Everything was going so well. Eggnog at the resort. The Lawless family winning this year’s town accommodation light display. All of our friends and family, including my parents and Bailey with her parents, eating and drinking merrily.
Then disaster had to go and ruin it.
Why is it when one part of your life is going increasingly well, another part falls spectacularly apart?
“Sadie?”
My eyes go wide as I turn from the bar, a round of drinks in my hands. “Oh my god, Duncan?”
He palms the back of his neck. “I thought I might find you here.”
My heart hammers in my chest. “W-what? How did you find me?”
“More to the point, why are you running away and ignoring me?”
I narrow my eyes. “Because, you half-wit, I don’t want anything to do with you! And I’m not running away, I’ve moved on. Started a new life. One you’re not invited to!”
“You don’t mean that, honeybee. I know I did wrong, I’m sorry!” he pleads.
I always hated that nickname. “No. You’re sorry you got caught.” I guess I never really yelled at him because I was too shocked and sad when I found out he was cheating, I just left his apartment and never took his calls again. Of course he tried to reason with me, but I’m not stupid. I also knew he’d moved onwith one of the girls, clearly, that didn’t work out for him. “How dare you show up here! How did you even know where I was?”
He looks sheepish, looking around — everywhere but at me. “I remember you talking about Alpine Falls, so I decided to track you down myself. I have some unfinished business here.”
I shake my head. “You actually came all the way out here to spy on me? That’s called stalking, you complete weirdo! How many times do I have to tell you to leave me alone?”
“N-no, you don’t understand, I came back home. I’m from here, sugar muffin.”
I frown. “What?”
At the same time, over his shoulder I see Zane bounding toward me with a furious look on his face. Uh-oh. “W-well. I didn’t tell you this because we’d only been dating for six months, but I- I’m from here. I didn’t know when I first met you we had anything in common with Alpine Falls, until you mentioned Bailey. And while it’s hard for me to come back, I had to face the music someday. If it means suffering for the one I love, I’ll do it.”
Okay, I’ve no idea what the heck he’s talking about. Maybe the altitude is messing with his head. All his words are jumbling in my head. He never met Bailey in the time I was dating him. He always had some excuse when she came to New York. Now I know why.
My eyes bug out of their sockets as Zane is almost on us. “N-no,” I say, shaking my head. “You’re from here? You lied? What the heck is going on?”
“Yeah, and, well, things were complicated when I left—” He gets cut off as Zane takes the drinks from my hands and sets them back on the bar. “Oh, shit. Lawless.”
Several things go through my mind all at once, none of them good.
Zane turns, then glares down at my ex and says, “Stanley? What the fuck are you doing here?”
CHAPTER 25
Zane
“Stanley?” Sadie gasps, looking from me to him in confusion. “What? But, Stanley’s your last name...”
I step in front of my girl protectively, blocking him from her with my body. I’m up in his face in seconds.
What the fuck is he doing here?
“You think you can walk intomybar, inmytown and put your hands onmygirl? Not this time, dickface.”
I don’t even hesitate, or give him time to answer or react — I draw my arm back and swing. The guy had it coming, I should’ve done this years ago, but the slimy fuck was run out of town before I got my chance. The crack his nose makes when it connects with my fist is unpleasant to say the least, but fills me with instant gratification.
“FUCK!” he yells, his hands flying up to his face, blood trickles out in an instant. “That hurt!”
Sadie shrieks, her hands pressing into her cheeks as she watches on in complete and utter shock.
