60. Chapter 60
Chapter 60
“Nothing from David yet?” Jules asked as Paige checked her phone again.
They were at Three Amigos, because Jules decided they needed to have a few drinks—or several—while waiting for news of David’s meeting with Ashley, and had dragged Paige to the bar.
“No. And I’m starting to get a little worried,” Paige responded, no longer having to yell in order to be heard over the live band, who had just finished a rocking cover of “Friends In Low Places”.
Evan came over and brought them another round of what they were drinking. They’d only been able to exchange quick greetings and drink orders since arriving an hour ago, because the bar was so busy. Paige had been surprised he remembered her after so many months had passed, but he had.
“Thanks, but we didn’t order these,” Paige told him.
“They’re compliments of the bass player,” Evan explained, pointing to Paige’s drink, “And compliments of the drummer,” he said, pointing to Jules’s drink with a hint of a frown, then nodded his head toward the end of the bar, where the band members were now taking a short break.
“Perfect,” Jules said with enthusiasm. “I would’ve called dibs on the drummer, anyway.”
“You don’t even know which one he is,” Paige pointed out.
“Doesn’t matter. Meeting a drummer is at the top of my bucket list.”
“Because you once read a book about a drummer …”
“Wycked Escape was a good book. You should read it.”
“I did read it. I’m working my way through the series, actually. I’m on the one about the threesome—”
Jules made a face. “That one wasn’t my favorite. Threesomes aren’t my thing.”
“Have you ever had one?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know?”
“I just do.”
Paige turned to Evan, who was still waiting on their response to the drinks. “Please tell the bass player I said thanks, but I can’t accept it. And tell the drummer Jules will be right over.”
When Evan left to break the bad news to the bass player and the good news to the drummer, Jules fluffed her hair a little. “How do I look?”
“Like you always look. Like a tall glass of water on a scorching hot day. Now, go meet the drummer, thank him for the drink, and cross him off your bucket list.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Go already.”
“You know what? I’m going to. He’s a drummer. And you know what they say about drummers …”
“No, what?”
“They have amazing rhythm.”
Paige shook her head in amusement, before giving Jules the shoo motion with both hands.
Jules hopped off her stool. “Wish me luck.”
“Luck,” Paige said dryly, even though Jules had never needed ‘luck’ with a man in her entire life. Then, before Paige could blink, Jules was making her way over to the drummer.
Evan came back and leaned across the bar. “The bass player said to enjoy the drink anyway, but he’s disappointed and hopes you’ll change your mind,” he told Paige. Then after a short pause, he added, “He’s a nice guy if that makes a difference.”
Paige glanced over at the bass player, who was an arguably attractive man, with shoulder-length brown hair and what appeared to be brown eyes. He gave her a head tilt, his expression a mixture of humor and disappointment, and in return she gave him a smile and raised the drink he’d bought her in acknowledgement.
Turning back to Evan, she said, “If I wasn’t seeing someone, I would go talk to him.”
His expression immediately became interested. “You’re seeing someone?”
She nodded.
“That’s great. Do tell.”
“Well, I’m … how do I say this?”
“You just say it. It’s not like I’m going to be shocked—I’ve heard just about everything. At least two or three times.”
“I’m seeing … the asshole.”
“No shit?” Evan’s eyebrows rose. “Okay, that does shock me. So, when and how, did that come about?”
“It happened a couple months ago, after we finally got together a few times to talk about my book,” she said, leaving out the part where it had started off as just ‘healing’ sex.
He pointed a finger at her. “Speaking of which, I wanted to read your book, but didn’t remember your last name from your business card, or what the title was, so I couldn’t.”
“It’s Clemons. And the title is The Moment You Know.”
He grabbed a napkin and wrote down the information, then stuck it in his pocket. “Thanks. Now I can read it.”
“You’re welcome. I hope you like it.”
“Me, too,” he said with a grin, before getting back on topic. “So, how are things going with the asshole?”
“Gangbusters, for the most part.”
Evan grinned. “Are you referring to sex, there?”
“Maybe.”
“Nice. And what’s the verdict?”
“On sex?”
“Obviously. I don’t care about the scintillating conversations you and the asshole might be having,” he teased.
“Well, I’m not going to lie. The sex has been life-changing.”
“Sounds like you got your birthday wish, then.” At her quick flash of surprise, he clarified, “To be normal. Sexually.”
She chuckled softly. “I can’t believe you remembered that.”
“Of course I remembered. It was the most original and heartfelt wish I’d ever heard,” he said, completely serious, only to tilt his head, as something occurred to him. “Wait. You said things were gangbusters ‘for the most part’. So, what’s not gangbusters?”
Paige made a bit of a face and played with her glass, before saying, “Well, he’s been going through some stressful, personal stuff,” she told him with a sigh. “And I haven’t seen him in like ten days, not counting a FaceTime call.”
“Yeah, that doesn’t count, unless it was FaceTime sex. Was it?”
Before Paige could answer, she heard the alert of an incoming FaceTime request on her phone, which was laying on the bar. When she looked at the screen and saw it was from David, her heart actually stuttered, because this could either be really good news, or really bad news.
“Is that the asshole?” Evan wanted to know.
She nodded and grabbed her phone, quickly accepting the request. As David came onscreen, Paige could see that despite looking worn out, he didn’t appear to be aggravated, which she took as a good sign. She could also see he appeared to be in his car, parked somewhere.
“Hey,” he greeted her.
“Hey,” she returned.
He looked more closely at her and took in the noisy background. “Where are you? In a bar?”
She nodded. “Jules talked me into going out for a couple of drinks, to pass the time while waiting to hear from you,” she replied, then for good measure, held up her drink so he could see it. “Because time passes much quicker in a bar, apparently.”
“I’m sorry, I would’ve called you sooner, but the meeting with Ashley didn’t end until after seven, and then I went to my mom’s for a little while.”
“That’s okay.” Paige brushed aside his apology, which she didn’t think necessary. “So, how did it go with Ashley?”
“It went well, all things considered,” he said, then gave her a brief accounting of the meeting.
When he was done she sat there for several moments, and while a small part of her felt bad for Jacob—who was essentially losing his mother—a bigger part of her rejoiced in the removal of a parent who held her child in such low esteem. Sometimes the worst thing was actually having a parent in your life, especially when that parent didn’t give a shit, because indifference was a form of abuse, too. “Sole custody. That’s good news.”
“What was that?” he asked.
“I said that’s good news,” she repeated, this time louder, to compensate for the bar noise around her.
“Yes, it is.”
“I’m sure your mom was pleased, too.”
“She was.”
“Did you talk to Jacob?”
“No. Lauren and I will do that when it becomes official.”
A brief silence fell between them, and even though he looked worn out, she hadn’t seen him in forever and was struck by the strong urge to do so. “Why don’t you come join Jules and me for a drink?”
He looked like he was contemplating her invitation, but then shook his head. “Thanks, but I wouldn’t be very good company right now. Maybe we could get together tomorrow, instead?”
“I work tomorrow.” Paige made a face. “Back-to-back Christmas parties.”
It was his turn to make a face. “That figures.”
“I’m off Sunday, though,” she told him with enthusiasm. “We can spend all day together.”
David actually looked like he was debating the merits of that, before finally nodding. “Okay,” he said. “Sunday it is.”
Taken aback at his expression, which was more resigned than thrilled, she blinked at him. “Is something wrong? You look like the last thing you want to do is spend time with me.”
“It’s not that. I was just hoping to see you before that. So we could … talk.”
“Oh? What about?”
“Just a couple of things.”
She blinked at the oddly vague, non-answer. “Well, we can talk now, if you want.”
He said something, but she couldn’t hear a word of it, as the people next to her burst out laughing.
“What did you say?” she asked.
“I said I’d rather we talked in private, and not on the phone.”
David’s now serious tone and expression (the combination of which seemed to hint at something borderline ominous) made her frown. Was it ever good when someone wanted to ‘talk’ about ‘things’ and needed privacy? Not to her knowledge, it wasn’t, and at that point, the alcohol she’d consumed started driving the bus. “Well, I’d rather we talk now, because you’re legitimately freaking me out a little bit.”
After what appeared to be a mental war, David took a deep breath, then began talking. As she listened to him share his struggles for the past ten days, of his feelings for her being at war with his belief they’d blinded him to what was happening to Jacob, she went from shocked to indignant.
“You’ve been … blaming me?”
“In a way, yes, although I didn’t see it at the time. I was so horrified that it happened right under my nose, and I kept thinking that I would’ve seen it if you and I hadn’t been …”
“Having sweaty, needy, mind-blowing sex?”
The woman next to her glanced over, but Paige ignored her.
David nodded, and she could see he was ashamed of that, but it was little solace right at the moment, and did nothing to lessen the hurt she was feeling.
“But now I do see that I was kind of blaming you, and I feel like such a dick. And I’m really sorry because I was wrong.”
She barely registered his apology. “What happened to us talking about everything? Did that rule only apply to sexual shit?” The woman next to her glanced over again. “Do you mind?” Paige asked her, before addressing David once more. “You know, if you’d said something that night, we could’ve talked about it then. Or the next day, or even the day after that … not ten freaking days later.”
He looked away from her to stare out the driver’s side window for a few seconds, and when he turned back, his expression was pained. “I know now that I should’ve talked to you right away. However, at the time, I just couldn’t. I was really fucked up by what I was feeling, and I …”
“You what?”
“I didn’t know how to be with you.”
The forced-out words hung in the air with an ugly heaviness. “You didn’t know how to be with me?” she repeated slowly.
“No. Fuck, I’m sorry.”
Paige thought back over the past week and a half but didn’t see any indicators of that. “Well, you hid it very well.”
He cleared his throat. “I didn’t want to push you away, so I, uh …”
Her eyes narrowed as his implication sank in. “Oh, my God. Were you pretending like not a goddamn thing was wrong this whole time? So I wouldn’t know?”
“Uh … yes.”
“When we talked on the phone, and texted? You were … faking it?”
“Kind of. Yes.”
“Jesus Christ. I don’t even know what to say right now.”
The last ten days had been hard for her, and now that she knew what he’d been doing it was almost crushing. It was also humiliating, especially when Paige thought of the gift basket she’d left him, and the time and effort she’d put into it. He’d said he liked it, but now every single communication between them was suspect and couldn’t be believed. Not to mention—
“So, the Sunday you spent with Dick?” she asked coldly. “Were those plans real, or did you make them on purpose? To keep from having to see me on my day off?”
He paused for a long moment. “I could’ve seen him another time. But I just—”
“Yeah, I know. You didn’t know how to be with me.” She took a hefty swig from the drink the bass player had bought her; it was a good thing he had, because she really needed it at the moment. “Well, this really sucks.”
“I’m so fucking sorry,” David said, rubbing at his face. “My mom wasn’t happy with me, either.”
Paige didn’t care that he really did look sorry. “Your mom? Your mom knows about this?”
“Yes. I talked to her about it when I was at her house,” he answered, then gave her a brief rundown of the conversation he’d had with Valerie.
“It really fucking pisses me off that you talked to your mom about what you were feeling before you talked to me—and don’t you dare mention her ‘mom sorcery’. I’m glad she helped you get your shit straightened out or whatever, but really, that should’ve been my job.”
“I know. You’re absolutely right.”
“Remember how unhappy you were with me the night I handcuffed you to the bed?” Paige could see the woman next to her was now openly staring, but didn’t have time to give a shit. “You were upset with me for what, an hour, because I left and you didn’t know what was going on? Try and imagine how upset I am right now, because of all the shit that’s been going on, shit that I didn’t know was happening. This is a problem for me. For us, because trust has been lost.”
“I know.”
She picked up her drink and drank the rest of it. “I’m going to need another one of these,” she muttered, and then signaled Evan.
Evan came over and saw her empty glass. “Need another?”
“Yes, please.”
“Sure thing.”
“How much have you had to drink?” David asked, when she directed her attention back to him. He sounded concerned about her alcohol intake, which should’ve been nice, but launched her into dragon mode because she needed another drink because of him.
“Not nearly enough.”
“Paige—”
“Three drinks,” she told him, then held up her empty glass and amended it to, “No, four, counting this one, compliments of …”
“Compliments of … who?”
“Never mind.”
“Did someone buy you a drink?”
“No.”
“Look, I know you’re pissed at me, but don’t lie to me.” At her pointed expression, he added dryly, “I know that’s a hypocritical thing to say, but I’m saying it anyway.”
“Fine,” she relented, mainly because she knew the answer would aggravate him, which she saw as a win at the moment. “The bass player bought me a drink.”
He tilted his head. “The bass player?”
Paige nodded, cutting away from David to give Evan a forced smile as he exchanged her new drink for the empty glass. “He’s in the band playing in the bar tonight.”
“Uh huh. And he bought you a drink?”
“Yes. And the drummer bought Jules one—”
“I don’t give a shit if the drummer bought Jules a drink. I’m not in a relationship with Jules.”
“Well, apparently you haven’t been in one with me, either, for the past ten days.”
“That isn’t funny.”
She took a drink, savoring the burn of alcohol. “I know. I wasn’t trying to be.”
David no longer looked worn out—he now looked agitated. “So tell me about the bass player who’s buying you drinks.”
“Well, he’s a nice guy, according to the bartender, and pretty good looking.” She paused as David frowned, clearly not happy to receive that information. “And, he only bought me one drink, which I had the bartender tell him I couldn’t accept, but the nice bass player—who was disappointed and hoped I’d change my mind—told me to keep the drink anyway, so I did. And I have to say, I’m glad I did, since it’s coming in handy during this shitty conversation with you.” She brought her phone in for a close-up. “Speaking of which, I don’t want to talk to you anymore tonight.” Then, because apparently four drinks made her a little salty, she added, “Because right now, I don’t know how to be with you.”
David’s expression took on the darkness of a thundercloud, but before he could respond, Paige disconnected the call, put her phone on silent mode, then stuck it in her purse.