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When most of the crowd headed home, Aiden and Tommy were the last two remaining.
“You have to read it,” Tommy drunkenly slurred. “It’s an Oscar-winning kind of script!” He then turned back to me. Lying across the bar, he snapped his fingers. “Jones girl! Get me another.”
I saw a slight twitch in Aiden’s lip and then looked at Tommy. With a knot in my stomach, I gave him a smile. “Sorry, Tommy. I think we need to cut you off for the night.”
“What? We’re just getting started! Seeing how Mr. Hollywood is covering the tab. Right, Aiden?” he said, patting Aiden’s chest. I swore he’d touched him more in the past hour or so than I had during our whole relationship.
“I think I’m actually gonna call it a night,” Aiden said, standing. “It seems as if the bar is ready to close anyway. Most people have wandered home. You can close out my tab and charge it to my room,” he ordered me. He turned to walk away, but Tommy didn’t follow.
“Well, shit. I’ll pay for my own drink,” Tommy stated.
“Sorry, Tommy. I can’t serve you any more. It’s just a rule. But I can call you a ride to get you home if you need it.” I turned to walk to the cashier to ring Aiden out, but before I could, Tommy reached across the bar, grabbed my arm, and yanked me back toward him.
“I said I want another drink, woman,” he drunkenly expressed, spitting profusely as he spoke. “It looks like you never cut yourself off from the pleasures of life judging by your size, so how about you take your fat ass over there and get me one?”
A slight chill raced down my back. There was a time in my life when his comment would’ve made me spiral into a fit of insecurities, but I’d worked hard enough to know my worth over the years. Tommy’s words were just that…words. They didn’t get to stick to my soul unless I brought out the superglue myself.
Before I could even blink, Tommy was on the floor. Aiden had slammed his fist into Tommy’s face, knocking him out with one swing. Thankfully, no one else was in the bar. Otherwise, I was certain cameras would’ve been going off like crazy, filming Hollywood’s sweetheart being violent.
“What the hell?” I blurted out, stunned. It happened so fast.
“What’s going on in here?” Parker, the cook, asked, emerging from the kitchen. He looked at me and noticed that I was shaken up, then looked over at Tommy, who was still on the checkered floor. Then he looked at Aiden, whose chest was rising and falling.
“Go home, Hailee,” Parker said as he walked toward me. “I’ll handle this mess and lock up.”
I parted my lips to speak, but no words came out.
Parker gave me a lazy half grin. “Go home. I’ll handle Tommy.”
I nodded, grabbed my purse, and headed straight out the door.
The moment the autumn breeze hit my face, I choked out a sob as tears began falling down my cheeks.
“Hailee, wait,” Aiden called out. “Wait up.”
I whipped around and stepped toward him. “What’s your problem?” I barked, frustration fuming from my words. “What do you think you’re doing going around punching people like that? And why? It’s clear you’ve been going out of your way to avoid me. You’ve literally crossed the road to be far out of my reach, and then, out of nowhere, you’re defending my honor? What the hell, Aiden?”
He looked confused as ever, as if he hadn’t even known what came over him. He raked his hand through his hair out of frustration. “I don’t know what came over me in there. All I know was Tommy was treating you like shit, and—”
“And it’s none of your business. You made it clear that you wanted nothing to do with me.”
“I know, all right? I get it. We’re strangers.”
“We aren’t strangers, Aiden. We will never be strangers. I mean…I’m even open to a friendship again if you are.” He huffed in disgust, which made me frown. “When we ended things, I didn’t think it would leave you hating me.”
“Whenweended things? There was no we in that equation.”
“I know how it looked…”
He parted his mouth to speak, but no words came. He shut his mouth and clenched his jaw.
What, Aiden? What were you about to say?
“Say it,” I urged.
“No.”
“Say it,” I repeated.
