Chapter Six
Hey, man, come over to the Cue Club and watch the game with me and Andy
“No, thanks.” Colt dropped the phone on the coffee table. The mood he was in, the funk he’d been fighting most of the day, he didn’t need to be a bar. Tonight he was afraid his best intentions would evaporate. Better to sit his ass on the couch, watch the UGA game, and mope.
Immature? Maybe.
Smart as hell? Definitely.
His golf game had been shit today, his arms so sore from working the heavy bag early in the morning he could barely swing. What he should have done was run out his anger and frustration, but he’d really needed the outlet of putting his knuckles into the unyielding bag.
He might have pretended he was putting his knuckles into Scott Barlow’s face, but that was a secret all his own.
The hell of it was he wasn’t even sure why he was mad.
He wasn’t angry with Holly – he’d told the truth when he’d thanked her for being honest. He needed to know up front if her emotions weren’t all in with him.
But she’d cried and there’d been real pain in her retelling of the complicated past she shared with Barlow.
How could the asshole make her think she wasn’t enough? She was freaking amazing.
Claws clicked on hardwood, and Ralph trotted in from the kitchen, jumping up on the couch to stretch out and lay his snout on Colt’s thigh.
Colt lifted a brow. “Make yourself at home there, buddy.”
Ironic tone lost on him, Ralph twitched an eyelid and settled into a comfortable slump.
Feet propped on the coffee table, Colt crossed one ankle over the other, trying to concentrate on Georgia’s offense.
He sank his fingers into Ralph’s ruff, and the dog wriggled deeper into the couch, fur spreading into a fluffy white halo.
A canine sigh of bliss vibrated under his hand. “She’s right. You’re rotten.”
Ralph flicked an ear.
“Yeah, I know.” He reached for his coffee, the stoneware mug warm against his palm. “But she’s busy, and I’m lousy company tonight.”
Another ear flick.
“What’s she doing?” Colt set the mug aside with a clink against the coaster. “Watching the game with her friends.”
He slumped deeper into the couch.
“That shouldn’t bother me.” He rubbed at the tight center of his chest. They’d texted on and off all day, her chatty commentary on updating her clothing displays at Aunt Lenora’s store, on not wanting to clean house, on Polo being a slug, on her plans for the evening, arrangements made more than a week ago and how she’d miss him.
“Except Barlow’s in that group. And that shouldn’t bother me, except c’mon.
The guy’s a lawyer. Plus, she’s been into him for years. Years, Ralph.”
That shouldn’t burrow deep under his skin. Somebody could have feelings for someone for years, then move on. Louise had done that, although her first husband had probably killed most anything she felt early on.
And Holly didn’t talk like she still wanted Barlow.
So sitting here, tormenting himself, thinking about whether she was with the guy was important or not, was pointless, a waste of time.
“This?” He lifted an irritable hand and let it fall. “This is why I used to look for the bottom of a bottle. I did not think this through, buddy.”
Ralph’s small noise could have been interest or a contented snore.
“She’s friends with my cousin. Oh, wait, you weren’t here for that story.” Colt let his head rest against the back of the couch, gaze on the ceiling. “He can’t stand to be in the same room with me, and I don’t blame him.”
Hell, he couldn’t stand being in the same room as himself.
A long exhale bled out of him.
“I got my feelings hurt because my girlfriend dumped me. Figured I’d go home.
Didn’t want to run into her out and about, you know?
” He stroked a fingertip along Ralph’s collar.
“Wally was like, let’s go to the party at Andy’s house.
I’d already had a couple of beers and a couple of shots, so why not?
Had a couple more of each when I got there, a few more after that. ”
He’d been absolutely, completely shit-faced by the time he’d run across Allison.
Time and alcohol blurred the memory of their conversation, but he thought he’d asked her about Lamar.
She’d stood too close to him, he remembered that.
Somewhere in there, his memory blacked out the journey from the dim hallway where they’d exchanged greetings to an anonymous bedroom.
By that time, he’d had a red cup in hand to match the one in hers, and Lord only knew what was in them.
His shirt had been soaked with it, hers, too, and she’d laughed and stripped the white t-shirt over her head.
He wasn’t sure who initiated the kiss — he kinda thought she had, because he didn’t even like her, but he’d been hurting and blackout drunk.
“I didn’t sleep with her.” He made another slow pass over Ralph’s collar, and Ralph sighed. “Not that it matters because I shouldn’t have touched her.”
He closed his eyes, disjointed sensory memories pulsing there — the creak of a hinge, a shaft of light and raucous noise, music and shouted conversation, that injured noise Tick had made, so muted Colt should not have heard it but loud as a life-ending shotgun blast.
Fury and disgust in dark brown eyes the same color as his own, like looking at himself.
We’re done.
“He’s like Holly’s . . . I don’t know. Best guy friend?” Lorraine was her best friend, probably, but she and Lamar . . . they were close. Easy to forget that when she was close to him, and Lamar was in Texas.
But he wasn’t always in Texas. And her mama was best friends with Tick’s mama.
Their dearest wish had been for their children to tie the knot, make a life together.
That hadn’t worked out, but there were all these layers of connection Colt had no place in.
He didn’t want Holly caught in the middle, either.
“I don’t know what I was thinking.” Well, yeah, he did — that she was sweet and intelligent and funny, the most beautiful woman he might have ever seen.
But her wanting him didn’t mean anything longterm, not with Tick and Barlow tangled up in everything.
“Me and her? That’s just wishing. Just stupid. ”
D had not raised a fool, after all. He might be a lot of things, but stupid hadn’t ever been one of them.
“Oh, Ethan, you precious thing.” Sweeping the baby out of Lorraine’s hold, Holly buried her face in his sweet little neck rolls and made gobbling sounds.
He rewarded her with peals of delighted baby laughter, arms and legs jerking with glee.
Holding him where she could return his wide smile, Holly kissed his nose. “I’ve missed you.”
“He’s missed you, too.” Lorraine pinched her side.
The softly sharp clean smell of baby shampoo clung to her, and a couple of water spots dappled her pale blue sweatshirt.
Darn it, Holly had missed bathtime, and she loved that with Ethan, the way he’d learned to splash at the water, wide-eyed and in awe of the world around him. “I’ve missed you.”
“I know.” With another kiss, Holly settled Ethan in his crib. She really should have brought her camera. He’d grown, and they were due for some new shots. She absolutely adored capturing David and Lorraine’s family, the life they created together. “I’ve been busy.”
Lorraine harrumphed. “Too busy to text?”
Holly shot her a smile over her shoulder, stroking Ethan’s exquisitely soft cheek. Normally, they kept up a constant flow of conversation via messaging, but for the past two or three days, she’d immersed herself in Colt, thinking about him when he wasn’t around. “Okay, I’ve been distracted.”
Lips pursed, Lorraine narrowed her eyes. “What have you been up to?”
Up the hall and across the living area, the side door opened, male voices carrying through to them. Holly shook her head, not wanting to get into where she was with Colt, not with Scott here. “I’ll tell you later.”
“I know you don’t think you’re getting off that easy.” Lorraine switched off the lamp as Ethan’s eyes drooped, leaving the nightlight to cast a soft glow about them.
“Fine.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I went on a couple of dates.”
“Oh, okay.” Lorraine darted a pointed look in the general direction of the kitchen. “Now I get it. Same guy or different ones?”
“The same.” In the hallway, Holly peeked into the third bedroom, DJ and Butler both snoozing away.
“I assume you had a good time?”
Memories of a strong arm sheltering her, of gorgeous, colorful photographs lit up the way his presence suffused her with something bright and lovely, flitted through her mind, and she smiled. “I had a wonderful time.”
Even with her busy day, filled with breakfast with her mama, restocking clothing displays, cleaning house, and an afternoon photo session, she’d found herself missing him. Although she’d had these plans for weeks, low level regret filled her.
She loved her friends, but really? Tonight, she’d rather be with him.
This was so not her, the desire to wrap her life around someone else’s, to see how they meshed. Oh, she’d fantasized about making a life with Scott, wanting what she couldn’t have, but that hadn’t felt like this, with the sparkling promise of a newly opened bottle of champagne.
“I’m glad.” Lorraine’s voice held a familiar no-nonsense note, blended with a hefty amount of approval. “About time.”
Because how long had Lorraine been urging Holly to move on? Instead, she’d clung to maybes and what-ifs, hurting herself in the process.
“Okay, you were right, Lorraine.” With a quiet laugh, Holly slung an arm about her neck and kissed her cheek on the way up the hall. “Would you like me to write that out as a blood oath or what?”
“Your mama is right about your mouth.”
Completely unintimidated, Holly pursed that mouth at Lorraine, earning herself a pop on the butt. Holly rubbed the spot where Lorraine’s palm made contact because, darn it, that stung.