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“A friend—or so I thought.” He was actually a parishioner who had cried on my shoulder more times than I could count when his wife passed away. I saw him as someone I could turn to after Maggie’s death because he would understand; only he understood more than I could have ever counted on. I was surprised to see him at her grave on the anniversary of her death. Turned out he had been waiting for me. He wanted to clear his conscience—my heart be damned.
“I’m sorry.” She pinned her lips together and shook her head. “It’s always the people you least expect who let you down.”
“You know from experience?” There was no reason someone her age should know of that pain so intimately.
She nodded and threw the last dart in her hand, bringing her total to two hundred fifty-four.
“Your dad?” I took a stab in the dark, wanting to keep her talking. I would never admit it to her, but it felt good to unload some of the truths that weighed me down. No one ever took the time to ask me how I was, and I suspected it was the same for her.
Eden glanced out the foggy window to where the rain still waged war on the earth, and her voice grew quiet. “No, his wife. It wasn’t her fault he died or anything, his lifestyle caught up with him. But she was supposed to take care of me after he was gone.”
“What happened?” I urged her on, knowing that if I pushed too hard she’d retreat. She and I weren’t so different in that aspect. She wore a hard exterior, one that she clearly didn’t let people penetrate often.
“My dad was a singer.”
“Anyone I know?”
“Pssh. He wishes,” she scoffed. “Not unless you frequented the worst dive bars and clubs across America.”
“Can’t say I’ve had the pleasure.”
“You’re not missing out on much.” She slid onto the barstool across from me and leaned her elbows onto the table while tracing the rim of her still-full shot glass. “I grew up in bars with him until I was seven, and Dad met Sue. A one night stand turned into a baby in a cradle, and I was given a new mom. She tolerated me, but it was Brody, my brother, that she really loved. At least I had nights with my dad. After he died, Sue got worse. I was just an extra mouth; one that she hated had been dumped on her. I didn’t fit her small town, white picket fence mold. I was a dreamer, and a bit of a hellion.”
I cocked a brow. “You?”
“I know. Shocker, right?”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. I got the feeling there was more to the story, but I didn’t push.
This game started out about the money she needed, but it was trickling into something more. Eden was authentic and gave me as much as I did her, and hell if it wasn’t the most refreshing thing I’d ever experienced.
“Me, too.”
For a moment we sat in silence, the weight of our stories heavy between us before they dissipated into nothing. I stood from my seat and grabbed my darts. “Is that where you learned to hustle? At the bars?”
Eden nodded and leaned back onto the stool behind her. Her eyes raked over my abdomen and chest until she met my stare as I took the line. She really needed to stop doing that if I was going to maintain any semblance of control. As it was, with every smile she sent in my direction, more blood was vacating my head and finding its way into my cock.
“It wasn’t your typical childhood, but I got by. It turned out to be a useful skill, and I met some incredible people along the way. You play, too. I mean enough to know I was pulling shots.”
I threw my first dart, nailing a double twenty and bringing my score up so I only trailed her by fifty. “Once upon a time, in another life, yes.”
“Sounds ominous.”
“It was.” I didn’t say anything more and took my next shot, despite the images of my life before Maggie that filtered through my mind.
It was a chapter I’d closed for good reason. If I thought my life now was a cluster-fuck, I could only imagine what it would be like if I was still face-down in cocaine, and allowing Miss Janene and my father to dictate which old bat I would be fucking tonight. Eden wouldn’t have ever been an option.
I shivered as the third dart left my hand. “No, tonight would have been different if I’d met you in that world.”
“How would it have gone?”
Fuck, I hadn’t realized I said it out loud. “It doesn’t matter.”
Eden rose from the table and stepped in front of me, blocking me from taking my shot. She tipped her head back and met my stare with her own defiant gaze. Her hand found her hip and she popped it slightly, showing off the delicious curve of her waist.
“How would it have gone, Mr. Fox?” Her mouth formed a sweet, grim line, and slowly tipped into a sexy smile with eyes that were made for the bedroom.
Fuck me.
