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As I wait at the bar, I begin to regret the location. The place is packed. The Ginn Inn is a local place that my family and the Hayes family drink at. It never used to be that way. There was a time Jimmy wouldn’t let us in at the same time, and if he did, a large deposit had to be paid at the beginning of the night.
I notice two Hayes’ in the corner—Reid, and I forget the other guy’s name—savouring their pints. It still baffles me how we aren’t at war with them anymore. I also kind of miss the entertainment. Thankfully, they still have their moments.
And fortunately for me, there isn’t a Carter here. If they found out what I think Zach may have done, they would be out for blood. Zach wouldn’t make it through the night. And I don’t have any concrete evidence it was him.
A guy who has been eyeing me since I arrived gets up from his chair. His mates clap him on the back, and I inwardly groan. I’ve tried to avoid eye contact at all costs, but clearly, he’s mistaken that for someone who is interested.
And I’m not.
He’s cute, but I’m not in the mood to flirt. He has dark blonde hair, a skinny frame, and clearly works with his hands if the work boots are anything to go by.
He takes the stool to the left of me.
“Hey, gorgeous,” he greets.
I take a sip of my drink to avoid speaking to him and nod instead.
“Are you seeing anyone?”
And he’s one of those. If this was a girl, she would have taken the nod as an answer and saved her dignity. A male, on the other hand, will keep going until you have to walk away.
So I do what I always do. I paste on a smile.
“You mean like hallucinations?” I ask, tilting my head. “Sometimes. It varies with stress levels. Do you see them too?”
His bushy eyebrows rise. “I didn’t mean—”
I tap his chest, groaning. “Oh, you mean am I seeing a therapist?” I continue, letting out a small laugh. “Once a week now. But once she hears about the new voice in my head, she will want to get to know them so it will probably be three times a week. She’ll be happy to know a new toy came up to me.”
His cheeks drain of colour as he looks over my shoulder. “Um, my friend is waving me over. I have to go.”
Hayden’s laughter echoes around me as a hand lands on my back. “That was mean, and I like it.”
“I can’t believe it still works. You would have thought after all this time, word would get around. It’s not like I’m a stranger here.”
“Hey, you can’t blame yourself for others’ stupidity. That’s what I tell myself, anyway,” she explains.
“I would have played a little longer but I’m not in the mood.”
She takes the stool the guy just moved out of. “Is Zach still ignoring you?”
I nod. “Yes. I don’t know why I’m so bothered about it. This is what I wanted.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t want it to be on bad terms. He’s poisoning what’s left of your friendship. And honestly, I’m kind of glad it’s over between the two of you.”
I arch a brow. “So you don’t get sentenced for manslaughter?”
“That too, but mostly because I hate the way he speaks to you sometimes, and that you let him get away with it.”
“I don’t know why I let him. If he had been anyone else, I would have outright told him to fuck off.”
“I think it’s because you were never yourself around him. You were always trying to impress him, and I think that kind of thinking makes a person change who they are. You’ve been trying to be who you think he needs and not actually who you are. It’s like when someone impersonates another’s laugh or copies a person’s mannerisms.”
“That’s kind of deep,” I muse.
“I have my moments. It’s probably why Zach risked his life over and over again. Because I’m telling you, I would have cut his dick off and fed it to him by now,” she swears. “But I also hated the way he treated you. Clay treats me like he’s the luckiest guy in the world to have me—which, by the way, he is. Zach treated you like you were the luckiest girl to have him.”
