The Playboy Next Door

by Christina Tetreault

  “She moved out on Saturday. Striker can stop bitching to you like a little girl.”

  “Did she need a break from you? Is that why you’re here tonight?”

  Occasionally, Sean gave him a hard time about the way he approached relationships. For the most part, however, they didn’t talk all that much about the women in Tony’s life. If he told Sean the truth about him and Cat now, he suspected Sean would give him an earful. Tony did not need or want that right now.

  “Something like that.” He went to grab another beer and popped it open before he sat down again. “You up for a game of pool?” Since the beer wasn’t doing anything to dull the pain or the thoughts in his head, maybe a distraction would help.

  “Always. Let me finish this.” Sean gestured toward his pizza.

  A few minutes later, Sean put his empty plate in the sink. Before they went downstairs, Tony grabbed his third beer. “Do you want another?”

  “I’m good,” Sean said as he pulled his ringing phone from his pocket. “It’s Mia. I’ll be down in a few.”

  A lovey-dovey conversation between Sean and Mia was the last thing he needed to hear, so he nodded and went downstairs. After taking another long swallow of his beer, he took a pool stick down from the wall. Not that it would help much against Sean, but a little practice while he waited would pass the time.

  Tony lined up his shot and sent the cue ball barreling into a solid green ball. He watched it roll toward the side pocket and his and Sean’s conversation from the last time they played came to mind again. He had lost count of how many times he’d considered that stupid conversation. Each time he did, he told himself Sean didn’t know what he was talking about. That Sean was dead wrong about everything.

  Tonight, he just couldn’t do it.

  Was Sean right? Had Catrina slipped into his heart when he wasn’t looking? If she had, how was he going to get her out of it?

  The green ball rolled just short of dropping into the pocket. Considering the way his night was going so far, what else had he expected? He lined up his next shot, intent on sinking the green ball.

  “Mia couldn’t talk long tonight,” Sean said, taking a pool stick off the wall. “She has plans with her mom.” Sean’s tone of voice made him wonder if his friend didn’t particularly care for Mrs. Troy.

  “Have you met Mia’s parents?” Tony asked.

  “Once after the accident. Her father and I got along. Her mom’s a piece of work. Mia said she’s been trying to change her mind about moving here. I think she’ll be the mother-in-law from hell.”

  “When are you proposing?”

  “As soon as we get back from Thanksgiving dinner at her grandparents’ house. Ma’s going to make sure everything is ready here.”

  “You’re not celebrating Thanksgiving with your mom?” Sean always spent the holidays with his mother.

  “Not this year. Charlie and Jake are coming up, so they’ll be with Ma and Ray.” Sean racked the balls on the table. “What are your plans this year? Are you and Cat going to your parents’ house or are you spending it with hers?”

  That had been the plan up until a few hours ago. Now though, he was considering skipping the holiday all together. Before he answered, Tony finished off the beer he’d taken down with him and went to the refrigerator Sean kept downstairs for another.

  “I don’t know what I’m doing this year.”

  Sean had started to line up his first shot, but when Tony answered, he stood up straight. At first, he didn’t say anything.

  “Are we gonna play or what?” Tony opened the beer in his hand, hoping to distract Sean from whatever thoughts were going on in his head.

  Instead of getting his shot lined up again, Sean looked at him and then the beer in his hand. “You ended things with her.”

  It wasn’t a question but a statement, and Tony wondered what gave him away. “She got a promotion, so she’s moving to California next month.”

  “She broke up with you?” Sean’s voice contained a twinge of doubt. “Didn’t expect that. Sorry about that, buddy.”

  Tony looked away and leaned toward the pool table, ready to break the balls apart since it looked like Sean wasn’t going to.

  “People in town were starting to think you two were serious. Ma was ready to buy you a wedding present.”

  “I told you, we were just having some fun together.” Launching the cue ball into the neatly arranged balls, he watched them scatter every direction. Somehow though, not a single one went into a pocket. Disgusted at both his poor break and his life at the moment, Tony grabbed his beer and lifted it toward his mouth.

  Sean took it from his hand before he got a single sip from it. “Maybe you should slow down. That’s your fourth already.”

  “I’m thirsty,” he said, but he didn’t try to take it back. While the alcohol hadn’t helped dislodge the hand squeezing his heart, it had started making his head spin a little. Perhaps three full beers on an empty stomach wasn’t a good idea.

  After putting the beer on an empty folding chair, Sean got ready to take his shot. “You don’t usually drink like that.” With one smooth motion, Sean hit the white cue ball and sent a solid purple ball down the table and into a corner pocket. He straightened up and cleared his throat. “Are you sure you’re okay.”

  He didn’t think about it often, but Sean O’Brien was his best friend. In fact, he considered him another brother. Over the years, they’d talked about everything except their feelings. Neither of them was big on sharing how they felt. Even when Isabella died, they hadn’t talked about how he felt. He didn’t see any reason to break that tradition now.

  “Fantastic. Why would I be anything else?” Tony tapped his fingers against the pool table. “I did the right thing.”

  He watched and waited for Sean to take his next shot. He didn’t do it. Instead, he leaned his pool stick up against the table and sat down.

  “You did the right thing?” Sean asked.

  “What are you taking about?”

  “Tony, you just said you did the right thing. What did you do?”

  The beer was definitely affecting him more than usual. He hadn’t meant to say that aloud. “I told her to take the position. She earned it.”

  “Cat didn’t break up with you. You dumped her.”

  He heard the disgust in Sean’s voice and looked away as he sat down in one of the stiff plastic chairs. “Her company offered her a promotion. Some supervisor’s position out in California. I told her to take it. “

  “That’s what she wants?”

  “Cat applied for the position, so I’d say yeah. She wants that.” Tony looked down at his hands. “It’s a good opportunity for her. Besides, we were both starting to get bored with each other.”

  “Keeping trying to convince yourself of that.”

  “What do you know anyway?” Anger brewed low in his stomach, but Tony didn’t know if it was toward Sean or himself. “Cat told me weeks ago she wanted some fun. That’s what I gave her. Now, she’s moving on.”

  “She told you she wanted to move on?”

  Maybe being in a relationship had done something to Sean’s brain because, before tonight, they’d never discussed this type of stuff. “Come on, let’s just play.”

  “Watching you squirm is much more fun.” Sean leaned back in his chair and waited.

  Swiping his beer bottle off the chair, Tony took a long gulp and then rested his elbows on his knees. “She said she’d stay if I wanted.” He watched the bottle swing back and forth between his knees. “She said she loved me.” His stomach twisted when he thought of the way Cat’s voice cracked when she asked if he cared about her.

  “And you told her to go. You’re a spineless ass.” Sean reached for his pool stick, but didn’t stand up. “You’re going to regret your decision.”

  Tony disagreed. He wasn’t going to regret his decision, because part of him already did regret it.

  Chapter 12

  Tony tossed the pumpkin spiced coffee crea
mer in the trash. He didn’t know how Cat drank the stuff. While he could handle the occasional pumpkin muffin if there was nothing else around to eat, just the smell of the pumpkin creamer turned his stomach, not to mention the taste. One morning before Cat moved out, she’d convinced him to try a sip of her coffee. Whatever face he’d made when he tasted it made Cat laugh so hard tears streamed down her cheeks.

  He missed her laugh.

  The hot iron poker, which liked to jab his heart, started up again, so he went back to looking for the half and half. If he hoped to stay awake for the ride into work, he needed his coffee. For a second time that morning, he considered calling Richard and postponing their meeting today. He hadn’t slept much since Cat moved out, and it had only gotten worse since last Tuesday when she dropped the news about the promotion on him. The night before, he’d even considered buying one of those over-the-counter sleep aids. Instead, he took his sister’s advice and picked up an all-natural supplement that claimed it helped you sleep. The only thing it had done for him was upset his already unhappy stomach. Indigestion was just another problem he’d been suffering from since he left Cat’s apartment last week.

  Perhaps he deserved both ailments after the way he walked out on her.

  He spotted the half and half behind the orange juice and pulled it out. He gave it a little shake before pouring it into his coffee.

  “Great, just great.” He watched the curdled cream float on the top of his coffee. He’d finished the milk the night before, which meant he could either make more coffee and drink it black or stop for some on the way to work. Today, his stomach couldn’t handle black coffee. It looked like a stop at the café was in his immediate future.

  Other customers filed out of Peggy Sue’s as he approached the door. No matter the time of day, the café had a steady stream of customers, but the mornings were usually the busiest. Once the last person exited, Tony entered and tried not to make eye contact with anyone seated inside. Already, he was running behind and didn’t have time to get caught in a conversation.

  Joining the line at the counter, he glanced at the display case, the large blueberry muffins catching his eye. He didn’t want one now, but he’d grab one for later in case the knot in his stomach loosened up enough for him to eat again.

  “Did Mom invite you over for Thanksgiving?” Tony heard Striker, who now stood behind him, ask someone else in line.

  “I’ll be there for dessert.”

  Tony recognized Zack’s voice all too well. He still wanted to hit the guy for the way he’d treated Cat the night of the holiday party.

  “Mom invited Cat, but she didn’t give her a definite answer,” Striker said, and Tony wondered if Striker knew he stood right in front of him. “I think she’s overwhelmed with the upcoming move.”

  “She got the promotion?” Zack asked.

  “She called and told me about it last week. I figured you already knew.”

  His own conversation with Cat the week before tried to sneak its way into his mind. The line ahead of him moved, and Tony took a step forward.

  “I was in New York all last week. Just got back last night,” Zack answered. “I’ll have to stop by and congratulate her.”

  Zack’s statement made ignoring him and Striker impossible, and Tony spun around. “Stay away from her. She’s not interested, remember?”

  “Mind your own business. What my sister does isn’t any of your business anymore.”

  He and Cat might not be together anymore, but that didn’t mean he wanted Zack sniffing around her either, especially after the way he’d acted at the party.

  “But I guess I should thank you, Tony” Striker said. “Cat said you convinced her to take the position.”

  If Cat told Striker that, what other information had she shared? His former friend already disliked him for dating Cat. How would Striker feel if he knew Tony had broken her heart?

  “She earned it.” How many times had he told himself that since she dropped the news on him?

  Zack smiled and Tony assumed he’d just figured out Cat was once again single. More than anything, he wanted to wipe the smile from the other man’s face and then announce Cat wasn’t available.

  “My thoughts exactly, and I’ll be sure to remind her of that when I talk to her,” Zack said.

  As much as he might want to, he couldn’t stop Zack from speaking with Cat. That didn’t mean he couldn’t warn him of what would happen if he ever hurt her or forced her to do something she didn’t want to. Waving the person behind Zack ahead of him in line now that he’d reached the counter, Tony stepped closer to him. “If I ever hear that you’ve hurt her in anyway, you’ll be sorry.”

  Zack gave him a smug smile.

  “Next in line please,” the older woman behind the counter said.

  Tony considered his options. He could stand there and threaten Zack all day, or he could mind his own business, buy his coffee, and leave.

  Turning around, he faced Anita, the woman taking orders. “A regular coffee and two blueberry muffins.”

  Cat had made it clear she didn’t want to remain friends, and he couldn’t blame her. He no longer had a place in her life, which meant if she wanted to let Zack back in her life, it was none of his business.

  ***

  “I like the third listing you sent a lot. The one on Jasmine Lane.” Cat scrolled through the listings the real estate agent had sent her that morning, impressed at the progress the woman had made. Cat had only called her the previous Thursday afternoon, and already she’d found twenty possibilities. “The one on Grove is nice too, but I’d prefer something with two bedrooms.” She’d need a place for Mom and Pop or Striker to stay when they came to visit her. They’d all promised to visit often.

  “Did you look at the last one in the group I just sent?” the real estate agent asked. “Rent is a little higher, but it does have the two bedrooms and the extra half bath.”

  She hadn’t made it that far through the listings yet. She’d only returned home thirty minutes ago because she’d worked late trying to get everything ready for when she sat down with Autumn, the individual at work who was taking over her current projects, tomorrow.

  “Not yet.” Cat passed by the other listings and stopped at the last one. “That one looks perfect.” Yes, the monthly rent was a little more than she’d hoped, but she could still make it work. Plus, the apartment complex had a pool for residents to use, something none of the other places offered. “Can you arrange for me to see all three this upcoming weekend?”

  Mr. Carson had told her to take a few days off and go apartment hunting, but she’d rather fly out either on Thanksgiving or Friday morning, which she already had off, and save her personal days for the move itself.

  “As soon as I have everything set, I’ll send you confirmation. In the meantime, do you want me to keep looking?”

  “Sure.” The apartments she’d narrowed it down to looked great on the computer, but in case they fell through, it wouldn’t hurt to have some backups to pick from.

  “Fabulous. I’ll be in touch soon,” the real estate agent said before disconnecting the call.

  Cat put her phone down and pulled out the bottle of ibuprofen she kept in the cupboard. If she had any hope of getting anything done before bed, she needed to at least take the edge off her pounding headache. She closed the email from the real estate agent as she took her medicine.

  Another thing off today’s to-do list. Cat opened the company-wide email she’d just received and scanned the contents pertaining to the upcoming holidays. Every year, the company operated on the same holiday schedule, so after she read it, she added the message to her trash file before moving on to the one from Leo, the employee in California she was replacing.

  She’d spoken to Leo the week before, and since then, they’d exchanged several emails. Unlike the previous ones he’d sent her, this one contained a list of information his wife had put together for her pertaining to the area where she’d be relocating. It contained the addr
esses and phone numbers for everything she might need, including the closest grocery store and some nearby doctor offices.

  As much as she appreciated the material, it overwhelmed her and she closed the message. So far, she’d been trying to take the whole move one tiny piece at a time, rather than looking at it as a whole. The list from Leo’s wife reminded her too much of all the changes facing her over the next several weeks.

  After a quick scan of the remaining emails in her inbox, she logged out of her account and brought up her favorite travel site. Now that she knew for certain she’d be spending the weekend looking at apartments, she needed to book airfare out to Anaheim as well as a hotel.

  Over the years, she’d traveled up and down the East Coast, as well as to many of the Gulf Coast States. However, she’d never visited California. Usually, whenever she booked travel to some place new, she got excited about it. Not tonight. Tonight only annoyance and sadness reverberated inside her; sadness that Tony didn’t care enough to ask her to stay and annoyance at herself for falling in love with him.

  Actually, no, it was more than annoyance that plagued her. Anger mixed in with the annoyance. She’d known the night she invited him up to her apartment after running into each other at O’Leary’s that Tony didn’t stay in relationships long. She’d ignored not only that little fact but also all of Striker’s warnings and allowed herself to think Tony might change for her. That he might come to love her as much as she loved him.

  Stupid, stupid, stupid. People didn’t change just because you wanted them to.

  Cat picked the cheapest flight that flew out Thursday. Mom would flip when she told her she couldn’t make it to dinner on Thanksgiving, but she’d get over it. If she waited and flew out on Friday, it would give her less time to explore the area that she would soon call home. Besides, she suspected Mom had invited Zack for dessert. Thanksgiving night, and she didn’t want to face him right now. She hadn’t seen him since the holiday party. She didn’t know if he was avoiding her or if he was away. Either way, she hoped to make her move without seeing him again.