Chapter Three
Eddie
“I’m serious, Grandpa. I don’t need to date right now,” I mutter, gripping the steering wheel a little tighter than necessary as I pull into the parking lot of Glitter for her, I can try but hell, I can’t even give myself that. Love, stability, a future? That’s a language I no longer understand. Not since I lost my parents. Not since I saw how easily life can fall apart. And not since I walked away.
As I walk into the bar, the pulsing music swallows me, offering the perfect distraction from the surviving guilt that always tugged at me at the mention of my parents.
My grandparents have been my rock since the death of my parents. Following my mother’s voice, I cleared my account, took whatever I received, and moved across the globe to find my maternal grandparents. I sometimes wonder what would have happened to me had my grandparents moved or their business collapsed but I needed not to worry.
Although the Montgomery Businesses wasn’t that popular then, I was able to locate my grandfather, a sneaky bastard who had followed my life enough to recognize me.
He welcomed me into his home and took me in. He claimed it was his penance to my mother. My grandmother was so over the moon to meet me that I became her baby, and having another family that loved me like my parents kept me sane while I planned my next course of action.
I saunter towards my usual private booth, nod at the duo, and clap my assistant and only friend on the shoulder. I slid into my seat, but the tightness in my chest lingers.
My uncle’s face flashes in my mind—the man who has taken everything from me. I shake my head. No. Not tonight.
“What are you doing here, Hanley?” I turn to the unexpected guest. I’m here to meet Josh only. Hanley is an acquaintance I see more and has become somewhat of a friend.
The server assigned to us comes to ask for our order.
“You keep forgetting I own this bar and many others, right?" He answers with a sly grin, almost amused. I order an Irish whiskey. Josh orders a beer and Hanley orders Orange Juice, claiming he’s off alcohol. I haven’t seen him drink alcohol in the last 6 years since his first and last trip to Louisville.
“How can I forget with the ridiculous names you give your businesses?” I shake my head while he chuckles.
“How long have you been here anyway?” I ask when I realize they ordered alongside me with no drinks on the table.
“Not long before you arrived,” Hanley replies.
“Why are you always with Josh?” I quip while the server who had brought our various orders served each of us.
“Because he’s my fucking cousin. How many times do I have to tell you?” I chuckle. I like getting a rise out of him and no, I haven’t forgotten they’re related. Josh is my executive assistant not because of his salary but because for some absurd reason, he likes working for me.
“I hear you are moving back home?” Hanley changes the topic and eyes me suspiciously with good reason. I’ve avoided any talk related to Louisville for so long that he’s certainly curious about my sudden decision. I even turned down his request to show him around on his trip to the vibrant yet unforgiving city.
“It’s time,” I state simply but he probes further.
“I’m still trying to figure out why you’re going back to that place and moving the business headquarters there. Last I heard, Louisville was off the map for you.”.
Raising a brow at him, I cling my glass to his that was halfway to his mouth and say, “Things change.”
“Yeah? Like what?” Hanley pushes, his gaze sharp. “Because from where I’m sitting, nothing’s changed for you in, what, eleven years? You’re still working yourself into the ground and avoiding anything that looks like real life. No offense,”
“None taken but you are not one to talk either," I eye him from the rim of my glass. Sensing the tension, I notice Josh glance at Hanley, then back at me, yet chooses not to intervene. He knows Hanley likes to poke me as do I and I’ve never been one to open up easily.
“Things change,” I repeat, my voice low but firm. “That’s all there is to it.”
Josh chuckles awkwardly. “Look, let’s not get into a therapy session here. We’re at Glitter & Bad Decisions, not some self-help group.”
Hanley raises his glass in a mock toast. “Fair enough. But I think you’re chasing something. Or maybe running from someone. Are you sure it’s business that’s pulling you back? Or is it personal?”
I clench my jaw but force a smirk. “You’re one to talk. You’ve been off alcohol for years, but you still hang out in bars.”
His grin fades for a split second, but he recovers quickly. “Touché. I’ve got my own demons, but at least I’m not pretending I’m just ‘busy.’”
I bark out a hollow laugh, but I appreciate his jab. There was truth in it, even if neither of us admitted to it. “Fair enough,” I mutter. “But let’s not pretend you’re not hiding behind that orange juice, either.”
Josh laughs, finally relaxing as the tension eases. “Hey, at least Hanley’s consistent. He’ll poke at you until you snap, then make you laugh just to keep you from throttling him.”
Hanley shrugs, flashing a grin. “It’s a gift.” He shakes his head with a knowing smirk. “Well, whatever you’re running from or running to, good luck. You’ll need it.”
I grunt in response, but my thoughts are already elsewhere. The weight of going back to Louisville looms in the distance. The possibility of seeing her again face-to-face. I haven’t seen her in years—not since that last time, when she was barely a kid with ridiculous dreams and I with an even bigger ego.
Thoughts of her still linger in my mind and if I’m being honest with myself, she keeps me sane without knowing. Now and then, I catch myself wondering where she is and what she’s doing. I stopped following her life and what she was up to after she married and tried to push thoughts of her far away, telling myself it was just nostalgia.
Josh and Hanley keep talking, their voices slipping into the noise around us. The music pounds harder tonight, the lights are sharper, and everything feels off, too loud, and too close. I glance around the room, my eyes scanning faces without really focusing, just... unsettled.
Then I see her—the star of my fantasies and dreams. I blink, convinced I must be mistaken. What would she be doing here? I squint, trying to confirm, but there’s no denying it. It’s her. The years fall away in an instant. Lawliss.
For a moment, I freeze, caught somewhere between disbelief and something else I can’t name. My heart stumbles, and the air thickens as I take her in: the familiar curve of her jaw, her auburn curls, those hazel eyes that once saw straight through me.
She’s heading toward some guy by the dance floor, moving with that quiet confidence, like she owns the room. She’s different—no, not different, just… more. Her curls catch the dim light, and her gaze is as sharp and unflinching as ever.
Before I can think it through, I’m already moving toward her, pulled forward by some invisible thread. My breath catches as her gaze sweeps the room and lands on me. For a heartbeat, everything else falls away—the music, the crowd, the years. It’s just her, staring back at me with a mix of shock and something else I can’t place.
What the hell is she doing here?
Seeing her here, in this bar where I come to unwind, feels like a punch to the gut, sharp and unforgiving. Like fate decided it wasn’t done with me, hell-bent on dredging up things I thought I’d buried.
As I get closer, her perfume reaches me—that same soft grape scent that used to linger on my clothes long after she’d left.
I catch the edge of her voice as she steps closer to the guy, her tone hard and steady. “I suggest you go back and apologize to the bartender, asshole.” Her expression is fierce, undeterred by his drunken glare.
“How dare you speak to me like that? I’ll have my lawyers sue your ass,” he slurs, clearly drunk out of his mind.
“Ha! Be my guest.” She smirks, pulling a card from her purse and dropping it onto his chest. “I’ve been itching for something entertaining, and your suit might just do it.” His mouth drops open, and fear flashes across his face as he reads the name on the card. “Oh, and make sure to add in your writ of summons that I was teaching you some goddamn manners.”
She turns to leave but stops short when she notices me, standing right in her path.
Our eyes meet, and for a heartbeat, everything else falls away. No bar, no friends, no pounding music, just her, staring back at me with the same shock I feel. For a second, I don’t move, my brain scrambling to process the fact that she’s really here.
Someone in the crowd bumps into her, and she stumbles, thrown slightly off balance. Instinctively, I reach out, my hand catching her arm to steady her. She leans into me, just for a moment, the warmth of her skin cutting through the chaos around us.
“Thank you. But I could’ve handled it myself,” she says, her voice calm and confident, just like I remember. That hasn’t changed.
“Of course. I know you can, Lynx.” My voice comes out more gruffly than I intend, but I recover with a small smile.
Her eyes widen, and I see the exact moment recognition washes over her. She blinks rapidly, disbelief clear in her expression. “E-Ed? Oh my God, Ed—is that you?”
I chuckle at her reaction, and just like that, the years of silence and no communication between us fade. Seeing the joy on her face eases the tension in my chest, loosening the knots I didn’t even realize were there.
“Who else would it—” I start, shaking my head, but before I can finish, she launches herself into my arms, and I let out a sigh, wrapping her in a warm hug. The familiar scent of grapes and lemon surrounds me, and for a moment, I’m a teenager again, standing in the same spot with her in my arms. She still wears the same perfume I recommended to her years ago, and it hits me hard—a rush of memories of what could have been.
A part of me feels like I’ve stepped back in time.