, and Sean looks over at us girls. “I’m going to bed too.”
His walk up the stairs is lighter, but I can see there’s a heavy burden on him.
I turn to Adele. “You aren’t joining them? I’m sure Rhys would be down for some freaky shit.”
Adele just laughs. “Now, that would be hot. But I think you and I should talk.”
Blair’s hand grazes my arm, giving it a quick squeeze. “I’m going to bed too. Rhys seems serious about his timeline bullshit, and I don’t want to let Quinn down by being late.”
I give her a quick nod, still irritated she let that brute bully me into leaving.
Adele walks into the kitchen and fills a glass with water as I take a seat on the couch. She hands me the glass as she sits next to me. “Are you okay?’
I take a drink. “I’m fine. We’re all adults. There’s nothing wrong with a little one-night stand here and there.”
“I totally agree, but that’s not really you.”
I glare at her and put the glass on the small table next to the couch. “You don’t know me.”
“Oh, but I do.”
“How? Are you a witch or something? You can read my mind?”
“No, just kindred spirits. We’ve both lost the loves of our lives, and we’re both lost in general.”
I scoff at that. “You seem like the least lost person I’ve ever met.”
“Looks can be deceiving, Melody.”
“They aren’t that deceiving. You’re so happy and put together, no wonder Sean is in love with you.”
She laughs. “Sean is not in love with me, sweet, sweet Melody.”
Her nickname for me should irk me more than it does. “Please don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Patronize me. I’m a big girl. I know you’re a kind person and you’re probably trying to spare my feelings, but I can handle it.”
She places a comforting hand on my shoulder. “We’re not in love with one another. We slept together. It was sex and only sex. He was drunk and hurting. I was just plain hurting and maybe even slightly intoxicated by the pain. When we woke up the next morning, he wanted so badly to get rid of me.”
That stings. Because he didn’t. “And now you two are on a trip together.”
“Because I didn’t leave. There was something binding me to him.” I think I might be sick. “I don’t trust people easily.”
“But you trust Sean?” She has to be wrong to trust him so quickly. I know it was my biggest mistake.
“Yes. And you. And hell, even Blair and Rhys.”
I fight a laugh at that, knowing my friend is rough around the edges. “Well, Blair is definitely trustworthy. Rhys, on the other hand, I have no idea what kind of man he is, but I don’t think it’s good.”
She smiles as if she knows something I don’t. “You know, I’ve learned a lot over the years, and I have a few on you so let me share something I’ve learned.” I listen intently because I can see the anguish in her eyes, and somehow, I feel her pain. “Those that seem to be so dark on the outside, sometimes those poor people are the ones who have seen the blackest of nights. They need the light more than anyone.”
I have no clue what Rhys has been through in his life, but if her theory is correct, then it was bad.
“You still don’t have to lie to me. If you and Sean are together, I can handle it.”
“No doubt, Mel. We aren’t though.” Her eyes land on the stairs as she smiles and looks back at me. “Our hearts belong to others.”
“If that’s true, and you weren’t looking for someone else, then why did you leave your boyfriend?”
She smiles and lays her head on my shoulder. “Oh, sweet Mel, I wasn’t looking for anyone else.” She lifts her head and meets my eyes. “I was looking for me.”
“And where does that leave him?”
She smiles sadly, looking at her pink toenails resting on beige carpet. “Hopefully finding himself.” She looks up. “Isn’t that what you and Sean have been doing all these years apart?”
I think about what she’s saying. I’ve certainly grown a lot since he left me in that park. “I don’t know what we’re doing.”
“Well, now is the perfect time to figure it out.”
I smile as she pulls me into a tight hug, and I revel in our new, albeit odd, friendship. “Thank you.”
“Not a problem, sweet Mel.” She pulls back and looks into my eyes. “Perhaps you should get some rest. I don’t think Rhys was playing around.”
“I don’t think Rhys ever plays around.”
She laughs at that, and I hug her again before going upstairs.
It’s crazy how a complete stranger can know more about you than you know yourself.
“You sure you don’t want to come with us? Quinn is a badass on the guitar, and her voice is the best I’ve ever heard.” I may be a little biased since she used to literally sing Rhys, Logan, and me to sleep. But still, she’s really good.
Adele hugs me, but she’s shaking her head in the answer I already knew as she pulls away. “Maybe next time. The rest of the trip is best being a foursome, trust me.” She looks back at the house as we stand out next to the SUV. “Besides, I have some unfinished business to attend to.”
“It’s strange how much I’m going to miss you.”
She laughs at that. “I know. I’ll miss you too.” Her hand smooths over my jaw. “Sweet prince.”
“I’m far from a prince.”
“You aren’t even close to the villain you think you are.”
I swallow hard as the front door opens and Rhys walks out, carrying a shitload of luggage, followed by both girls.
>
Holy shit, how is there still luggage in that house? I just carried what I thought was the bulk of it out to the vehicle.
Blair isn’t as dolled up as she was yesterday, opting for a cropped hoodie and black leggings, but she’s still in full makeup. Her hair is pulled up into a ponytail, and it looks like she’s starting to get the concept of a road trip.
Melody on the other hand, is apparently determined to kill me with temptation. She’s dressed in a bright, pink sundress that shows off those long, tanned legs and tan, strappy heels. Her long, blond hair is down and fucking perfect, along with makeup that makes her already huge eyes look bigger and her plump lips fuller.
Adele gives me another big hug, and before she pulls away, she whispers into my ear, “Do me a favor, will you?”
“Anything.”
Her eyes meet mine, and she keeps her voice quiet. “Get the girl.”
My eyes reflexively travel to Melody as she walks down the stairs and toward the SUV before I meet Adele’s gaze. “That, I can’t do.”
“Bullshit, my friend. It’s always been you and her.”
She kisses my cheek and then turns toward Rhys, Blair, and Mel as they join us, pulling Melody into a tight hug.
“Ah, sweet Melody. I’m going to miss you most of all, Scarecrow.”
Melody smiles and squeezes her tightly, while laughing at the Wizard of Oz reference. “Is that a Kansas joke?”
“I have loads of them.”
Melody pulls back, tears in her eyes, and I can see Adele had the same impact on her as she did on me. “I can’t wait to hear them all.” She lowers her voice now and looks directly at Adele. “I’m sorry I was so awful to you.”
Adele just laughs it off easily. “Oh please. You weren’t anywhere near awful.”
Rhys loads the car and opens the driver’s door, looking back at us all. “We need to get on the road.” He focuses on Adele. “See ya around.”
And that’s the end of that good-bye. He climbs behind the wheel, and I laugh, looking over at Adele. “He must really like you. That was an actual good-bye.”
Adele laughs at that as Blair walks to stand before her. “Thanks for making my first road-trip halfway bearable.”
