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“We piled all of it on your desk,” Clark said with a mischievous grin.
“I have a desk?” My brows dipped, and they all burst into laughter. I wadded up a napkin and threw it at Clark. “Assholes.”
He called the bartender over and ordered a round of shots. “Should I get enough for your family?”
I glanced in their direction. Patrick waved his hands in front of him while he ran his mouth. Longing streaked through me. I’d introduced all of them and felt relieved when there wasn’t a big enough table available to accommodate everyone.
Separate corners.
Two separate worlds.
“Not right now.”
I slung my shot back and slammed the empty glass on the bar.
Briggs grimaced and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “If Suzanne asks me about this and I forgot to mention it, she’ll cut me off for a week.”
“You scared of your wife?” Roman asked with a smirk.
“Yeah. And if she was yours you would be too.” Briggs returned his attention to me. “A friend of hers from high school moved back to town.”
“No.” I cut him off before it went any further.
“She’s not bad looking,” he pleaded.
“Tell Suzanne I’m not ready or whatever you want to.” Maybe I should switch to liquor. “Or why not Roman?”
They glanced at each other, a little too nervously for my liking.
“He’s uh—he’s been kinda seeing someone.”
“Yeah?” I punched him in the arm. “Who’s the lucky girl? Anybody I know?”
“Is there anybody in this town we don’t know?” Clark muttered.
“So about Suzanne’s friend . . .” Briggs nudged me with his shoulder.
“What don’t you want me to know?”
“Oh shit.” Clark glanced past me and downed the rest of his beer. “I gotta take a piss.”
“Hey.”
Everything in me seized.
The soft lilt had greeted me more mornings than I could count. I thought that would always be the sound I woke to. Seeing her face was a direct arrow to my chest. Still flawless. Those lips formed a shy smile, and I scowled, knowing what they were capable of. Her hair was a blonde halo that fell halfway down her back.
I wanted to look away, but couldn’t. This ache, this reminder of everything that had gone wrong in my life stared at me. Begging for forgiveness, understanding, and something else I couldn’t decipher.
“Roman.” I pointed a finger at him. “What the hell?”
He ignored me and touched Celia’s shoulder. “I won’t be far.”
A look passed between them, one I wasn’t sure I liked. One I wasn’t sure why I cared.
I spun on my barstool to face the mirrored wall of liquor bottles.
“Holt.”
