Chapter 42
I rolled my eyes with a small smile. “I don’t need help.”
“No, stop. Shhh.”
Lucas chuckled at Callie as her eyes shifted around.
She scoped out the scene, and I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t help but smirk a little.
They wanted to go out for Friday night drinks, so we met up at Agora.
Lucas had blabbed to Callie about what I told him last week, and now she’d made it her sole mission to find me a “nice girl.”
A part of me wondered if she’d be so quick to help if she knew the real reason I was doing this. If she knew I’d fallen in love with her best friend and was trying to force myself to forget my one-sided feelings.
I pushed the thought aside. I needed to stop thinking about her so damn much.
“She’s cute.” Callie pointed to a woman at the bar.
I casually glanced over, following her line of vision to a brunette in a dark green bodycon dress. She was attractive and didn’t seem to be there with anyone if her standing solo at the bar was any indication. But I made no move to approach her.
“So, this is the part where you get up and go say ‘hello’ and introduce yourself,” Callie said, and Lucas snorted at her sarcasm.
A part of me didn’t want to. Why?
Because she wasn’t Morgan.
And that thought was exactly what made me finally stand from my seat. I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t compare, or this would go nowhere and fast.
Callie chuckled. “Go get her, tiger.”
I huffed out a laugh as I walked away and headed toward the woman.
I brought my glass with me, needing a refill anyway, and I leaned up against the bar beside her, signaling to the bartender.
When he took my glass, I turned to look at the woman…
just in time to see a guy approach her, sliding an arm around her waist.
I stood up a little straighter, letting out a quiet breath as I inched away; I threw a glance over my shoulder at Callie and Lucas, and they both shrugged.
When I turned back to the bar to wait for my refill, the brunette was gone, but a woman with sandy blonde hair was standing in her place.
She smiled. “Hi.”
Not afraid to speak first. I could appreciate that. “Hi, yourself.” And then, I was just…staring. It was like I suddenly forgot how to speak to a woman. Jesus Christ, get your shit together, Callahan. I cleared my throat, holding out my hand. “Wes.”
“Loralei,” she said, her smile broadening as she placed her hand in mine.
“Nice to meet you, Loralei.” I glanced around her, feigning nonchalance but not wanting to make the same mistake I almost did before. “Are you here alone?”
“I’m waiting for some friends…but I’m alone at the moment,” she replied with a smirk.
I smirked in return, taking notice of her near-empty glass. “Well, how about I buy you a drink while you wait?”
Five minutes later, I returned to the table where Lucas and Callie were, sliding into the booth with my drink in hand.
“Well, my pick didn’t work out, but what about the one you started talking to?” Callie questioned.
“She was meeting some friends, and they just got here.”
She slightly deflated on my behalf. “Oh…”
“But…we exchanged numbers to maybe meet up another time.” I smirked, and Callie grinned while Lucas chuckled.
“We’re gonna make an honest man out of you yet, Wes Callahan,” Callie teased.
I shook my head. “Let’s pump the brakes a little, Calliefornia. I’m not looking to settle down tomorrow. I’m just…looking.”
Looking for someone to take my mind off Morgan Hayes.
Was I going about this for all of the wrong reasons?
Probably. However, that didn’t mean something real couldn’t come out of it.
I’d never know if I didn’t make any attempts and put myself out there.
And it was a hell of a lot better than sitting around while sulking and drowning in thoughts of her.
I never dwelled on what-ifs and could-have-beens, and I wasn’t about to start now…no matter how much my mind wanted me to go there.
It wasn’t easy to not think about her, though.
I struggled that night while scoping out the scene.
I struggled over the remainder of the weekend when I had more downtime and because I couldn’t help but notice the empty chair at the bar on Saturday.
Even at work, she’d pop into my head at random times throughout the day.
I never thought I’d be the guy trying to “move on” from something that wasn’t even mine to move on from in the first place.
On Wednesday afternoon, Gabe was helping me proof some case briefs. “I really hate doing this shit…”
Gabe chuckled from his seat at the conference table as he flipped through pages in one of several binders we had spread out on the table. “So, how’d your date go last night?” he asked.
“I don’t think there will be a second with that one. But I have one tomorrow with a girl I met at Agora last Friday.” Gabe lifted his eyes to mine, wearing a curious smile. “What?”
“Nothing.” He shook his head with a chuckle. “It’s just…strange.”
“Why is it strange? Jesus Christ. You’re acting like I’ve never gone on a goddamn date before.” My words came out more steely than intended. “I don’t know why the hell you, Luke, and Callie seem so damn invested in my dating life all of a sudden anyway.”
“Because you’re not going out looking for a random hookup or fling. So, we have a genuine interest in who you’re seeing since they might be around for more than a couple of weeks.”
“Shut up,” I scoffed through a laugh.
Before he could say anything else, his phone chimed with an incoming video call. He pulled it out of his pocket, and I watched his eyes flicker with both concern and relief before answering. “Hey there.”
“Hey,” I heard Blake say.
“What are you up to?”
“Having lunch. I saw you called last night…”
“Yeah. Just wanted to check in and see how you were doing.”
“I’m fine.”
Just then, Gabe’s secretary poked her head into the conference room to let him know he had a call. “Hey, I’ll be right back. Talk to Wes for a minute.”
He handed me the phone before he stepped out, and I looked at the screen. “Hey, big guy.”
A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Hey. What are you up to?”
“Going through some case briefs.” I saw his stethoscope hanging around his neck. “You working?”
“Yeah. On break at the moment.” I watched his eyes shift from the camera, moving to dart around his surroundings before looking back at me.
“How are you doing?”
“I’m alright,” he nodded.
I wasn’t sure I believed that as much as he may have wanted me to. His voice was quieter than usual as he spoke, and he looked exhausted. “They must be running you ragged in the ER. You look tired as hell.”
His eyes darted around again before he scrubbed a hand down his face. “No. I just slept like shit last night.”
I stared at his face through the screen, studying him for a moment. “Can I ask you something?”
“Yeah.”
“How are you really doing?”
He let out a breath. “Just…taking it day by day, I guess,” he said quieter than before.
“Are you talking to someone?” His only response was a subtle nod. “That’s good. And you know you can call me any time, right? Luke too. And obviously Gabe.”
“Yeah, I know…” His eyes shifted once more. “Hey, I gotta get back. Tell Gabe I’ll call him later.”
“Alright, big guy. Take care.”
“You too.”
The screen went blank, and I let out a breath. Blake had been back in the States for a few months, but I was as worried about him now as I was when he was overseas.
The sound of silverware scraping against the china filled the air as I sat at the dinner table with my mom and Haley on Sunday evening.
I was trying to keep my mouth shut while Haley talked about Cal, the new guy she’d been seeing for the past couple of months.
From what I was told by people around town who knew him, he had a reputation for being a player, but Haley was forever in her “I can fix him” era and was back on her bullshit.
I was trying to take the suggestion a certain someone gave me about backing off and not offering unsolicited advice.
“Oh! I forgot to tell you,” Haley said to my mom. “I found someone to do the redesign of the beach house.”
My mom inherited an oceanfront beach house in Isle of Palms from a late great-aunt. She debated selling it because she had no use for it but then decided to rent it out for summer vacationers. It needed some revamping, however.
My mom smiled. “Yeah?”
“Who?” I asked.
“Morgan,” Haley replied.
My chest constricted at the mention of her name, and my brows slightly rose.
“Who’s Morgan?” Mom asked.
“She’s Callie’s best friend and good friends with Gabe.”
My mom looked at me. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you mention her before for as much as you hang out with them.”
“That’s because they can’t stand each other,” Haley said with a chuckle.
“Oh?” My mom cast me a curious look.
“Just don’t even ask. Please.” I wasn’t going to begin to try and explain that.
“Anyway,” Haley said, “she’s the one who did the redesign of the law office.”
“Oh, okay.” Mom grinned. “Well, she did a wonderful job there.”
I shook my head. “How did you get her to do it? They do commercial design and only do houses for people like Luke, who are big clients of theirs. Plus, she’s not even here right now.”
“I got her number from Callie and shot her a message last week to ask her about it or if she, at the least, knew anyone to recommend that Mom could use.”
My brow furrowed. “And she said yes?”
“Well, she had to check with her boss, but she finally got back to me yesterday and said they’d be willing to do it. She said she’d be in touch once she got back from Miami.”
My mom smiled. “That sounds perfect.”
A silence fell over the table as we continued to eat. I knew it would be hard to push Morgan entirely out of my mind with us having mutual friends and them talking about her from time to time. I never expected her to be brought up at one of my Sunday family dinners.
“Mmm,” my mom hummed as she swallowed a bite of her food and looked at me. “I was going to ask you…the country club is doing some kind of poker tournament on Friday. Did you want to go?”
“Ah, I can’t Friday.”
“Oh? Big date?” Haley teased.
“Actually…yeah. I have a date.” They both stilled and looked at me, furrowing their brows. “What?”
“You have a date?” Haley asked flatly.
“Yes.”
“Like a real date? Or just a booty call?”
My mom snapped her gaze over to her. “Haley!”
“What?” She laughed. “That’s a valid question for him!”
I couldn’t even be offended because she wasn’t wrong. “Yes. Like a real date, one with dinner reservations and all. And it’s the third date.” Both their brows rose in surprise. “What?” I snapped.
“Nothing,” my mom said quickly as she looked back down at her plate, but I could see the hint of a smile.
“Well, at least tell us the poor girl’s name,” Haley teased.
I sighed. “Loralei. Now drop it.”
Haley asking for the name wasn’t the end of her interrogation, but I wouldn’t give up any more information. By the time I left dinner, I was more than ready to go home.
After saying goodbye to my mom, I walked out of the front door and started down the walkway. As I neared my car, I saw a familiar Maserati pull up in front of the driveway, and my brow furrowed.
Lucas slipped out of his car and looked at me. “What are you doing here?” I asked as I approached him.
“Gabe asked me to meet him. He said he sent you a message, too.”
“I left my phone in my car.”
We both glanced over at the sound of footsteps and saw Gabe walking across the street from his parents’ house. “Hey,” he said quietly.
“What’s going on?”
“Blake is coming home.”
“What, like for the weekend?” Lucas asked.
“No,” Gabe said, shaking his head. “For good.”
My brows dipped in confusion. “Doesn’t he still have three months in his contract?”
“He did,” Gabe replied. “But they gave him an honorable discharge.”