ME
Keep it up, Squirt. You're gonna pay for this later.
HOLLY
Gee… what are you going to do? Lay beside me again tonight and touch me exactly… nowhere
Yeah, nowhere.
Because the moment I touch her like that, it’s game on—and we both know I’m not equipped for half-measures.
I drag my gaze away from her legs—a herculean feat—and catch sight of Everett’s Uncle Seth at the end of the bar.
His hair’s a touch grayer than I remember, but that’s where time stopped bothering with him.
Firmly planted in that mid-generation sweet spot—old enough to be respectable, young enough to still get away with questionable decisions. He was our unofficial booze supplier, thanks to that perfect balance of "cool uncle" energy and "don’t ask, don’t tell" policies.
When his gaze catches mine, recognition lights up his face. His smile stretches wider, and he nods, raising his beer in a silent, easygoing salute.
“When did your uncle get back?” I ask, returning my focus to Everett drying high-ball glasses with the practiced ease he learned in the years following college—his nomad years—otherwise known as the running from Sierra years.
“A month or so ago, about the time my dad announced he’s permanently handing me the keys to the kingdom.”
I glance at his uncle, now laughing with Cleo at the end of the bar. “And he’s… cool with that?”
“Why wouldn’t he be? He’s never been interested in running the place but likes to stay busy, so with Aunt Rosie gone, he’s helping me renovate. Keeps him out of trouble.”
“Wait—where’s Aunt Rosie? She didn’t…”
“Die?” Everett barks out a laugh. “No. Let’s just say whatever happened was mutual. He won’t spill, but judging by the way he’s working through every available skirt in this town, he’s more than fine.”
“Ah, a true Morgan recovery plan,” I smirk. “They teach that alongside ski lessons or what?”
“Pretty much. I’d like to think it’s genetic. I bet you’re glad you left your skirt at home, aren’t ya?”
He gives me a fucking wink meant for—anyone but me. Must need the practice since it’s the same one he uses to charm women straight out of their clothes after he uses my moves to get them to his room.
Funny how just two days ago, I was ready to brutally murder him for those.
Now I just want to smack him around a little, big brother style.
“Yeah, not sure I can handle your Uncle Seth. You remember that New Year’s party the year after we graduated? He gave me some advice about what ladies want. I know way too much about your Aunt Rosie now.”
Everett immediately throws a hand up, signaling me to shut the hell up. “Nope. Nope. Not doing this. I already need therapy for the summer I helped her clean out her closet and found her vibrator stash. Now you want to mix that into my mental soup? Hard pass.”
“Now those images are mixing in mine. Appreciate it,” I say with a pained laugh before taking another sip of my drink.
“I’ve gotta say, man, night and day difference between you now and a few years ago when you came up to lick your wounds.”
“Doesn’t take much to look better than the pile of shit I looked like when I cruised into town then.” I'd finally found out the extent of my ex-wife’s cheating and filed for divorce. I knew I was on borrowed time to tell my parents before they found out on their own.
I wouldn’t let that happen. I wouldn’t let my father try to reduce me to some dumb kid who hid from the truth and responsibility.
But first, a bender so fucked up it carried a significant risk of death and altered my brain chemistry.
Actually...
I steal a glance out of the corner of my eye at my currentbenderwhere she throws back her head in laughter at something Eve says. The line of her jaw where it meets the shallow valley of her neck just begs for my mouth.
