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So what was it, then?
Nerves banded around my stomach.I was okay with saying I liked Liam.That I was his girlfriend.But what did I feel?Did I want to identify it?
Stetson’s gaze caught on someone across the restaurant.“There’s Holden.See you, ladies.”
He slapped Lyric on the back like she was just another one of his buddies and walked away.Lyric glowered at her strawberry margarita.Aspen gave her head a small shake.I wasn’t the only one who’d seen it.
An hour later, when each of us had an empty glass in front of us, Marion sighed and gathered her purse.“I’d better get going.Any longer, and this Cinderella is going to turn into a pumpkin.And Dermot waits up for me.”Fondness filled her smile.She loved her husband waiting up for her.It made her feel cherished.
The closeness tugged at my heart.
Kelsey rose right after Marion.“Same here.Except no one waits up for me, and the dishes are probably still dirty.But Brinley has a tournament tomorrow.Long day in the sun.”
The two women left.Aspen pushed her empty glass away.“We could always go sit with Stetson and Holden.”
Lyric glanced across the bar to where Stetson and Holden were.Her expression went blank, but storm clouds soared in her eyes.“I think he’s busy.”
A woman around our age was at the table, her chair close to Stetson’s and his arm hanging around the back of the chair.
“Isn’t she—”
“A nurse in town.Yup.I heard they were dating.”
And Stetson came here all the time since another friend of his, Remington Gunn, owned the place.Was that why Lyric was dressed to kill, sex appeal her weapon?Only, Stetson was bulletproof.
Aspen tried to save the night with small talk about work, but Lyric had tuned out, and my brain was stuck on identifying what I felt for Liam.
It didn’t matter.I didn’t have to have the answers.But the sense that it was important loomed over me.
A new round of drinks arrived.I frowned at the server.I hadn’t ordered anything but water since my wine cooler.It’d been so long since I’d had alcohol.
She cocked her head to a table on the other side of the bar.“It’s on the guys over there.”
Aspen and Lyric openly gawked at the table of three young men.Three of them.Three of us.
My stomach churned, threatening to upend the grilled chicken sandwich I’d had.I’d been brought another wine cooler.I could only handle one drink.I didn’t know about handling guys hitting on me as I was silently panicking about whether I’d fallen in love with a man who wasn’t my husband.
“We should go over there,” Lyric announced.She eyed us.“You up for it?”
Aspen’s gaze darted to me.I ran my thumb along my bare ring finger.The lack of metal amplified the tumble of my thoughts.A guy hits on me and the first thing I do is touch the place my wedding ring used to be, all while thinking about another man.
Aspen and Lyric were watching me.Lyric’s eyes were wide, and she gnawed at her lower lip.I couldn’t tell them about anything that was going through my mind.I couldn’t talk to them about Liam.When I felt this way, Liam was there for me.He was in Williston, and I could call, but this wasn’t exactly a subject I was ready to confess.Thinking about it had me near tears.
“You two go ahead.I might head out.”Lyric and Aspen were going to do whatever it was single young women did these days.I’d never been in their shoes.I couldn’t relate.I could relate to Marion, but that was part of my problem.I had no one at home.No other friends to talk to.
Pressure built behind my eyes.No way was I crying in public.Aspen and Lyric hadn’t made a move.
“Seriously.You two go.I’m going to the restroom and then I’ll probably leave.”I would definitely leave.
I steadied myself on the way to the restroom, feeling eight hundred pounds heavier than I had sitting in my car wondering how I was going to walk inside.Relief eased the pressure in my chest.The restrooms were single stalls.I chose one and ducked inside.Gripping the sink, I sucked in hard breaths.I wasn’t going to cry.My skin would get all red and blotchy, and everyone would figure it out.I’d have to walk out of the restaurant with people knowing I was crying, and they’d assume they knew why.
They had no idea.No one did.
I exhaled slowly, clenching my stomach muscles like I was doing a plank.Slow inhale.Long exhale.
A catty voice drifted through the door.“Good Lord, could you take longer?A girl’s gotta piss, but three bathrooms and everyone’s taking a shit?”
I pried my hands off the sink.This was my chance to leave.Facing an irate woman with a bursting bladder would be a good distraction.She’d be upset with me for taking too long.She wouldn’t consider that I’d been fighting off a breakdown.The kind of anonymity I needed right now.
I opened the door.Flashing blue eyes met mine, and recognition flared.
“Oh, it’s you,” Laney said flatly.“I should’ve known.”
