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He nodded. “No problem. How you feeling? Did the Epsom salt help?”
“It did.”
“Good. I got a busy week. School job should’ve been done by now, but instead they’re still giving me pages of revisions to the plans. And we start a new job tomorrow, too.” He looked at his watch and nodded toward the door. “I gotta get to the rink. Probably won’t be around much this week. But if you need anything, call me.”
I was disappointed, yet forced a smile. “Okay. Thanks, Fox.”
He was halfway out the door when he turned around and walked back in. “Forgot something,” he said.
“What?”
He responded by hooking an arm around my waist and hauling me close. His lips crashed down on mine. “This.”
After he was done kissing the shit out of me, he pulled back, his eyes dark. “You got plans next weekend?”
I hadn’t yet found my voice, so I shook my head.
“Good. There’s a wine festival not too far out of town. Thought maybe we could spend the weekend. Maybe stay at a nearby B&B.”
“Oh.” I blinked. “Yeah. That sounds great.”
“Alright then. I’ll talk to you soon.”
And just like that, my sex-only stud walked out the door, as if it wasn’t a big deal that he’d just moved whatever was going on between us into new territory.
***
The following day, I drove to a flooring store a half hour away to get new carpet. I also found some tile that looked like wood flooring that I thought I might install downstairs. It wasn’t cheap, so I wanted to do my homework before I decided for sure. On the way home, I passed the Crow’s Nest bar. My uncle’s beat-up car was parked outside, so I decided to stop.
Inside was dark. The lights were on, but with dingy wood paneling and a worn brown bar, there wasn’t too much for them to bounce off of. There were only three people in the entire place, so it wasn’t difficult to find Uncle Ray. He was sitting at the far end, staring down into a glass of amber liquid. He didn’t look up until I was next to him. Then he frowned.
“I don’t want no more trouble,” he said. “That Cassidy threatened my life.”
I took that statement with a grain of salt and sat down on the stool next to him. “Why did you lie to me?”
“Would you have given me the money if I’d told you what it was for?”
I shook my head.
He shrugged and lifted his glass to his lips. “Well, there’s your answer.”
I sighed. “You know there are gambling-addiction groups and counselors if you have a problem.”
“Only problem I got is you at the moment. You sitting here looking down your nose at me.”
The bartender walked over and placed a napkin in front of me. “What can I get you?”
I waved my hand. “Nothing for me. Thank you.”
Ray tossed back the rest of whatever was in his glass and held it up. “I’ll take another.”
“You gotta pay up front, Ray. You know that. Cash before I pour.”
It sounded like Fox wasn’t the only one who had my uncle’s number.
“I gave you my last damn ten dollars already. Just spot me one.”
The bartender shook his head and pointed to the register. “There’s a list of people we can’t extend credit to or take checks from. The owner wrote your name in red and underlined it twice. Sorry.”
