Well, that was just great. Of course, she’d known Nash hadn’t been celibate before her, and it wasn’t something she spent much time thinking or worrying about—after all, she had a history too. But knowing he’d obviously slept with other women, and having those other women’s perky boobs thrown right in her face were two totally different things. Sort of hard not to compare her mom-of-two body, complete with a map of stretch marks and an extra fifteen pounds she’d never managed to lose after Ella to their youthful perfection.
The redhead—the one who’d apparently already bedded Nash—was a stunner. Not someone she recognized, so probably from a neighboring town. Long, auburn waves fell down her sleek back, bared in her low-cut shirt. Of course she could wear something like that sans bra—she hadn’t breastfed two babies. Rory dared to walk around home without a bra on, but she wouldn’t dream of going out in public like that, even on her deathbed. And the girl’s ass? Rory’s hadn’t ever been that tiny or perfect, and she had the cellulite to prove it.
“Um, nope,” Mac said. “We’re not goin’ there. I’m gonna cut you off if you’re headed down Mope Street.”
Rory couldn’t take her gaze off the dancing girls as she catalogued every thing that was perfect about them and compared it with all her flaws. “I’m not mopin’. I’m just…thinkin’.”
“Mhmm, thinkin’ about how you stack up to those two.”
“They’re nearly half my age.”
“With half your IQ. Nash would never go for anyone who didn’t challenge him. And that girl, bless her heart, but she’s so dumb, if she threw herself at the floor, she’d miss.”
A startled laugh flew out of Rory, and she twisted back to face Mac. It wasn’t until she noticed Mac’s raised eyebrows that the rest of what she’d said registered. Nash. She’d specifically saidNash.
Rory gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. “Youknew?”
Mac lifted a single shoulder. “Course I knew. Will would, too, if she didn’t have Finn attached to her face every second of the day.”
Rory rested her elbows on the bar, dropped her head into her hands, and groaned. “For how long?”
“I had my suspicions that day he stopped by town hall, but I didn’t know for sure until yesterday when I saw your reaction after listenin’ to those bitches at the store.”
“Don’t remind me.” Was it really any wonder she needed a break? Hearing she had no hope of keeping Nash, finding out her ex-husband proposed to her former best friend, being hit on by the father of the guy she was sleeping with, and having the sister who wouldn’t so much as return a text suddenly show up? Certainly no one expected her to be rock solid after the wringer she’d been put through in the past thirty-six hours.
“They were talkin’ outta their asses,” Mac said.
“Which ones?”
“All of ’em.”
That was easy for Mac to say—she wasn’t on the receiving end of it. And even if she were, there was no way her confidence would be shaken. She was as solid as they came, completely and utterly comfortable in her own skin.
“Bye, y’all!” Nat yelled from where she stood by the door. “It’s been real, but I hope I don’t see y’all again for years.”
Laughter sounded around the bar as Rory glanced over, her gaze locking immediately with Nash’s. He stared at her, something she couldn’t decipher passing through his eyes, before Nat snagged his attention once again. He glanced down at her and nodded, and Rory forced herself to turn away.
She couldn’t watch them leave together. Not after the day she’d had. Despite her husband fucking her best friend, she wasn’t under the impression that Nash would do something so cruel as to sleep with her sister. Even so, that didn’t stop the pit from forming in her stomach. He meshed so perfectly with Nat—everything between them was easy and fluid, not rife with complications and roadblocks. They didn’t bicker, didn’t argue. They justwere.
How could she possibly expect to compete with that level of chemistry? She couldn’t, and she didn’t even know why she’d tried. Those women Rory had overheard in the store were right—she didn’t stand a chance in hell of holding his attention in the short term. Never mind the long term that she’d started to crave.
“I think I’m gonna go.” Rory slipped off the barstool and shouldered her purse.Neededto go, actually. She’d held it together for hours, and she was pretty damn close to losing it.
“No…stay. Don’t let those girls run you outta here,” Mac said.
“They’re not.” Rory held up a hand at the skeptical look Mac shot her. “Swear.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“You don’t have to, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m still leavin’.”
“Fine, I’ll drive you.”
“No, I—”
“Hello, my beautiful sisters!” Will rested her forearms on the bar top next to Rory and leaned forward, her eyes glazed and her smile a little too wide—a sure sign she was well past tipsy. “Nash is havin’ a couple people over to the warehouse. Finn and I were gonna head over. Y’all wanna come?”
Rory dropped her gaze to her feet so she wouldn’t be tempted to seek him out. She couldn’t look at them again, not right now.
