“Always,” she replies as we each move in for a hug.
“You gonna be okay, or would you rather we go home?” Jem squeezes my hand and asks.
“No,” my response is instant, “I’m not okay, I don’t know if I’ll ever be okay again, but I’m not letting him ruin my night.”
“I’ve got so many questions, but now’s not the time,” Jem adds.
“You’ve got questions? It’s happening to me, and honestly, I don’t even know where to begin.” I look around at my friends and confess. “What did I do? What could I have possibly done to have caused such a massive change in. . .”
“Right, that’s enough. You can stop with all of that crap right now. Why are you making this all about what you’ve done wrong? This isn’t on you; this is all on him. There’s nothing that can justify his behaviour, not a single fucking thing,” Jo interrupts me.
Letting out another heavy sigh, I wipe away the tears puddling under my eyes again.
“I know, I know. I just, I don’t fucking know. Should I even be here? Shouldn’t I be at home trying to save my marriage?”
“Do you want to save your marriage?” Lou asks, and I instantly have to choke back a sob as I shake my head.
“I don’t think I do. I love him, but I’m no longer in love with him. It’s been fading for weeks, but after Sunday night, I’m just numb to him.”
There are collective sighs and head shakes from the girls, and I hate that I’m putting such a downer on the evening.
“Let’s hug it out and dance it off,” Jemma orders.
“Let’s also get shit-faced and forget that prick of a soon-to-be-ex of yours even exists,” Jo adds. “But first, we need to get you to the bathroom and fix that cute little face of yours up. You look like you’ve been gagging on nine-inch dicks and they made your eyes water.”
“At least if I had it would explain why my marriage has gone to shit,” I respond.
“Babe, you’re single now. If it’s a nine-inch dick you’re after, I can point you in the right direction. I’m happy to share my little black book of stats and help a sister out.”
My stomach lurches at the prospect of now being single, but I bury it down somewhere deep to deal with another day.
“Thanks, Jo, but I think I’m gonna take some time and focus on me for a while, and when I’m done, I definitely won’t be looking up your sloppy, or even stiff, nine-inch seconds.”
Jo shrugs. “Well, the offer’s there.” Grabbing my hand, we follow Lou and Jemma towards the toilets so we can attempt to sort my whoreish, cock sucking but cute face out.
Chapter 6
Gabe
I watch in stunned silence as the redhead appears to burst into tears the instant she finishes the shot I sent over.
“That went well,” Zac says from beside me.
“Is she crying?” Cooper asks as the three of us stand at the bar watching the scene unfolding on the other side of the room.
“Yeah,” Zac chimes in again. “Apparently, the round of shots Gabe sent over tasted shit.”
“Get fucked,” I mumble, still watching as the group of women surround her, shielding her from everyone in the place, including me.
After a few minutes, still surrounded by her friends, I watch as she moves through the bar and out to the smoking terrace.
Taking a sip of my drink, I become aware of my brothers watching me.
“What?” I ask.
“What are you doing?” Cooper asks. “You’ve not taken your eyes off her and your jaw’s ticking.”
“No it’s not,” I argue.
“Kids got it bad,” Zac adds.
I shake my head at the pair of them; my response is interrupted when I hear, “Hey, Gabe,” from beside me.
“Oh, shit,” Zac says, none too quietly.
I turn to see Kristy, a little blonde I’d hooked up with last summer.
“Hey, Kris,” I respond, but quickly turn away and back towards my brothers. My gaze catches Coopers, who gives me an eye roll and a head shake. Zac points his finger at me, wagging it, and fake laughs while I mouth the word ‘wankers,’ at the pair of them.
I’m not a dick, and I don’t want to act like one now, but I make it clear to the women I sleep with that if we go there, it’ll likely be a one-time thing. Kristy knew this when she took me home with her six months ago, but that hasn’t stopped her from trying to hook up again every time we bump into each other.
I have no aversion to sleeping with the same woman more than once; it’s just that every time it happens, they tend to start making assumptions. No matter how many times I attempt to explain that it’s only sex that I’m interested in, they play the victim when I leave after the deed is done without making any promises or plans.
Not all women are like it. There are a few out there just looking to fuck with no expectations, and they’re the ones I’m happy to hook up with more than once.
I’m not a man whore, just a thirty-five-year-old single bloke with a healthy sex life. My daughter stays with me every other weekend and a couple of nights during the week. During those times, she gets my undivided attention, so it’s not like opportunities present themselves every minute of every day. Despite this, living in a small town does mean that I do quite often bump into someone I’ve slept with, which, like right now, can be awkward.
The band starts back up with a cover of ‘Jack and Diane’, and just as the opening guitar starts, Jo and her mates come back into the bar. With my eyes trained on the little redhead in the middle of the procession making its way towards the toilets, my knuckles again rub at my chest as the indigestion from earlier kicks back in. The burning gets worse when again I hear, “Hey, Gabe?” from beside me a few minutes later.
“Busted.” Cooper laughs before turning his back to me, pretending to be deep in conversation with Zac.
Turning to face Kristy, I give her a small smile.
“How’ve you been?” she asks, stepping in for a cuddle. I pat her back awkwardly as she stands with her arms around my neck. Pulling away, I spot the redhead making her way back from the bathroom conference she’s just had with her girls. With the table they congregated around earlier now taken, they find another closer to where I’m standing.
“I’ve been good, Kris. Busy with work, you know how it is, lots going on.”
I’ve no idea if she knows how it is because I don’t really know the first thing about her.
“Too busy to return my calls?”
My head jerks back at this question because I rarely give out my number, and I definitely don’t remember giving it out to Kristy.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“I called you at work, left a message with your secretary for you to call me back.”
“I. . . No. I mean I didn’t get your message. Why’d you call?”
I don’t want to be a dick, I really don’t, but for fuck’s sake, how else is this conversation going to go?
“Well, it wasn’t to talk about the weather,” she snaps.