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“I’ve known her a hell of a lot longer than you have. And as for who I am — I’m the guy who’s going to show her how a woman like her deserves to be treated. You have a great night, now.” I pat his shoulder and brush past him as I head toward the exit.
As I make my way outside, I find Kelsey sitting on the curb with her head in between her knees. Her shoulders are shaking — a good indicator that she’s crying. I know better than to go ask if she’s okay, so instead, I walk over and sit next to her. She looks up from her knees and the sight breaks my heart in two. Her cheeks are stained with tears — she was smart not to wear mascara tonight — and her eyes are bloodshot. I’d give anything to absorb her pain.
“Come here.” I motion her into my arms. “It’s going to be okay, Kels — I promise.”
“So you come and interrupt my interaction and then you swoop in to make a move on my girl?” Grant’s annoying voice booms behind us.
I turn over my shoulder, still holding on to Kelsey. I can’t believe he’s actually this stupid — I thought lawyers were supposed to be geniuses. “Ex-girl, first of all. And I’m being a friend and comforting her in the wake of your stupidity. So you can go ahead and fuck off now.”
“Kelsey?” he pleads. “Please, just come home with me. We’ll find a way to work this out. I can change.”
“Just leave me alone, Grant.” She sniffles before burying her head back into my shoulder.
“You’ll regret this, mark my words,” Grant grunts as he storms off looking like a wannabe tough guy.
“You want to get out of here? I’ll let you blare Taylor Swift breakup songs the whole way home.”
My comment brings a smile to her face. While it’s not the bright and bubbly smile I’m used to, it’s a smile nonetheless — I’ll take what I can get.
“You’d suffer through Taylor Swift for me?”
“Yeah, it’s only a ten-minute drive. I’m sure my ears will stop bleeding before I go to bed tonight.”
“Ha-ha, very funny.” She stands up from the curb and wipes the tears away from her eyes with the backs of her hands. “I’m ready whenever you are.”
I escort Kelsey to my truck, opening the passenger’s side door for her to get in first. As promised, she plugs in her phone and pulls up a playlist of Swiftie’s hate songs. “I Knew You Were Trouble” and “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” fill the cabin of the truck. No, I’m not a secret Tay-Tay fan — the titles were displayed on the screen in the middle of my dashboard.
As we pull into my driveway, Kelsey unexpectedly leans over and hugs me. “Thank you for letting me stay here.”
“Anything for you, Kelsey. I’m always here for you.”
Someday, I’ll muster up the courage to finally tell her how I feel. But when the pain of her breakup is so raw, I just need to be the friend that she can depend on.
Chapter 10
I expected Joey’s house to look like a stereotypical bachelor pad, but am pleasantly surprised to find that it’s relatively normal-looking. If I wasn’t bartending the night that he came into the pub to celebrate closing on his house, I’d wonder if he inherited it from someone.
“Does your house always look like this, or did you clean it up just because I was coming to stay here?”
“Mmm, both?” he smirks back at me. “The decorum of my house always looks like this, but I vacuumed, dusted, and put fresh sheets on the bed in the guest room when you asked to come stay here.”
“You didn’t have to do all of that for me, Joey. I would have been fine just sleeping on the couch.”
He appears offended at my suggestion. “Kelsey Andrews! There is no way in hell I would ever let you sleep on the couch. If I only had one bed, you bet your ass I’d be letting you have it and I would take the couch.”
I’d rather he just sleep in the bed with me. I bet his muscular arms would feel heavenly wrapped around me — he’d know how to make a woman feel safe.
I’m not the type of girl who hops from one bed to another — that’s not at all what this is about. I truly believe that Joey was genuine in his desire to help me. Plus, he did say he owes me one.
“You’re too good to me, you know that?” I reach my arms up and pull him into a tight squeeze.
“No, Kels. I’m just treating you the way you deserve to be,” he mumbles into the side of my neck. The comfort I feel from his hand stroking my hair is sublime. “Why don’t you go get settled and I’ll put on a movie for us?”
He pulls away from me and tucks my hair behind my ear. For a second, I think — maybe I even hope — that he’s going to kiss me. When he doesn’t, I tuck my head away from his hand and pick my bag up off the floor.
“Yeah, give me a few minutes. Thanks again for everything, Joey.” I flash him a genuine smile before heading toward the guest room.
As soon as I find the room, I’m greeted with a wonderful aroma. When I turn on the light, I immediately see the source — a crystal vase filled with orchids sitting on the dresser. I drop my bag next to the bed and seemingly float to where they are, deeply inhaling their scent.
