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Jared piped up, “No, it's because they aren't Hadley.”
“Are you assholes done fucking with me now?” I asked. “Or should I just go ahead and head home?”
“Ah, don't get your panties in a bunch, Gabe,” Jared said. “We just want you to be happy.”
“I am happy.”
Jared and Evan shared a look.
“What? I am,” I said. “I have a company that does multi-millions in business – a business I've built myself, mind you. I have the freedom and the ability to travel anywhere in the world I want to go. And I can buy almost anything I could ever want. You really think I'm not happy?”
“No,” Evan said clearly. “You have never been truly happy because you've always been caught up in Hadley. Now's your chance to remedy that. You have another shot with her and those don't come around all that often.”
“It doesn't work like that, Evan, but I appreciate your concern,” I grumbled. “Not that I need it.”
“Suit yourself, bro,” Jared said, leaning back in the chair. “But if you mean it, and she's really not off-limits – ”
“Go for it,” I growled. “She's all yours. Believe me, you'd be doing me a favor by getting together with her. At least then, everybody can get off my fucking back about her.”
CHAPTER THREE
EVAN
“I'm heading home too, I guess,” Jared said, shortly after Gabe left in a huff. “I'm staying here tonight,” I said quietly, staring down at the empty glass in my hand. “I'm helping dad set up the pool for summer tomorrow.”
“Ahh,” Jared said, though his eyes told me he knew the real reason I wasn't going home. “Rebecca still living at your place?”
“Yep. Until the end of the month,” I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. “But that's not the reason – ”
Jared chuckled. “You can't lie to me, Evan,” he said. “Hell, I don't even blame you for crashing here. Living with your ex has to be awkward as hell.”
“You can say that again,” I muttered. “But I can't just kick her out either. I'm not an asshole and she's got nowhere else to go until her new place is ready.”
“Not your problem. Maybe she should have thought about that before she cheated on you,” Jared said. “She deserves to be out on her ass. She should suffer for what she did to you bro.”
“Yeah, well, I'm too nice for my own good, what can I say?”
Jared didn't argue with that. Hell, he couldn't argue with that. We both knew it was a sad truth. Throughout our entire relationship, Rebecca had walked all over me, and I'd treated her like a Goddess. She'd been the light of my world, the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.
Apparently though, she didn't feel the same about me. I only found out because she stumbled into Jared's bar one drunken night and he witnessed it firsthand. If he hadn't seen her giving the guy a handjob in the corner booth, I might have never known. I probably would have gone on thinking everything was great. If Jared hadn't seen her in action, she might still be doing it, and I might still be footing the bill for our nice lake house – the house I had custom-built for us to start a family in.
The house was on the market. I couldn't live there anymore, not with the memories that filled it. I'd never feel happy or comfortable in that place knowing that Rebecca had been fucking other people right under my nose. The hopes, the dreams, the bedrooms built for all of the children we'd talked about having – nah, I couldn't go back living there. Especially, not alone. For the time being, I was staying in my parent's guest house, not that I'd told either of my brothers how long I'd been staying there, but they had to have figured it out by now. They just weren't giving me a lot of grief about it, which I appreciated.
“Listen, man, if you ever need to talk – ”
“I'm good,” I said, cutting him off. “But thanks.”
Jared sighed, shaking his head as he went back into the house. I stayed out there on the patio with my empty glass, looking at the bright, twinkling stars that dotted the darkness overhead. Jared had never been in a long-term relationship before. He'd had a few short-term girlfriends – girls he dated on and off. A few flings. No one the family had ever met though. Gabe was the only one who understood what I was going through. He was far too bitter and angry still. His heartache hit too close to home and there was no way he was going to want to sit and explore our feelings about betrayal together.
“Alright man,” Jared said, patting me hard on the back and pulling me out of my fantasy, “I'm heading out, but if you need anything, you know where to find me. Anything at any time, bro.”
“Thanks, Jared,” I said.
He called an Uber for himself I was glad he wasn't driving home. I lost count of how much we'd had to drink that night but leave it to my bartender of a brother to make responsible choices when I seemed incapable of doing so. I had nowhere else to be that night, so I could continue drinking if I wanted to. However, once my brothers were gone, it seemed pointless. Drinking alone was depressing, and I had enough shit in my life to be depressed about without adding that to the pile.
I stood up to clean my glass and close things up, when I heard a sound on the other side of the fence. The patio door at the Rose's opened and closed, and I heard footsteps walking along the wooden porch. I turned and looked over the fence, and saw Hadley was standing there, by herself. She had her arms wrapped around herself while looking out at the forests and the mountains in the distance.
She seemed lost in her thoughts, the moonlight making her already pale skin look even paler. Her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail, even thought it was too short for it – tendrils fell free around her face. She was wearing pajama pants and a slinky little tank top that left her arms bare. She held her arms across her chest as if she was cold but made no move to go inside and get out of the chill. She seemed contemplative and somber. Perhaps even a little sad.
