Chapter 17
seventeen
JACK
“Incoming asshole.”
Kayla’s words breezed by where I crouched, stocking limes in the refrigerator beneath the bar.
I stood up as Kayla continued directly into the kitchen through the swinging door.
Then out of sheer curiosity, I looked toward the front door of Magnolia.
Sure enough, there was an asshole incoming.
Danny Jensen wasn’t wearing his customary blue button-up. He was in jeans and a white tee shirt. The tan work coat covered most of his thin frame.
If he’d ditched the one-night-stand uniform, I wondered what the hell he was doing here. Especially on an afternoon in the middle of the week. It was barely four o’clock and the bar was practically empty.
I didn’t have to wait long to find out.
The man came right up to where I was standing and slipped onto the stool in front of me.
I wiped my hands with a towel to keep them busy. Too bad there wasn’t anything to do the same for my mouth.
“What’ll it be?” I practically spat.
Danny swallowed. “You’re Jack, right? The guy dating my wife?”
I couldn’t help it, I laughed. So that was how it was going to be.
“Listen, man,” Danny went on, unburdened by forethought or self-preservation or anything as inconsequential as reality, “I don’t want to fight.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I raised a challenging brow. “Oh, yeah? That’s good to hear.”
He straightened in his seat, perhaps realizing how a fight would likely go down between the two of us. Danny was about my height, but I probably had forty pounds on the guy. Plus, I was no stranger to schoolyard brawls, and I wouldn’t feel bad about kicking his ass.
But I wasn’t a fucking caveman, and Bonnie wasn’t some shiny toy to squabble over like middle schoolers.
Danny changed tactics, offering up a good-ole-boy smile that did nothing to win me over. “I’m just looking out for you. Bonnie’s not what you think she is.”
“And what do I think she is?”
He shrugged. “What everyone thinks—that she’s perfect. But she’s not. She’s a little boring, actually. Probably not like the kind of women you’re used to—temporary and fun. And she’s pretty tame in the sack.”
Heat gathered in my chest, something bright and violent and reckless.
A mistake waiting to happen. One with consequences like hospital beds and courtrooms. Maybe I was a caveman after all, because I wanted to beat the living shit out of this guy.
But I refused to give him the satisfaction of getting a rise out of me.
I knew exactly what this pathetic attempt was. A desperate man who’d lost the best thing that had ever happened to him. And he was looking to score a hit without ever raising his fist.
Ignoring my fury, I kept my expression bored and glanced lazily at my watch for good measure.
Danny’s dark blond brow creased in confusion.
Expectations were tricky like that. You couldn’t bait someone with bullshit. There was nothing about this man I respected, so his opinions and his lies meant even less to me than he did.
Bonnie’s ex shifted on his stool and decided to go in a different direction.
“But if you’re looking for something more permanent, you should know she isn’t much of a housewife either.
You can’t tell it by looking at her, but she’s kind of a slob.
I don’t know about you, but I like coming home to a clean house.
Fresh sheets and the bed made every day. ”
I kept my gaze steady. “So make your own bed, Daniel.” And lie in it, I thought spitefully.
When he realized he still wasn’t getting anywhere with me, Danny leaned in and spoke low, frustration and anger finally spilling over into his features. “You’re not good enough for her.”
My bark of laughter made him jump. Placing my elbows on the bar top, I leaned in, too, as if I had a secret to tell. He shied away like a whipped dog, just like I knew he would.
“Well, which is it?” I asked. “Is she not worth the effort, or am I lucky to have her? Make up your mind.”
“You never would have stood a chance with Bonnie if I hadn’t—” Danny cut himself off abruptly.
I finished for him. “If you hadn’t fucked up and thrown her away?
Is that it?” My smile was mean, all sharp edges and bared teeth.
But then my lips flattened, my expression going hard.
“Don’t come in here and act like you’re doing me any favors, warning me away from her.
The only thing we have in common is that neither one of us is good enough for her.
But the difference is . . . I already know it, and you’re just now figuring that shit out. ”
His nostrils flared.
“Find somewhere else to fuck around,” I told him. “Stop putting on your cheap cologne and coming into my bar to pick up women who will never live up to the memory of the one you lost. Don’t ever come back here again. Are we clear?”
Danny’s gaze slipped over my shoulder, and I didn’t have to look to know that Kayla was in the kitchen doorway, watching. I’d heard the door creak open a minute ago.
His pale complexion heated, and he glanced nervously around to the other customers who’d filtered in during our conversation.
He practically stumbled off the barstool and didn’t spare me a backward glance as he made a beeline for the exit.
“Man, that had to feel good,” Kayla murmured, coming to stand at my shoulder. “That guy is a fucking loser.”
I made myself unclench my jaw, but I didn’t answer her. I couldn’t.
Yeah, Danny was a piece of shit. He’d cheated on someone who loved him and then put a timeline on her forgiveness. Even before all that, he’d taken her for granted. Taken advantage of her sweetness, her goodness. Her love. Crumbs at the bottom of the bag.
And, sure, it had felt good to throw his mistakes back in his face. But what about Bonnie? Some part of me worried that she’d be angry if she knew. Would she be glad that her ex clearly regretted his actions? That the prospect of her with another man had driven him to act?
Danny obviously wanted her back. He was a spineless coward, but coming here proved he was, at the very least, determined.
What did that mean for Bonnie and me?
That night in my apartment from months ago still haunted me. Her tears soaking into my blue jeans, and the heartbreaking confession barely whispered into existence. That she still wanted him—that she’d take him back, if he wanted her.
I had to prepare for the very real possibility that Danny was working a few angles and that one of them might pan out.
Bonnie hadn’t mentioned being in contact with her ex.
As far as I knew, they hadn’t spoken in a long time.
But that didn’t mean he wasn’t still in her heart or the back of her mind.
How deep did her devotion go? Were the roots dormant beneath the surface, just waiting for a little attention to coax them back to life? Did they burrow down beneath whatever new, fragile thing we’d built together?
Kayla patted my shoulder before shuffling down the bar to greet our customers.
I needed to get back to work, but my mind was occupied—filled with what-ifs.
For all my talk of keeping things casual, I suddenly felt like the one in danger of getting my heart stomped on when Bonnie realized her old life might no longer be so far out of reach.
After Danny’s little visit to Magnolia, I finished up some side work and then went home. I wasn’t in the right headspace to deal with customers, and I knew my employees could handle closing up on a Wednesday night.
Bonnie had bowling league and was supposed to come over afterward, but she’d ended up going to Candace’s house to work on wedding stuff.
I’d considered telling her about the encounter with Danny, but I hadn’t decided one way or the other, and I didn’t want to do it over the phone. But when she’d texted after midnight from Candace’s and said she was too tired to drop by, I’d felt nothing but relief. So, I had my answer.
Why tell her about Danny’s little visit and potentially pave her way back to that loser? She deserved better. She deserved someone who’d put her first for once. Not someone who couldn’t appreciate her until he’d learned the hard way.
But what Bonnie did or didn’t do wasn’t actually my call. What she really deserved was to make her own decisions, even if that wasn’t me.
Over coffee Thursday morning, I thought about all those teacups.
Packed away and stored where no one could see them or appreciate them.
I hated the thought of her burying parts of herself just to keep Danny happy.
And how if she took him back, she’d keep right on hiding.
Maybe she was still desperate enough to want her old life back, and her ex along with it.
And those teacups would stay in the box.
If there was going to be a countdown clock till the end of us, then I wanted to do this for her. I wanted her to have something that was hers. Only hers.
So I texted Bonnie, knowing she’d see the message during her planning period.
Me: I’m off tonight. Can I make you dinner at your place?
Her reply came through an hour later while I was grocery shopping at the Winn-Dixie.
Clyde: That sounds great. You know the garage door code. Make yourself at home.
I’d stood in the canned vegetable aisle and stared at her message so long that someone had to say excuse me to get me to shift over.
Make yourself at home.
Home had always been a foreign concept to me. Growing up, I’d been different than my peers. There’d been no mother or father or picture-perfect life. Lia had been the one showing up for teacher conferences and then, later, to the principal’s office.
The farmhouse had always been the place I ran away from, sneaking out and getting into trouble in the middle of the night. Same for the town. Kirby Falls hadn’t been a cage exactly, but near enough to one that I’d rebelled at every turn.