Asher: See you there.
A half hour later, we were gathered by the pool tables, each of us with a drink in hand. I watched as Jackson and Kieran played, while I leaned against the wall near Asher, a bar table between us.
“Are you—”
I looked at him. “I’m fine.” It came out sounding snippier than I intended. His throat moved as he swallowed before nodding, regret washing over me. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine. You don’t have to talk about it.”
I sighed and sipped my beer before setting the bottle on the table. “Phillip is my ex.”
He smirked. “I gathered that.”
A chuckle escaped me. “Right. Sorry. He’s just… he’s terrible. He was terrible when we were together and he got worse after I left him.”
“Terrible how?”
Kieran approached us then, placing his pint glass on the table. “He’s a total asshole. Manipulative, possessive, you know the type.”
“Violent?” Asher asked quietly, just barely able to be heard over the music.
I shook my head. “No, just a garden-variety asshole.”
“Ah.”
“Yeah.”
A quiet moment passed between the three of us, the cracking of the pool balls against each other and the music over the loudspeaker filling the space, when I glanced around, my gaze landing on the door.
Phillip stood in the entryway, a familiar face just behind him. My chest tightened with anxiety, my shoulders tensing. It didn’t take long for them to spot us and they meandered over with twin snake-like grins.
“Great,” I muttered, straightening up and grabbing my beer to have something to do with my hands. In a blink, Phillip and his buddy Daniel were close.
“Micah,” Phillip said, false warmth in his tone.
I nodded once. “Phil.” He hated when I called him that. I knew I probably shouldn’t provoke him, but I couldn’t help myself. I didn’t want him to think I was the same, easily intimidated Micah he knew. I was more than that now. I turned my gaze to Daniel and nodded at him, too, before looking back at Phillip. “What are you two doing here?”
Phillip’s smile tightened. “We were in town. Thought we’d stop by and get a drink. What a coincidence that you happen to be here.”
“What are you doing in Port Grandlin?” I clarified. He waved away my question, but I persisted. “Phillip…”
“I came to seeyou, of course.”
“Why?”
He sighed. “Does there have to be a reason? Can’t I just miss seeing you?”
I cleared my throat. “You drove six hours to see me because you miss me, even though I left you over six months ago?”
He clenched his jaw, the muscle in his temple twitching. “You’re relentless, aren’t you? Fine, I came to talk to you about the condo. I’m being hounded by an investor and I thought you might want your share.”
It sounded very muchnotlike Phillip to want to splitanythingwith me. I didn’t trust him, not at all. Instead of replying, I sipped my beer again and set it on the table.
“I tried to get you the papers today, but you didn’t want to hear it.”
“Fine,” I said firmly. “We can meet one day after work and I’ll sign whatever you need me to sign.”
“Good. Perfect.”
