Bullseye.
“There’s always been something tying our souls together, and that will never change.”
“No,” I replied. My voice hoarse, low.
I glanced over at Jillian again, now mediating between Tuppy and the other two women with her angelic smile.
“I love my wife. You know I do. I have no intention of leaving her.”
“I just want a chance to explain. I hate the way we left things.”
“I mentioned marriage and you flipped out, blocked my number, and didn’t contact me for ten years.”
“I was so immature then. So young. I just—wasn’t ready to get married.”
“That’s fine,” I said, feeling my throat closing up, my voice a rasp. “It doesn’t matter.”
“But it does matter,” she whispered. “I hate feeling like I hurt you. Feeling like I screwed up the best thing that’s ever happened to me. The way we left things—it’s always haunted me?—”
Hearing those words from her, words I’d always hoped she’d say, made a heavy weight settle on my chest. I hated myself for the sick little flare of hope.
“Of course I still care about you,” I said. “We’ll always be friends.”
“Friends?”
Christabelle whirled around, her eyes flashing. She looked magnificent, her hair falling in golden waves around her face, her breasts heaving with emotion.
“You know we could never just be friends. We’ll fight and fuck but it doesn’t matter how much time has passed. I know you feel that electricity between us. And your safe life and nice wife don’t change that. . . “
“Shh,” I hissed in agony. “Lower your voice. I don’t want anyone to hear. Like Jillian. I do not ever want to hurt her.”
“We need closure,” she insisted. “I just want to. . .explain myself. Can you give me that?”
“Meet me at the coffee shop,” I gritted out, clutching the darts so tightly they were digging into my flesh. “Midnight. Just to get some closure on what happened between us.”
“All right,” she said, her plump lips curving into a smile. “Frankie, you can try to fight it, but you know us, there’s something magnetic between us that means we always find our way back to each other. . .”
I stumbled away, but my stomach churned with anxiety and nerves because goddamn it, she was right. I felt it too. . .
“I’m so sorry, everyone’s had a question for me tonight,” I said as I returned to my seat, the lies slipping from my mouth like rancid fish. “First Tuppy had some question about his liquor license and then Christabelle wanted to know the best places to rent.”
“That’s OK,” Jillian said, snuggling into my side. “You’re here now.”
She finished her shuffleboard game, then we played another, and finally it was time to head home.
I should have stopped then, I should have gone inside.
But I was almost twitching with excitement.
Was Christabelle going to admit she still loved me?
“I forgot something back at the bar,” I said, the lie tasting like ash on my tongue, like a cigarette I wanted to smoke really badly, even though I had quit. “You go on in and take a shower and I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
CHAPTER 6
Jillian
Tourists had already begun to line up outside the Perk Up & Read when we arrived.
