I wouldn’t blame him if he had. After all, I was engaged. Looking at my finger, I saw that damn engagement ring there and decided it was time to take it off. I wouldn’t be marrying Hunter, not now, and the relief I felt at that decision made me sag against Lacey.
I had to wonder if I would have ever had the guts to go through with it, even if I wasn’t carrying another man’s child. I’d been miserable about the whole thing for so long. Now, I had a real reason not to go through with it.
“When are you going to tell Butch?” Lacey asked, as if she was reading my mind.
“I want to go to the doctor first, just to be sure.”
Then I’d track down Butch and tell him the news.
Butch
“You look like shit,” Hawk said, taking a seat on the barstool next to me.
“Piss off,” I said, taking a shot. I’d been at the Blue Dog for two hours, so I was trashed, but I didn’t care. It was my night off, and I had nowhere to be.
“No can do. I need your help.”
I blinked at him. He couldn’t be serious.
“Do I look like I’m in a position to help you with anything?”
“Not yet,” he said, calling over Chels, the bartender. “Get him a black coffee.”
“No.” I shook my head, “Get me another shot.”
“Nope,” Hawk interrupted. “You’re cut off.”
“The fuck I am.”
Sliding off the barstool, I headed for the door. I didn’t need to stick around here for this shit. I was already in a bad mood. There were plenty of other places to drink.
I had just made it to the door when Trainer stepped into my path.
“You aren’t going anywhere like that,” he said firmly, folding his arms across his chest.
“Like what?” I asked.
“You’re plastered. You’re not getting on your bike.”
I sized him up, trying to decide if I could take him, but the guy was huge. His kids might have softened him up a bit over the last few years, but the look he was giving me right now was hard and cold. He wasn’t going to take it easy on me if I came at him.
Maybe I would have stood a chance if I wasn’t so drunk, but I was way too unsteady on my feet to even try it. Besides, I didn’t really want to operate my bike while intoxicated. Turning back around, I saw Hawk standing right behind me with a steaming coffee mug in his hand.
I sighed through my nose and took the damn cup.
“What do you want from me?” I asked, taking a sip of the bitter liquid. They bought some cheap coffee here.
“You’re going to come with me to the Church of the Exalted.”
I stared at him for a long moment, trying to figure out if I had misheard him.
“Are you out of your mind?” I asked, making my way back to the bar. “Do I look like the churchgoing type to you?”
“I don’t care,” Hawk said, not bothering to sit this time. “No one else is available this evening.”
I looked around the room, seeing that the bar was almost empty, other than the three of us and the bartender. “What about Trainer?”
“I’ve got to go to my kid’s soccer game in ten minutes,” Trainer said.
