“Yeah, well, we all make mistakes,” I said, finishing my drink. “Mine was Cole Kane.”
I settled back, finally letting my shoulders relax as I took a look around the little bar. Half the people were gone, but the half that were left were milling around in their costumes, having a good time. Especially the old man behind the tap, still gleefully filling pint glasses.
“One last question then,” the bartender squinted, as someone ended the silence by firing up a portable speaker. The crowd cheered as ‘Dead Man’s Party’ started up, by Oingo Boingo.
“Yes?”
“If you broke up with Budget Thanos ten years ago, what the hell is he doing following you into my bar tonight?”
I was torn between laughing and crying. It was all so absurd. Still, I had to come clean.
“Recently, I, uh… sorta started seeing him again.”
The blond threw up his arms in exasperation. “For fuck’s sake, why?”
“I’m a physical therapist,” I could only shrug. “I was subbing at one of our sister offices a few weeks ago, when Cole showed up with a blown knee. He was humble and apologetic,and it seemed like he’d grown up a lot in the past ten years. Especially since he’d hurt himself.”
“I remember that injury,” the clean-cut guy said. He had a pair of wire-rimmed glasses in his hand now. Casually he pulled out a cloth, and began cleaning the lenses. “It ended his career, didn’t it?”
I nodded. “He tried coming back. Took a few fights in the feeder leagues, but his knee was never the same.”
“I dunno, his knee looked pretty good tonight,” the bartender growled.
“Trust me,” I sighed. “I’ve seen his scans and MRI’s.”
The three of them were still looking at me skeptically. Not that I could blame them. I didn’t mind them looking, however. It’d been a while since I had any sort of positive attention, and each of my three heroes seemed hotter than the next.
“Anyway, we talked about old times,” I went on, “and for some reason I could only remember the good. Maybe I blocked the bad out, I dunno.”
“So you hooked up with him again,” the blond smirked.
Shit, was it really that simple? In retrospect, maybe it was.
“Look, Cole caught me at a time when I was burnt out. Broke. I’m working two jobs, so I have no life.” I hesitated for a moment, then eventually shrugged. “I guess I was missing companionship. And I was missing… other things, too.” I tried averting my gaze, but it was only a temporary escape. “For once, I think I just wanted someone to take care of me.”
The third man put his glasses on, pushing them back with a long, delicate finger. Somehow he became even more handsome.
“Are you alright?” he asked in a deep, melodic voice. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“No, but he hurt someone else,” I admitted. “We were at a Halloween party earlier, and Cole was being jealous and controlling. When he backhanded some guy just for starting a conversation with me, that was it. I snuck out and called for an Uber. Only he followed the Uber, ran us off the road, and pulled my driver out by the hair.”
The guys looked at each other in disbelief.
“Unfuckingreal,” snarled the blond.
“I beat on him with my pitchfork until it broke, and the driver managed to get away. Cole dropped his phone, though. As he was looking for it, I slipped down a side street and ran. I heard the music coming from this place, and that’s how I ended up here.”
I looked guiltily over to where the jukebox stood, now dark and silent. Its once-beautiful face was a jagged mess of glass stalactites.
“I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused,” I sighed. “I could’ve just called the police. I should’ve—”
“Hayden?”
I swallowed past the lump of regret forming in my throat. “Yes?”
“You did the right thing,” said the bartender. “You ran.”
His voice was soothing and sympathetic. Those mocha brown eyes, steady, and full of understanding.
