Chapter 17
Sparks shot out of the piece of metal I was working on. I pretty much had the frame completed for Albert and just needed to get the last few pieces into place. I was way ahead of schedule. I’d been spending all of my free time in my shop. It helped that my nights had been free since getting back from Philly. And tonight, I needed a distraction. After seeing Lainey with a guy who wasn’t me got under my skin in a way I have never experienced before.
I glanced at my phone and noticed a notification. Maybe Lanes texted me. I scooped my phone up and clicked into my texts, only to be instantly disappointed.
A one-night stand from a few months ago wanted to meet up. I deleted the text, but not without blocking the number first. I didn’t need my past to remind me of who I was.
I took my welding mask off and wiped a rag down my face. I needed a beer. There was only one place in town that always had a cold beer waiting for me. I grabbed my keys and headed out.
The parking lot to the VFW was nothing more than gravel and an open invitation to park wherever the hell you could fit. I pulled next to Albert's truck and headed inside. The inside wasn’t much better than the outside. Wood paneling lined the far-right wall and large square mirrors hung evenly spaced as if it would create the illusion the place was bigger than it actually was. A row of tables and chairs lined the wall and were used for various events.
Right now, they were empty. The far-left wall was filled with military memorabilia, pictures of those who served and were no longer with us. Gramps’ picture was amongst them. The back wall was one long bar lined with stools and more wood paneling behind it. To the right, a few random slot machines that paid out nothing but helped pass the time. Ron Noah, Brady’s ex-alcoholic father, sat at one of those machines, nursing a can of ginger ale.
The usuals were at the bar, as I knew they would be.
“Look what the cat dragged in,” Ray, Lainey’s dad and Desert Storm vet said to Albert and Teddy, a forty-eight-year-old Iraq war vet.
I approached with apprehension. I barely stayed long enough with other woman to even remember their name, let alone deal with their parents. This was another reason why Lainey was different. But it also reinforced my reason for leaving her.
If I stayed, I would have been setting us up for failure, and I wouldn’t just hurt her; I would hurt her family and my family. We had too many ties in this community. A failed attempt at dating would divide the masses. I’d put all my money on them taking Lainey’s side.
“Albert won’t shut up about the display you two are working on,” Ray said, dragging me away from my intrusive thoughts.
The tension I was carrying eased. A slight smile touched my lips. Ray had no idea what had happened between me and his daughter.
“I’ve barely said two words about it,” Albert countered. He was in a pair of black coveralls over his typical flannel, and his muddy boots told me he had come here straight from the farm.
Teddy laughed. “More than you usually say.”
I headed behind the bar and grabbed a bottle of beer out of the fridge before sitting on one of the open stools. “I was just working on it. Thought I’d take a break and stop down here to see how everyone’s doing.”
It wasn’t lost on me that the people I called friends, people I was closest to, were almost all double my age. The reality was my two closest friends had met their wives in college, and after graduation, they’d gotten married and started families. I was the perpetually single best friend, and it was a title I had embraced, but it also meant that random guy weekends were a thing of the past. Especially since they both lived in different parts of the country now.
“Heart’s still pumping, dick’s still working,” Teddy said, pushing his sleeves up and revealing the American flag tattoo on his forearm with the name and death date of one of his brothers-in-arms.
“How about you?” Albert eyed me. “Your dick fall off yet?” He gave a subtle nod, silently letting me know my secret was safe with him.
I looked down at my crotch. “Nope, very much still there.” It had been locked away since Lainey. And for the first time in my life, I had no desire to change that.
Ron got up from the slot machine and walked to the middle of the room before stopping and glancing slowly from one side to the other.
“You okay, Ron?” Ray called to him.
Ron didn’t answer, his head tilting to the left.
“Ron!” Ray shouted this time.
Ron turned, and for a second he seemed spaced, but then his eyes cleared, and he shook his head. “What?”
Ray held his hands out. “What? What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m going to take a piss,” he said and pivoted left toward the bathroom.
I took a sip of my beer and nodded in Ron’s direction. “Is he okay?” I asked mainly in case Brady inquired for an update on his old man.
Ray swatted his hand in the air. “They changed his anxiety meds. He’s been spacing out like that since. Just needs some time to adjust, I guess. He’ll be fine.” Ray tipped his bottle to his mouth and slowly lowered it. “So, I heard you kissed my daughter.”
“Oh shit,” Teddy said and swiveled away from the conversation.
I choked and sputtered on my beer. Albert slammed his hand into my back, which didn’t do much to help but definitely added to my discomfort. Did someone see us at Don’s? It’s not like the coat closet was all that discreet. There was no actual door, and anyone could have walked in. Which only made me wonder, what the hell had I been thinking?
If Lanes didn’t stop me, I would have taken her right there in the fucking coat closet like some crazed animal. But when it came to her, that’s exactly how I felt. I used to use sex to my will, but now it was working against me, making me lose control and all sense.
But how could I stay in control when Lanes was wearing that skirt? She looked fucking gorgeous and all I could think about was slipping my hand beneath the olive green material and sinking my fingers into the glorious curves of her ass.
“Odette said it was nothing,” Ray said, snapping me right out of my daydream. “And I should just forget about it, but I don’t forget when it comes to my baby girl. So, care to tell me if I should be cleaning my guns?”
Thank God he was talking about the kiss in the tasting room. “Ray, you know I wouldn’t be an easy target,” I joked, plastering a smile on my face. That kiss at the time had been innocent, even if it was the moment everything changed.
“No, but it would be damn fun watching you run.”
I shifted on my ass and swiped my beer up, taking a long pull.
“So, what do you have to say about it?” he asked.
I didn’t want to lie to the man and tell him it was nothing. The longer I thought about it, the longer I daydreamed about my time with Lanes… it wasn’t nothing. It was damn well something. I just wasn’t exactly sure what that something was. My heart beat faster when I saw her. I instantly smiled hearing her name. I was completely consumed by every sound, touch, and taste of our time together, and all I could think about was when I’d get to experience it again.
One thing was for sure; I wasn’t going to talk this out with Lainey’s old man.
“If you’re talking about the tasting room situation, Lainey was helping me out.”
Ray licked his lip and crossed his arms over his chest. “Have there been more situations?”
“No, I mean…” Shit. What the hell was I supposed to say? I was known to talk my way out of a box, but right now it felt like I was backed into a corner with no escape in sight. “The kiss was Lainey being a good friend. Hell, a great friend. The best.”
“Your dick got you in trouble again, didn’t it?” Teddy said as he turned to join in the conversation.
I picked at the label on the beer bottle. “You all really like to talk about my dick.”
Teddy’s lip quirked, and I waited for the awesome comeback he was a pro at, but our attention pulled toward Ron. He stood in the middle of the room, patting his pockets first on his jeans, then his jacket.
“Lose something?” Ray asked.
“My keys. I put them right here.” He pointed to his shirt pocket.
“No, you didn’t.” Ray motioned to the bar. You left them here.”
Confusion swirled across Ron’s face. He glanced at his pocket again, hesitated for a second, then went and picked up his keys.
“You heading out?” Ray asked.
Ron nodded, and Ray stood. “Me too.”
Ray patted Teddy on the back, then death gripped my shoulder. I tried not to wince beneath his touch, but the old man had fingers made of iron. “Hurt my girl, and I hurt you,” he said before releasing the fingers of death.
I rolled my shoulders. “What do you bench? Two-fifty? Jesus!”
“Years of construction.” He shook Albert’s hand and followed Ron out.
I stayed for a while longer, shooting the breeze with Albert and Teddy, but Teddy had to get home to his wife and kids, and Albert had to be up at the ass crack of dawn. The problem with older friends was everyone called it a night before the night had barely begun.
In my car, I thought about heading to Green Mountain Resort to have a drink at the bar, but I usually did that when I wanted to hook up. The idea of a woman other than Lanes in my bed wasn’t appealing at all.
Instead of heading straight to my house, I veered right and drove down Lainey’s street. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. All I knew was I wanted to see her. Hear her laugh and smell her sweet vanilla scent. But the house was dark, and her car wasn’t in the driveway.
The universe was telling me what I already knew.
Go home.