Charlie sets two small glasses of amber liquid in front of me. Not thinking, I down both in under ten seconds. It burns going down, but it helps calm the rage I’m currently feeling.
“Fuck.” I grab the glass of water Charlie brought over earlier when I told him I needed to get drunk and take a healthy swallow. “I’m going to need about ten more of those.”
Charlie smiles at me, sipping on his beer. “You’re going to need to drink about ten more glasses of water if you think I’m going to keep feeding you shots.”
“Please?” I whine, jutting out my bottom lip before dropping my arms onto the table and resting my head there. “I’m sad.”
“I thought you were angry?” Charlie rests his arm on the back of the corner booth we’re sitting in. This is Charlie’s booth. Whenever his friends come hang out, this is our spot.
“Again, with the technicalities. I’m sad too. I can be both.”
“Who’s sad about what?” a voice interrupts the conversation.
Glancing up, I find one of Charlie’s other good friends standing at the end of the table. Hunter is tall, with biceps that are thick under his jacket. Blond hair is hidden below a dark, knit cap, and his blue eyes don’t give away anything.
Hunter moved to Moose Falls a few years back and became fast friends with Charlie. For as much as I’ve hung out with him, it’s hard to get a read on him.
“My divorce,” I lament.
“Ouch.” Hunter drops down into the open seat next to Charlie. “Sorry, man.”
“I guess it was time.” I gulp more water before flagging down a passing waiter to order more shots.
“Still.” Hunter reaches across the table and claps me on the shoulder. “That has to hurt.”
“It’ll be okay,” Charlie tells me, putting a positive spin on it. Which is just like him. “Lick your wounds, heal from this, and then I’m sure you’ll meet someone new and fall madly in love and get married again.”
I scoff. “I will never get married again, even if the world is on fire and it would save humanity.”
Charlie chokes on his sip of beer. “That’s quite the stance to take.”
“Well, it’s true.”
A few minutes later, the waiter drops off the shots I ordered and I pass one to each of the guys. “Cheers to life being over.”
“I don’t know how I feel about that, but I’ll drink.” Hunter clinks his glass against mine before downing his shot. Charlie rolls his eyes at me but follows suit.
“You really should slow down,” Charlie tells me. “You’ll only feel more terrible in the morning if you keep going.”
Hunter laughs. “Oryou could take a page out of Charlie’s playbook and get drunk in Canada.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
Charlie shoots a glare in Hunter’s direction. “Aren’t you supposed to be at the tree farm?”
Hunter gives him a small smile. “I had to pick a few things up in town and thought I’d drop by for a few minutes.”
“It’s been a few minutes. You can go.”
Charlie tries to shove him out of the booth, but I throw out a hand to stop him.
“Hold on. When did you get drunk in Canada?” Charliemumbles something to himself that I can’t hear. “What was that?”
“He didn’t just get drunk in Canada. He gotarrestedin Canada,” Hunter supplies.
“You got arrested in Canada? I didn’t know that could happen.” I laugh.
“Well, it can, and it does. And it’s not something I like telling people.” Charlie glares at Hunter.If looks could kill…
