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“I know, right? Hazel’s account has gone wild since she posted that.” Kelly wiped down the counter.
“Okay.” Mike sighed heavily. “You two are clearly looking for a reaction from me, but I have no freakin’ clue what you’re talking about.”
Kelly pulled out her phone like she was taking down a bad guy in a gunfight. She tapped the screen and turned it so Mike could see. It was Hazel in her room—he recognized the pink paint and black ceiling. She was doing some sort of dance, pointing at the words scrolling on the screen. The audio that was playing was going “Oh, no...” over and over.
Mike snatched the phone from Kelly’s hand so he could read the captions:
That moment when you catch your mom. Playing naked games with her attorney boytoy. In her bedroom.
In the video, Hazel put her hands to her face and said “oh, no” in time with the music.
Jesus H. Christ. Mike closed his eyes, wondering how much worse this situation could get.
“Did you say this is going viral? Does Zoey know?”
Kelly shrugged. “I think it’s safe to say the whole town knows by now, but I honestly don’t know about Zoey. And I wouldn’t exactly call itviral, but she’s gotten a lot of action on it.”
Finn gave an exaggerated sigh. “I’ve always wanted to be someone’sboytoy.”
“Shut up, man. This isn’t funny. Her dad’s on his honeymoon. What if he sees it before Zoey talks to him?”
Finn’s smile faded. “Chris and Genna got back on Saturday. Bridget said Zoey’s already talked to him. Didn’t she tell you?”
Hard for her to tell him anything when she refused to take his calls. She told him he needed to give herspace, whatever the hell that meant. He only knew he didn’t like it.
Kelly patted his hand. “Hazel’s a teenager. This is her way of dealing with what happened. And if she’s making jokes about it, maybe that’s a good thing?” Mike tried to see it from that angle, but couldn’t. Kelly explained. “She’s actually getting a lot of positive feedback, in between the trolls, of course. Most of the people are being really supportive, saying it was bad timing but that her mom must be cool—or whatever kids say these days—to be having an affair with a guy who makes her laugh.” Kelly looked up at him. “Did you know that’s why she opened the door? Because she heard her mom laughing like she hadn’t heard in ages? She told someone that in the comments.” Kelly winked. “More than one suggested that if her mom had locked the damn door, they could have avoided all this drama.”
He scrolled through the comments, ignoring the obviousness of that suggestion. “But why did she have to say I was anattorney? People in town will know this is about me.”
Finn chuckled. “You’re upset about the wordattorney,butboytoydoesn’t bother you?”
Mike didn’t answer. He was reading an exchange between Hazel and a young girl who was telling her that she wished a man would come along that could makehermom laugh again after her divorce. Hazel had responded with a heart emoji and the lettersIKR?It stood forI know, right?Hazel wasn’t acting as traumatized as Zoey had described the last time they spoke, which was the same day Hazel had walked in on them. That’s when Zoey officially put them on Pause.
“My focus has to be Hazel,” she’d said on the phone. “I can’t do us right now. Iwantmy friend, but we’ve gone way past that point, and I don’t think we can go back.”
He’d pleaded with her to let him come over to the shop, as afriend-friend, with a bottle of wine and a supply of bad jokes. But she’d told him no.
“I told Hazel we were cooling things,” Zoey said. “I need her to trust me again. It’s killing me that she doesn’t.” Her voice had cracked. “We knew what we were risking. And now we’ll have to pay the price. You have to stay away, Mike. At least for now.”
He’d asked how long she wanted them to avoid each other, and she hadn’t answered. But he had a feeling that in her mind, this was more than a temporary break. She was ending things. Ending thebestthing he’d ever had.
That’s why Mike had been at the Shamrock most evenings, sitting on his usual barstool, nursing a Guinness for an hour or so before downing a shot of whiskey and going home. He missed both Zoey’s sharp wit and her silky skin. He’d hadtwoof his favorite people torn away—his best friendandthe woman he loved. Losing Becca had nearly broken him. Losing Zoey on top of that would be unbearable.
Kelly took her phone back, then looked over Mike’s shoulder and went pale. “Oh, shit. Speaking of viral moments, here comes the ex-husband to confront the boytoy.”
Mike ground his teeth together, then stood and turned to face Chris Bennett. He’d known Chris ever since the guy started dating Zoey. They’d gotten along well through the years, talking football and drinking beer together. Chris had always been decent enough. Until he cheated on Zoey and left her. Mike hadn’t had anything to say to the guy since then.
Chris stopped right in front of Mike. Tall and sandy haired, Chris was usually the life of a party, but not today. His eyes were narrow and hard, and a muscle ticked in his cheek.Oh, great.
“We need to talk,” Chris said. His voice was flat.
“Sure.” Mike stood, gesturing to the booths lining the wall by the windows. “Drink? On me.”
“Beer sounds good.”
Kelly gestured that she’d take care of the order and the two men walked to the booth and sat. They stared at each other in silence until she delivered the drinks and left, looking worriedly between them but not saying a word.
As an attorney, Mike knew how to keep his emotions at bay in a conversation. He kept his body relaxed and his expression neutral. Despite his personal feelings about Chris, the man was Hazel’s father. He deserved to have his say after what happened.
