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“Josh?” The word comes out of my mouth, totally unplanned.
His head snaps around, black gaze like a laser cuts through the crowd and focuses on me. His eyes don’t move. They don’t acknowledge the waitress handing him money, or the customers talking to him.
He runs a hand through his hair, pushing it away. His white T-shirt glows in the neon lighting behind the bar, emphasizing his high cheekbones and dark skin.
My Josh. A bartender. Here.
The same Josh who not so long ago told me he knew about the baby.
Josh. Here. No.
A combination of drunkenness and confusion makes me shake my head, except it makes me dizzy. And I don’t think I can breathe in here.
I jerk my hand out of Kara’s and head for the nearest exit.
22
BOLTING AND WEAVING
JOSH
Sex with Cassie on the boat was just like sex with her had ever been. Mind-blowing, life-altering, heart-rending. It slays me how much control she has over my heart, mind, body, and soul.
We fell asleep after, in each other’s arms, just as we always used to. Just as I thought we always would for the rest of our lives.
I woke up when she was trying to sneak her way off the boat.
Her departure was unceremonious though I didn't quite let it be. I asked her the question that had been burning in me for a long time.
"When were you going to tell me about the baby?"
A tortured gasp escaped her lips then she bolted, slamming the door behind her, leaving the question unanswered. But now, she knew that I knew.
That was Christmas Eve. Now it's New Year's Eve, and I'm back home,Trasha faded memory, Cassie an urgent burning memory. I roll over in my bed, if you want to call a mattress on the floor a bed. But hey, I’m lucky to have it. It means I’m close to work all the time. And being close to work isn't such a bad thing. Not when you’re trying to jumpstart a business, one that will keep you out of Boar Creek.
My phone buzzes. It's Reese McKane. He grew up in a town not far from Boar Creek, and we attended the same high school. Then he went off to college, and I didn't. Now we’re in the same town, and seeing as how Jeremy isn't my best friend, I guess you could say that Reese is. I read the text.
Reese: "Plans tonight?"
Josh: "You know I'm working, right?"
Reese throws me a grinning emoji and then informs me that he'll see me tonight.
I roll over again and bury my head in the pillow.
* * *
I throwon a white tee and my only clean pair of jeans, draw my hair into a ponytail, so it doesn't get in the way, and stride out of my place and directly into the hallway that leads to Wasted.
Wasted used to be the old Barnyard, a popular hangout for UT students and any other student old enough to get drunk. Now it's Wasted, and it's mine. Well, mine and Isaiah's. We took out a loan which damned near strapped us in the beginning, and we bought the failing Barnyard. The place has done a turnaround. At first, Isaiah manned the bar while I stayed at Boar's Creek and managed the shrimping part of our lives, but that didn’t last long. I couldn't handle being onTrash.Not with the memories it carried.
So here I am, minding my business, slinging beer and shots to what feels like half the UT campus, when I hear a voice calling my name.
"Josh?"
I freeze. Cassie? Of course, it's not unheard of that I'd run into her. I mean, she is enrolled at UT, but since I hadn't thus far, I guess I figured that maybe—
Mentally, I shake myself out of that train of thought at stare at her. That's all I can do.
