Page 10 of Holding Penalty

Nash’s nose twitches after he downs his in one gulp. “I’ll say.”

I crack open the tallboy beer can. It’s a brand I don’t even recognize. “I hope the beer is better.”

Nash cracks his at the same time. “I’m not getting my hopes up.”

Even though Nash is twice my size, I chug my beer a lot faster than he does.

Wait—he’s still drinking, though. How is he supposed to get home? I can’t imagine someone as straitlaced and uptight as Nash would drive after drinking. Does he live around here in the city? He doesn’t seem like the type of guy who would ever want to live in a downtown area, surrounded by people, but maybe if he’s got a top-floor penthouse in one of those fancy new Austin skyscrapers, it’s different.

Nash is the one to break the silence. “So … wanna talk about it?”

I scoff. “When’s the last time you had a heart-to-heart with someone about their emotions?”

“Never.” There’s a bitterness to Nash’s reply that catches me off guard. I feel bad for how dismissively my own question came out.

Actually, Nash might be the perfect person to talk to about what just happened. He’s an outside observer with no vested interest.

Normally when I have something really serious to talk through, I’d go to my sister, Hallie.

But I know she’d treat this news like the bombshell it is. She’d ask me what I’m going to do about the wedding, something I’m not ready to think about yet.

The full reality of what happened hasn’t truly sunk in, and talking about this with someone who’s close to me would make that happen. I’m not ready for that, either.

The bartender walks by, and I order another beer and another shot. Nash does the same.

I guess tonight I’m getting drunk and confiding in the guy I haven’t been able to stand since college.

4

NASH

It’s been an hour, and Piper’s drinking me under the table.

Yeah, she’s a tall woman, but I have no idea how she can consume this much alcohol.

Okay, I guess I do have some idea: the late and rowdy parties she regularly threw next door in college were probably good training.

I’m already pretty heavily buzzed, something I’m not used to. I rarely drink during the season, and it’s about to start.

So far, Piper’s just been unloading on me, venting about all the things she didn’t like about this Crew asshole.

I guess that’s standard when a relationship ends. Bridgett sure as hell went off on me when I confronted her after finding out she was cheating.

I don’t know if it lasted quite an hour, but she spent plenty of time letting me hear every aspect of my personality that dissatisfied her. Every reason that made what she did my fault.

Because I prioritized my career too much. Because I could never really open up. Because I was too distant. Because I don’t know how to share my life with another person. Because I never made her feel loved.

My throat is tight. I take another swig of my beer.

Piper was really on a roll running the bastard down, but a long sigh into her beer tells me that she’s out of steam. The way her pretty green eyes dim tells me that the reality of what’s happened is starting to sink in.

Wait, pretty? That word is never part of my internal vocabulary. Maybe I’ve drunk more than I thought.

“But if I actually call off the wedding next week, then⁠—”

“If?” I can’t help but interrupt.

Her expression sinks even lower. Her shoulders slump. “It’s complicated.”