My wife was having an affair with one of my oldest friends foryears, and I was none the wiser.
Fuck this.Shoving everything back in the box, I toss it on the floor before grabbing my phone and keys and leaving. If I’m going to get through the rest of that fucking closet without losing my shit, I’m going to need to be a hell of a lot less sober. Parkingagainst the curb in front of High Tide Tavern, the one and only bar in this small town, I stroll inside and sit my ass at the counter, wasting no time ordering a beer and a shot of tequila.
“Drinking to forget?” a familiar voice drawls as they take the stool beside me.
Turning my head, icy-blue eyes surrounded by long, black lashes stare back at me.The one who got away, but never went far.The bartender places my drinks in front of me, and I grab the shot glass, holding it in the air between us. “Indeed, I am. Cheers.” Tossing the liquor back, I set the glass face down a little harder than intended. “I’ll do another one,” I drawl to the man behind the counter, my gaze never leaving hers.
A smirk tugs on the corner of Charley’s mouth before she turns toward the bartender and says, “Make that two, please.”
Huffing out a dry laugh, I take a swig from my beer. “You too?” I ask her.
“Yeah, I guess.” Charley tosses a couple of peanuts in her mouth from the dish in front of us before she adds, “There’s definitely something I’d rather forget right about now.”
Grabbing her phone off the countertop, she messes around on it for a moment, and I take the opportunity to check her out without getting caught. Something I try tonotdo very often, considering our history and the fact that we work together. Her long, black hair is tied up in a messy bun atop her head, strands falling to frame her face, and the many tattoos decorating her arms and legs are on display with the light wash denim overall shorts and tight, white, short-sleeved crop top she’s wearing. One of the straps of her overalls isn’t buckled, letting the material hang down, revealing the outline of her nipple ring.
I shouldn’t know that Charley has her nipples pierced, and seeing them through her shirt shouldn’t make my dick thicken inside my sweats, but I do, and it does.
Even after all these years.
“What’s plaguing your mind tonight?” I ask when our shots come.
Charley sets the device down and grabs her glass, holding it up as I do the same, a smirk curling her lips. “Cheers.” Her face twists up and a shiver wracks through her as she swallows the liquor. It’s adorable. Glancing over at me again, a shimmer in her eye, she says, “You first.”
Heaving a sigh, I tell her about the box, and everything I found inside. It’s not like the entire town doesn’t already know about the affair anyway. Living in a town as small as Blossom Beach, gossip spreads like wildfire. The only real new piece of information here is the length of time my wife was fucking somebody else. Back when I first found out—at the same time as everybody else in town, thanks to theBlossom Beach ResidentsFacebook page and Peggy Ann, who shared a photo from her niece’s sixteenth birthday party on the beach that my wife and Landon conveniently and unknowingly photobombed—Megan swore up and down it had only been going on for a few months, and while I didn’t believe her, I also didn’t think it had been going on forthatlong.
“Damn," Charley huffs once I’m done as she grabs my beer, taking a sip before adding, “This is why we don’t marry our high school sweethearts.”
“Wow, really?” Taking the glass from her hand, I chuckle. “That’show you respond to what I told you?”
Throwing her head back, Charley belly laughs, the sound washing over me like sunshine after a storm. “Okay, I’m sorry. That was insensitive. Let’s do another shot,” she suggests as she gets the bartender's attention and orders another round and a beer for herself.
Lifting a brow, I remind her, “Your turn.”
“Fine,” Charley groans, rolling her eyes. “You remember Zach? The guy I broke up with a few months ago?”
“The one you argued with out back at the inn nearly every other night for the last year?” I drawl. “How could I forget?”
She shoves my arm playfully. “Shut up. I know it was bad.”
“What about him?”
“The girl he told me not to worry about for months just hard launched their relationship on social media,” she offers.
“And you’re upset that it’s her and not you?”
“Fuck no.” She barks out another laugh. “I’m pissed because that means they were probably fucking around while he and I were still together, which I had suspected, but I don’t know… It sucks finding out you were right all along.”
“Don’t I fucking know it,” I grumble, downing another mouthful of beer.
Charley huffs out a dry laugh. “We sure do know how to pick ’em.”
The bartender drops off the shots, and we throw them back at the same time. Holding her gaze, my body heats, even more so when she wets her full lips with her pierced tongue. A moment passes, the air thick between us, and I wonder if she feels it too. When the song changes, Charley stands from the stool, tosses me a grin that makes my stomach roll, and says, “Let’s play pool.”
I watch her walk away for a moment, admiring the view, before following her over to the table. “You sure you wanna get your ass handed to you when you’re mending a broken heart?” I tease while chalking the tip of the pool cue.
Charley chuckles, amusement glinting in her eyes as she holds my gaze and gets into position. Taking the break shot, she sinks two balls. I shake my head, breathing out a laugh as she saunters over to me. Sliding between the table and my body, she raises an eyebrow. “You were saying?”
“Lucky shot.” The corner of my mouth twitches with a smile I’m trying to hide.
