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The problem was Leo wasn’t a jerk. He was broken, imperfect, and boy did he piss me off with the whole divorce-papers-you-deserve-better bit, but I loved him. I only wished my love had been enough. “See you soon.”
At nine o’clock, Craig and Malorie picked me up. She took a look at the dress I had on and frowned. “Are you losing weight?”
The dress was a little loose, but I’d barely noticed. “I guess.” I hadn’t actively been trying to shed the pounds, but I hadn’t had much of an appetite lately. I expected for her to throw out a compliment, but instead she tsked as I climbed into the back of Craig’s crew cab pickup truck.
“Time to fix that. You eat dinner?”
“Not yet.” On cue, my stomach growled.
“Then we’re hitting the drive-thru first. Craig introduced me to this place which has the best beer-battered mushrooms and fish and chips.”
He put a hand on her thigh and turned back to address me. “Great milkshakes too.”
It was good to see Mal enjoying carbs these days.
After a mostly beige, but delicious dinner, we headed to a dance club. I could already tell by the loud music this wasn’t my vibe. But Mal was handing me a shot, and I was wearing her silver sparkly shoes which made me feel tall and sexy.
An hour later, Craig’s friend Patrick showed up. He was cute in a clean-cut, military kind of way, yet I found myself thinking of tattoos, long hair, and piercings. Would there ever come a time I didn’t compare a man to Leo?
Patrick ordered another round. While Mal and Craig went out on the dance floor, he bluntly attempted conversation. “Heard you recently went through a breakup. Sorry to hear it. Went through one myself a couple months back.”
I found myself leaning forward, appreciating his candor. “Really? How did you get over her?”
He shrugged. “Still working on it. Cheers to new friends?” He held up his beer.
I raised my newly delivered martini, relieved Patrick had taken pressure off for the evening. “Cheers to new friends indeed.”
Two hours later I was happily drunk and on the dance floor with Patrick, Craig, and Mal. What I didn’t have in finesse, I made up for in vodka-induced enthusiasm. When a song with a slower beat came on, I laughed when Patrick put his hands on my hips and attempted to show me how to groove with the music properly.
But suddenly Craig stopped in his tracks and cursed. When I turned to see why, I froze too.
Barreling toward us were all three of the Chambers brothers.
Patrick, unbeknownst to the impending danger, pulled me closer to him.
“Let go of my wife,” came Leo’s voice. His face was red, his fists clenched.
Patrick spared one glance at Leo and immediately held his hands up and stepped back. I didn’t blame him as Leo had never looked this angry. Or hot.
No. No. No. I refused to be attracted to a man who’d served me divorce papers via his brother in the office, only a few days earlier.
“Wife?” Mal yelled over the music. Her and Craig’s eyes were round as saucers.
“Ex-wife,” I clarified, glaring at Leo and mouthing “I’m sorry” to Patrick. He didn’t deserve to have Leo’s anger directed his way.
But Leo wasn’t the only one angry. How dare he? I was sure he was here for one reason only. Because I’d moved out of the house and refused to follow his orders. And now he had the audacity to ruin my one fun night in a string of nights where I’d cried myself to sleep.
“How about we take this somewhere quieter?” Nic jumped in.
As much as I didn’t want to go anywhere with Leo, I also didn’t want to cause a scene. And I was feeling a bit dizzy half a dozen drinks in. “Fine. You have five minutes.”
Unsteadily, I followed Nic and Gabe to the entry of the club where the music wasn’t as loud. I was aware of Leo following. The heat of his fury made mine grow with every step.
Spinning around, I intended to give him a piece of my mind. But I moved too swiftly and almost lost my balance. Leo reached out to steady me, and his touch caused a tidal wave of emotion to hit me.
He cursed while I snatched my hand out of his grip.
His jaw clenched. “You let him put his fucking hands on you.”
