Except she wasn’t fucking there.
“Nathan, call my office when you make a decision.” Dr. Martin opened the door, pausing before leaving the room. “Good to meet you.”
“You too.” After the door clicked shut, I slumped in my seat.
Leo tapped my knee. “I don’t know about you, but I need a stiff drink… or ten.”
“You got that fucking right.”
Leo drove us back to the house because he could tell how distracted I was, then we took a rideshare to the bar we’d gone to after the baseball game. It’d be cheaper to get shit-faced at the house, but I didn’t want to be there. Not without her.
Leo clapped me on my nonpitching shoulder and guided me to a two-seat high top in the corner. “I ordered enough booze to forget our names. And food.”
“Food defeats the purpose.” I parked myself in a wooden chair, looking at the large crowd of people packing the bar, more than I’d expected on a weekday. Maybe they were celebrating the new year. At that moment, I hated them all.
“I haven’t eaten all day,” Leo explained. “If I need to drink more, I’ll drink more.”
A woman in her fifties arrived at our table, carrying a tray with no fewer than ten shot glasses. She lifted each shot, one-by-one, and placed it on the table between Leo and me.
She narrowed her eyes, fixing a look at me for a beat before shifting to Leo. “Neither of y’all are driving tonight, you hear?”
Leo flashed a dazzling smile, the one that won over every woman he set his sights on. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
She pointed at him. “Oh, you’re trouble, hon, but don’tcausetrouble.”
Leo saluted, giving the server confirmation he wouldn’t get plastered and ruin the bar. She left with a half smile on her face. I rolled my eyes. Leo apparently appealed to women of all ages.
“Dealer’s choice.” He upturned his palms and swept them across the top of the drinks.
“We’re mixing alcohol tonight?” Never advisable, but I took a shot of brown liquid and tossed it down my throat. The delicious burn eased some of the anxiety brewing inside me. I took another one, clear this time.
“Slow down there, champ.” Leo swiped a shot glass and placed it against his lips for a moment before swallowing it down. His eyes locked on a woman behind us as he did so. What the fuck else was new?
I didn’t want to slow down. I wanted to forget today—watching Brenna walk into the airport, hearing the doctor confirm I tore my labrum. I didn’t want to be conscious in case things somehow got worse. Bad news tended to come in threes.
And when I got back to the house later, I didn’t want the emptiness to register.
“Don’t even think about picking someone up at this bar.”
Leo’s attention landed back on me. “It’s called flirting, and it never hurt anyone. This Brenna chick must be a saint to put up with you. Tell mehowexactly you managed to win her over. I thought she was engaged.”
The idea of Brenna engaged to another man—even though she wasn’t any longer—still made me want to punch a hole in a wall.
“Technically, she was engaged, but they didn’t have much of a relationship, living long-distance from each other.” I’d be lying if that bit of her history didn’t fuel my present concerns.
Leo smirked. “And now she’s with you?”
“As much as two people who don’t live anywhere near each other can be together.”
“What the fuck does that mean? You have an open relationship?”
I scoffed. “Hell, no.” I’d rather swallow boiling water than know Brenna was out with another man. “But we didn’t exactly figure out how we’d make it work, or for how long. I thought we had more time, but her fucking mother showed up early, and I only had one last night with her. After talking got us nowhere closer to a plan, we enjoyed the time we had.”
“Can’t say I wouldn’t do the same,” Leo said before taking another shot.
The server dropped off our food, eyeing the empty shot glasses on our table. She left with a pointed stare at Leo.
“If you get the surgery, you could do it anywhere, right? Or get it here and recover close to where she lives?”
