Chapter 26
Thank god I brought the champagne.
Dropping the empty bottle on top of fast food wrappers, a bouquet of dead flowers, and someone’s old sock, I grab the handle on the bar door I’ve taxied to, and sashay inside.
The booze is what has me sashaying, and the booze is also the only reason why I’m not a puddle of tears and shame right now, too. Just as I’m about to slide onto a barstool at the very crowded bar, a woman tugs the back of my elbow.
“Ma’am,” she attempts discretion, but the place is so packed that she’s forced to speak loudly in order to be heard. “Ma’am, it’s reservation-only tonight.”
I sink into a spot at the bar. “I won’t be long.
Besides, I don’t need a table. Just a spot at the bar.
” After a barrage of hiccups, I apologize and she folds back into the commotion of servers and staff.
They probably want the patrons waiting for a table to utilize the bar, but what she and the rest of this stupid place don’t know is I just walked in on the love of my life with a fucking supermodel looking stranger.
I deserve this barstool.
“You’re a rule breaker, I didn’t expect that,” a voice cuts into my drunken thoughts, and I turn to see a face that looks very familiar.
The bartender raps his knuckles against the stainless steel bartop, stealing my attention from the friendly stranger. “What’re you drinking tonight?” he asks, eyebrows raised to tell me he’s busy and doesn’t have time for me to hem and haw.
Good thing it doesn’t matter tonight.
“Bottom shelf. The cheapest. Shots. Keep ‘em coming,” I tell him, reaching for the very top of my puffer coat because, “Jesus, this coat really does work. I feel like soup in this thing.”
The man next to me, who looks familiar but could just look recognizable because of the alcohol, clinks his glass against the shot the bartender sets down. “To coats. Doing their job, rule-breaker.”
With my eyes narrow, I tip back the shot which burns like hell and tastes like crap, then drag the back of my hand over my mouth. “Don’t hit on me.”
He laughs, sloshing his mixed drink around as he moves the cup on the red napkin. “I’m… I’m really not.” He presses his fingers into his chest, and leans in toward me a little. “Do you– you don’t recognize me, do you?”
I narrow my eyes at him, and for some reason, that makes my vision worse, and creates two of him instead of clarifying the one. I shake my head. “I don’t know.”
He nods as the bartender tips a bottle of Popov, refilling my shot glass. “I like your coat.”
I look down at the monstrous puffer jacket, and bring my hand to the zipper again, but remember for the second time in thirty seconds that I can’t take this coat off. “Fuck,” I grumble, tossing back the second shot. “And thanks. I just–it’s hot as hell in here and I can’t take it off.”
“No?” he asks, seemingly genuinely interested. “Zipper stuck?” He’s either a really nice guy or he’s interested in harvesting my organs. We will see. The night is young and I have zero fucks left to give.
I shake my head. “Nope. Decked out in lingerie under this thing. Was supposed to be surprising my boyfriend but walked in on him with some fucking model instead.” I drum my fingers along the steel bar, getting the bartenders attention.
“You know, Velvet Whisper has bartops made of repurposed and refinished walnut, it’s really pretty.”
Todd, according to his nametag, purses his lips. “Good for Velvet Whisper. You gonna pay for these now, or open a tab?”
“Tab me,” I hiccup, then catch my forehead in my palm.
“Your boyfriend cheated on you?” the stranger asks, dragging it out like he maybe doesn’t believe me, and normally I’d get the ick from someone wanting to be so chatty and doubting me, but tonight I’ve got nothing to lose.
I nod my head, then shake it. “I don’t know but he lied to me. That much I know for sure,” hiccup, “even drunk, I know he lied.”
The man next to me shakes his head, shoving his hand through his messy dark hair. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”
“Me too,” I sigh, tears stinging the backs of my eyes, champagne burning in my throat. “I’ve loved him since before I knew what love really was. And then somehow he loved me too.”
The man next to me props his chin up on his fist, elbow to the bar, fully invested.
“But I’m thinking that maybe I didn’t know him at all. Maybe I only thought I did. Maybe his kids don’t even know who he is.” I take a beat, and drape my hand on his forearm. “Oh, by the way, my boyfriend is a silver fox. His kids are grown.”
“I know,” the man says, smiling. It’s then that I realize I do know this guy. Twisting my thumb ring over and over, I stare at him as best as I can what with the double vision and all, until–
“Noah?”
He winks. “You remembered.”
My eyes widen. “You can’t tell Cade–”
Despite the crowded bar or the overstuffed tables all around us, the bustling kitchen and the loud music, the alcohol and the conversation, despite it all–at that exact moment, I slide my gaze from Noah to the back entrance, the side door that leads to the private parking lot.
“No fucking way,” I breathe, and Noah follows my line of sight. And together, we watch Ford enter the bar with Elle on his arm.
“Noah, now that I know it’s you, I’ll Venmo you for my shots, okay?
Can you get my tab? I’ll pay you back. I just…
I can’t be here. I can’t–” and that’s all I can muster before I’m gripping the ends of my puffer coat and high-tailing it to the back, where there’s a hallway, restrooms and likely, an exit.
First he’s with whoever that was and now he’s coming here with her, all while we were supposed to be moving me into his place. We were supposed to be together tonight. He was supposed to be at work.
When I reach the hallway, I spot three doors, and choose the first one.