Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
~DEX~
When I told her about DJ, I watched as goosebumps covered her flesh.
I wondered if that was because of me, what I said and how close I was to her.
Or maybe I was reading too much into it, and it was because she was in the kitchen wearing the tiniest sleep shorts and tank top I had ever seen.
Plus, the AC is on. So yeah, that had to be it.
I waited until I heard her bedroom close before I made my way into the hallway. I tried to be as quiet as possible so that I could sneak out of the apartment. I texted Jase and said I was headed to the Backwoods for a beer and a dinner if he’d like to join me.
I grab a table at the Backwoods and order a beer from the waitress, who is smiling eagerly at me, her hand poised over the pad waiting to write down my order.
All the while hoping that Jase gets here soon, so she doesn’t keep batting her eyes at me while she pushes her chest closer to the high top table.
“Here’s your beer,” she tells me when she returns.
“Thanks,” I reply, smiling politely, hoping that she’ll go away soon.
“Are you waiting for someone else?” She bats her eye some more as she gives me a view of her cleavage.
“Yeah, he should be here soon. I’ll wait for him to order.” I take a sip of my beer and reach for my phone, dismissing her.
Thankfully, she takes the hint and makes herself scarce.
I click on the phone icon and see that I have three missed calls.
All from Elise. I shake my head and think to myself, not calling her back.
There were no voicemails so how important could it have been?
She was probably drunk and feeling sorry for herself, or she wanted to shout at me some more.
Not that I blame her for yelling. It was completely and totally my fault.
I know that. I moved away so that she didn’t have to see or deal with me again.
One of the last things she said to me was that if she ever saw me again, it would be too soon.
Even our divorce papers were done via lawyers.
We haven’t seen each other since that fateful morning when everything came crashing down. I can’t imagine why she’s calling me.
“Hey, mate, you look deep in thought?” Jase pulls out the stool with a squeak and sits down beside me.
“Oh, sorry, a few calls from Elise. It must be a misunderstanding. There’s no way she’d actually want to talk to me,” I say, shrugging and putting my phone down.
“Elise is the ex, right?”
“Yep, that would be her.”
He nods. “Did she leave a message?”
“No, no voicemails or texts to speak of.”
“She didn’t mean to call you then or, if she did, it was a moment of weakness.
Don’t call her back. Trust me, you’re doing her a favor by not.
I’m sure she’s jumping every time her phone rings, hoping it’s not you,” he tells me, looking around for the waitress and flagging her down to come to our table.
“You sound like you are speaking from experience,” I comment.
Jase orders a rather dark beer and turns his attention back to me.
“I am. My ex-wife would call me up and not leave voice messages. Like you, I didn’t pick up, waiting for the voicemail to see what she wanted.
I made the mistake of actually picking up one time.
” He shakes his head. “She was crying and begging to see me. Wondering if we had made mistake. So, I went over to talk to her, and we ended up falling back into bed. I could tell the second it was over that she felt shame. So, I did want any good ex-husband would do and got the fuck out of there. I never came back and never answered the call because that shag was the worst thing I could have done with her.”
“What makes you say it was the worst thing that you ever did with her?” I’m curious. I get regret but worst thing he could have done? I’m going to need some more information.
“Because she hated herself for it. I saw the regret and shame in her eyes once we finished. I did the best thing I could for her in that moment. I left immediately and never picked up that phone call again.” He shrugs and looks around the bar.
“They think they want to talk to you, but I can assure you, she does not.”
I nod, sipping on my beer. “Thanks, I hadn’t really thought about it like that.”
Jase’s beer arrives and the waitress asks, “Would you gentleman like to order?”
“I’m going to need a minute,” Jase tells her. She giggles and walks away. I watch her walk away, noticing the little giggle and extra sway in her hips. “It’s the accent. Girls love the English accent.”
I snicker and shake my head. “Is that what got Cassie?”
He beams and the man looks like he’s actually fucking glowing. “Nah, I don’t think so. But I think it doesn’t hurt my chances of keeping her either.”
“You’re a lucky motherfucker,” I tell him.
“Well, thank ya.” He gives the menu a quick glance and then asks, “You ready?”
“Yeah, I’m ready.”
The waitress saunters over on cue. “What would you boys like to order?” Her eyes are shining like the grin she wears. “I have options that aren’t available on that menu for you, if you’d like.”
“It’ll just be the fish and chips for me,” Jase replies without even looking in her direction.
“I’ll take the blackened chicken sandwich, please.” I order without even mentioning her other options.
Her black book snaps closed, and she gathers menus, “That should be out in a bit.” Thankfully, she leaves without another word.
Once our food is ordered, Jase asks, “So why did you want to get food tonight? Is this to get some intel on the team or on DJ?” He grins widely at me when he says her name.
I take a quick sip of my beer and shake my head. “I’m not going out with DJ. I told her no.”
I think back to the way that the goosebumps appeared on Amelia’s flesh. How the pajama shorts played peak-a-boo with her ass as she made herself something to eat tonight. Shaking my head, I turn my attention back to Jase.
“Nah, I wanted a night out for a bit.” I shrug and continue, “Thought it would be nice to get beer and dinner with you.”
Jase nods. “Yeah, sounds good. I think Cassie may be coming in to blow up your spot, though. She said something about stopping in; I think she thinks it’s a group thing.” It’s Jase’s turn to shrug. “Sorry.”
I shake my head. “It’s no biggie.”
“So, do you mind if I ask, was the DJ thing out of the blue? I was surprised to hear that she asked you out.” Jase takes a sip of his beer and watches me.
“It was. I’m not sure why she asked me out. I hadn’t really spoken to her before this. I did her assessment but that was about it. I split up the positions with Lucas…” My voice trails off.
“I wonder if it’s because August changed the policy and she decided to shoot her shot. See if she could be the first one to fuck the new trainer.” Jase is chuckling as he finishes his sentence.
“Enjoying yourself?” I ask him.
“I kind of am.”
Our waitress returns with our food, and she makes quick work of leaving this time. I look around to see it’s a lot busier in here than it was when we first arrived. No time for her to be extra charming with us now.
We eat in silence for a bit. The only noise around us are the various baseball games being played on the TVs and the conversations bubbling up from the tables. Jase is the first one to break the silence.
“It’s been a weird day for you, huh?”
“How do you mean?” I set my sandwich down and watch him.
“Well, DJ asks you out and then your ex-wife is blowing up your phone but not leaving any messages. Almost like she knew someone was sniffing around what was hers.”
“Huh, yeah, I never thought of it that way. But Elise doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
“No, I’m sure she doesn’t. But it doesn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt her any less to hear if you would have accepted a date with her,” Jase tells me matter-of-factly.
Oh, if he only knew the things I did that hurt her. This would be the least of them.
“I guess so.” I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose.
“Did you say no to DJ because of Elise?”
The question catches me by surprise. “No,” I stammer out. “It wasn’t because of her.”
“So, who was it because of?” Jase leans in. I can see from the eager look on his face that he’s not going to be letting this one go any time soon.
“It is so freaking crowded in here tonight.” Cassie comes in and pulls out a chair, causing it to squeak against the bar floor. She throws her purse on top of our table and steals a fry from Jase’s plate before looking from me to Jase and back again. “What did I just interrupt?”
“Nothing,” I say, apparently a little too quickly for Jase because he starts laughing at me immediately.
“I was asking him about DJ and why he said no to her.” Jase grins at her like an idiot.
I watch as Cassie leans in and gives him a kiss. I should look away from the intimate moment, but I don’t. I can’t. It reminds me of the way that Elise and I were before things got weird and complicated between us.
“So, why did you say no?” Cassie asks.
“Amelia seemed relieved that I did.” The words slip out of my mouth before I can stop them. It’s the only thing that I’ve been thinking about since I went into my room. The relief is something that I can’t quite get past.
“She did, did she?” Cassie’s eyes are sparkling, and her grin couldn’t be any wider. Yep, I’ve stepped into her web, and I’ve fucked up with that one. Especially when I don’t even really know how I feel about it.
“Coming to dinner with you certainly didn’t disappoint. Why would you say that?” Jase asks me, leaning in.
“I don’t know. She seemed like it, didn’t she?” I look at Cassie for confirmation.
Cassie nods slowly. “I guess I would say that she did. After DJ was talking about it in the locker room, Amelia sure did leave sooner than she normally does. How did she seem at home?”
“Like she relaxed when I told her.”
“Walk me through it,” Cassie demands.
“I came home and found her in the kitchen already dressed for bed. She was making a salad. I told her that I had told DJ no and I swear I saw her exhale. She seemed relieved, I thought.” I shrug and search Cassie’s face to see if she’ll confirm what I think I know.
She grins. “Why would you care?”
“I don’t want to hurt her.” The response slides out of my mouth before I can stop it, but every time I think of her, I grin.
“Why would you think you’d hurt her?” Cassie asks.
“Because...” My voice trails off.
No one says anything for a while. Jase is eating his fish while Cassie munches on his fries. I stare my own plate, playing with my fries but not actually eating them. Finally, she speaks.
“Look, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that you like Amelia.
I think you already know the answer to that one.
” I hold my hand up in protest, but she continues talking to me.
“But either way, you kind of have a green light after what August did to the policy. You wouldn’t have to hide the way we did.
” She gestures between her and Jase. “What I will tell you is that somewhere along the line, someone convinced you that you are a bad guy. You might have done something a bad guy would do when they called you that. But you let that one act define you. It doesn’t have to, Dex.
You are not a bad guy. You’ve done a bad thing once or twice in your life.
Who hasn’t? That shouldn’t keep you from anything you are feeling for my girl. ”
“Cassie,” I start to say but she holds her hand up, silencing me.
“You are not a bad guy, Dex,” she repeats her sentence and grins at me.
I don’t say another word. I grin right back at her. She’s pushy but she’s wise. I can see why Jase loves her so much, with all of her determination and drive. And she’s a hell of a soccer player.
“Thanks,” I reply.
She nods. “’I’m off to get a drink. Can you believe I dropped all that knowledge to him without a drink in my hand?”
“You’re starting to sound like August!” Jase calls after her.
Cassie turns and sticks her tongue out at him but keeps making her way to the bar. The rest of the night is fun. No more talk of Amelia, DJ or my feelings. We talk about the upcoming games, and I ask a few embarrassing questions about off-sides that has them both rolling.
Leaving the house turned out to be the best thing I could have done. Had I stayed, I might have done or said something stupid to Amelia. Now, I have some time to think about things and get some perspective before I do something I regret.