“Oh, get over yourself,” she said, putting the box on the floor.“You and Nate are always here on Fridays like some sad old couple with nothing else to do.”
“Careful, Tess,” he adds, “I don’t do well with bitches stealing my man, I’m down for a catfight. Are you?” He wiggled his eyebrows.
Julian downed his third shot and dropped a twenty.“I don’t have it in me for this shit.”
I clapped my hand on his shoulder, then addressed Tessa.“You have to go. I made myself clear, I’m done being around you.”
“Ugh.”Tessa tapped her foot on the floor and cocked her hip. “I took the videos down, alright? Can we be done fighting now?”
I didn’t raise my voice.“You took those down because you were getting shit for being a judgmental bitch. Not because you cared about being my friend.”
“You’re still on that, Nate?”She scoffed, then looked at Julian before her green eyes landed back on me.“I think all’s well that ends well, and you’re certainly well without Robyn.”
“Tessa,” I said, slow and level, “this guy is Robyn’s best friend. He respected her relationship. You never did.” I held her gaze, unblinking.“I didn’t see it then. I see it now.”
Silence stretched between us.
“You wouldn’t have kissed me back if you didn’t feel anything,” Tessa threw back at me with disdain.
I shrugged.“I felt many things, sure. None of them really had to do with you. Not that I owe you an explanation.”I pointed at the door.“If you don’t leave, we will.”
“Nate…”She whimpered and batted her eyelashes at me.“I had a really hard day today, I really need you.”
I scoffed.“I bet. I bet you’re saying that to see if I fold.”I swallowed, the confirmation in her blush making me feel even more stupid.“I also warned you, Tessa, to take the videos down, and you didn’t. So go cry to someone else.”
Her shoulders tightened, possession and annoyance flickering in her eyes. She grabbed her box and brushed past me hard enough to make her frustration clear, heels striking the floor too loud as she walked away.
Andrzej clapped once.“Ding dong, the Witch is dead.”
“I doubt it,” I stated.“But she’s gone for a minute. Let’s drink to that.”
I met Julian’s wary gaze.“That’s a good first step.”Julian stole my shot and downed it, tilting his head more than necessary.“Now, tell me, how far are you going to go to win Robyn back?”
“Well, I don’t have a plan yet, but very, very far.”
His eyes glinted.“I can think of a place we should visit then. But first, get some more Scotch, boy.”He clapped my shoulder.“How do you feel about needles near sensitive body parts?”
“Hello, Nate?”
I shake my head. “Yeah, yeah…” Turning my head, I ground myself back on Main Street in Bend. “Anyway, talk soon?” I ask, getting the key out of the ignition.
“Sure, don’t be a stranger.”
The line disconnects, and I take my time walking the few feet to the gear store. A bell jingles above me as I come in. A tall man in his late twenties is behind the counter, wearing oneof those flannel-patterned coats, and he’s speaking loudly into his phone. He’s got cropped blond hair and doesn’t even lift his eyes up from the clipboard he’s staring at.
“Don’t Zac me, Viv.”
I lift my head at the edge of the voice. The guy’s half turned away behind the counter, broad shoulders stretched across the display of climbing chalk and carabiners. His voice sharpens, loud enough to cut through the shop. “I’mnotthe one that left the night before we were supposed to get married. I’m the one who stayed and dealt with guests and caterers.”
A prickling creeps up the back of my neck. My fingers curl on themselves, knuckles tightening against the glossy edge of a random hiking tool I pretend to examine.
Zac’s jaw flexes, the tendons in his neck shifting. He exhales, shoulders dropping for the first time. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe it isn’t going anywhere with Robyn. But it’s still exactly what I need.”
Robyn.
A hollow blooms under my sternum.Thisis the guy she’s spending her time with. This man with the broken-engagement baggage, the soft voice, and the steady hands. He gets to trail his fingers all over her naked body and kiss her sweetly. Everything I lost the right to do.
I stare at the display of climbing gloves, pretending to compare sizes, and maybe I am comparing because the words cling to me.Exactly what he needs.Is he exactly what Robyn needs?
