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“Damn, nothing like the beer to bring out the honesty.” His smile faded. “No, I was involved. It just ended.”
Max crooked an eyebrow. “Really? I had no idea you were serious with someone.”
Which was odd because the two of them did keep up with their happenings. Even though Max didn’t understand Chris’ choices in life, it wasn’t as if he didn’t talk to Max about it.
“I was. It was…not pretty. She apparently didn’t take me seriously when I said I was a switch.”
“So you lost a woman over that. Do you think it’s worth it?”
Chris shrugged. “Not so sure now, but she really turned out to be unstable.”
“Let me guess, you thought you could fix her.”
“No. I didn’t. I actually thought she was pretty stable. But that’s not going to get me off the subject. Just how long have you had a thing for Anna?”
He was saved from answering that question when the door to Ruby’s banged open. Everyone in the place turned to see who entered. Max gritted his teeth when he saw Freddy–the-ex leading the way.
“Well, damn.”
Chris turned back around. “Someone you know?”
Max nodded, not taking his gaze from Freddy and his entourage. He recognized most of them. They were the same age as Freddy, all missing necks, all assholes as far as Max could remember.
When he realized Chris was still watching him, Max said, “Freddy Swanson. His family owns a string of gyms in South Georgia. And he’s one of Anna’s ex-boyfriends.”
“Ahh.” He turned to watch the group sit at a booth. “That explains why you look like you want to kick his ass.”
Max tore his attention from Freddy and looked at Chris. “I do not.”
Chris rolled his eyes. “Yeah, you do. You forget you’re about six-four and two-twenty. You’re not exactly a shrinking Georgia magnolia.”
Thinking it best to ignore the jackass, Max turned his back on Freddy and his friends. “I just got the feeling he was still interested in Anna.”
“So?” When he didn’t answer, Chris answered for him. “You don’t trust her.”
“No. I do. It’s just…Anna has a problem with commitment.”
“Ah, so you worry she’ll dump you for Freddy.”
Max shook his head, ignoring the way it swam when he did. “Nope, just in general. What I don’t like is the way she looks when she looks at him.”
“Longing? Lust?” Amusement threaded his friend’s voice but in Max’s mind there wasn’t anything funny about it.
“No. It’s hard to put a name on it.” He picked at the label on the beer bottle. “Something happened there, something she won’t talk about.”
“In all these years you have been friends, you never asked?”
Max shrugged as he heard a shout from the table where Freddy was sitting. “Nope. Tried to a couple times in the past, she always gets nasty when I do. And not in a good way.”
Before Chris could respond to that, Freddy stepped up beside Max, a beer bottle in his hand, and leaned against the counter.
“Hey, Chandler. I don’t think I’ve seen you in here, especially since I returned.”
Max didn’t look at him, just sipped on his beer and looked at Freddy’s companions’ reflections in the cracked mirror over the bar. Their avid interest in the interaction between Freddy and himself was palpable. Deciding it better to avoid any kind of altercation, he took another sip of beer before turning his attention to Freddy.
“And?”
“Just thought it odd. I’m in here a lot of nights, never saw you in here, even when you were younger.”
