Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 55599 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55599 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
“Is my ass still on the barstool?” I ask.
“For the moment.”
Marti pours a glass of water from a pitcher and sets it in front of me. “Drink it, Fred.”
I look at the glass. “I’m not ready.”
“Not ready for what? That awful feeling when you don’t pass out and hit your head on something?”
“She’s gonna be so mad at me.”
Marti laughs. “Who, Legs? Judging by the amount of whiskey you just put away, I’m guessing she already knows drinking is an issue for you.”
Reluctantly, I pick up the glass and take a drink of the icy water.
I made Josie think we were going out together and then ditched her. She’s going to be furious at me, and I understand why. She started to trust me and got burned.
“Tell me you didn’t just break a sobriety streak,” Marti says. “I would’ve tried to talk you out of that if I’d known.”
I laugh and say, “No. I ditched Nosy.”
“You ditched her? Why? It sounds like you really like her.”
I drink more of the water, reality starting to seep back in.
“That’s just it, Marti. It’s it. I’m no good.”
She puts another glass away. “Why do you think that?”
“Let’s see...” I put a finger out. “One, I’m cold. And two...I’m an asshole.” I look at my fingers, getting confused. Might as well just put all ten fingers up. “Too possessive. But that’s number three, not two.”
Marti nods. “So a past girlfriend told you these things and now you think you’re no good.”
“She was right, though.” I rest my elbow on the bar, putting my forehead in my palm. “I get jealous. I even got jealous when I heard Lucas likes Nosy.”
“And Nosy is Legs, right?”
“Yep.”
“Here’s my advice. Stop calling her Nosy, for Christ’s sake. Man up and tell her how you feel.”
Marti refills my water glass and I meet her gaze across the bar.
“You’re a nice one, Marti.”
She laughs. “I’m just blunt, Fred. And trust me, no one fucks up the way you feel about yourself like an ex. I have a horrible ex in my past. He made me question everything about myself. You seem like a good guy who’s afraid to get hurt again. But no risk, no reward.”
“Word. I think I better get to my bathroom.”
“You feelin’ the urge to purge?”
“Yeah, where’s my bathroom?”
She comes around the bar and helps me off the barstool. “I’ll show you where you’re going. And the good news is, it probably smells like piss and vomit, so it’ll make you puke real quick like. Makes me want to puke and I don’t even drink.”
“You’re a riot,” I say, trying not to lean on her because I’m huge and she’s wiry. “We should hang out.”
“I’m here from seven p.m. to two a.m. five nights a week.”
Marti leaves me at the bathroom door and I go inside. She’s right. The smell sends my stomach over the edge and I barely make it to the toilet to throw up.
Twenty minutes later, my stomach is empty and Marti is using my phone to call an Uber.
“You can have my car,” I say. “It’s really nice.”
She chuckles. “If I took all the things customers offer me when they’re drunk, I could retire.”
When my ride arrives, she walks outside with me to make sure I get in. I turn to her and open my arms.
“I feel like we should hug. Some breakthroughs happened here tonight.”
“Just get in the car, Fred. This will all be a blur tomorrow.”
“I love you.”
She laughs. “You made this night a lot more fun; I’ll tell you that much.”
I crawl into the back seat of the Uber and lie down.
“Don’t puke in my car,” the driver cautions from the front seat.
“I won’t.”
Judging by the swirling sensation in my stomach, I may be overpromising on that.
I sneak through my front door, gently closing it and tiptoeing across the darkened room.
“Where the hell have you been?”
A furious Josie jumps off the couch and I sigh heavily.
“You scared the shit out of me.”
“Oh, did I? You can wait the rest of your life for me to apologize. I spent hours looking for you. Calling hospitals. Praying whatever mess you got into won’t get out and cost both of us our jobs.”
It sounds like she’s speaking to me from the inside of my ear. I take a few steps away.
“Look, can we talk tomorrow?”
Even in the dark, I see her eyes flash with fury.
“You’re drunk. Why am I even surprised? You smell like a distillery. Please tell me you didn’t get naked in public tonight.”
I take a few more steps toward my bedroom door. “I’ll tell you tomorrow.”
“You really disappointed me tonight, Dane.”
The catch in her voice makes me stop walking and hang my head. I’d take her fury over this any day. I want to tell her it’s not what she thinks, that I didn’t do any of this to hurt her.