Throttled (Wild Riders #1)(14)
“I would have come, but I was trying to make things easier on you.”
“Don’t give me that bullshit. You were trying to make things easier on you. You broke up with me. You left. You pretended like me, like this town, never even existed. Don’t deny it.”
I wanted to tell her that I hadn’t, but it would have been a lie. It was easier to pretend like I’d done the right thing by leaving her behind, but the truth was, I wasn’t so sure. If my leaving had caused her to become so jaded and bitter then maybe I’d made an even bigger mistake than I thought.
“Okay,” I agreed. If she didn’t want to let me apologize and try to make things right then I guess I owed her that much. She was right, I was only in town for a short time and the pained look on her face was killing me. “I’m not denying that I left this place all wrong.” As she walked away, I added, “But don’t think for a second that I’m not going to try to make things right with you.”
“It won’t work,” she promised as she pushed past me and made her way back to the bar. I watched her go back inside and when the door closed, I let out the breath I’d been holding. That might have been one of the most painful things I’d ever experienced, and thanks to my career choice, I’d broken bones. Lots of them. At once.
*
When I finally picked my pride up off the sidewalk and went back into the bar, I found Brett and Hoyt racking the balls on one of the pool tables in the back.
“Guessing you struck out, Romeo?” Brett teased.
“What makes you think that?”
“She came back in and asked her sister to go to the bathroom with her,” he explained. “Haven’t seen them since. Man, you really know how to scare that one off. What’s that, twice now?”
“Yeah, she hates me,” I said, hanging my head briefly. “Apparently I did some serious damage when I left.” If she would have just let me explain why I thought what I was doing was the right thing then maybe I could have made her not so mad. So bitter.
“You tried,” Hoyt offered up. “If she doesn’t want to talk then maybe you should just leave her alone.”
“You’re right,” I said with a nod. “I tried.” I walked over to the table, where one of them had placed our bucket of beer and pulled a cold one out. Cracking it open, I held up my bottle to my brother and friend. “To trying,” I saluted, before drinking back half the contents. “And to being strangers,” I added under my breath. All I needed was a few more of these and I’d be numb enough to stop thinking about the way she’d looked at me outside. Like I was nothing to her.
“How about we try and pick up a few of those locals,” Brett said, giving a nod to the group of women sitting a few tables over. They had definitely seen us—all giggling when Brett raised his drink and fired a wink in their direction. Two of them looked familiar, but I couldn’t be sure if I knew them from high school or not. It wasn’t like I looked at any other girls back then. I only saw one.
“Why not,” I said, clinking my bottle against his. “Might as well find someone in this town that will give me the time of day. Otherwise it’s going to be a long three months.”
Brett waved the women over about the same time Georgia and Nora came out of the bathroom. Georgia offered up a sympathetic smile as she walked with her sister, but Nora didn’t even cast a look in my direction. If this was what she wanted, to act like the other didn’t exist, then I’d accommodate her request. I refused to be some little bitch that sat around pining over a girl that didn’t want him.
But I was going to need a few more drinks if I was going to even begin to think that that was true.
“All right, ladies,” I said as I wrapped my arm around the waist of the cute little brunette standing next to me. “Who’s up for a game?”
The night blurred on—a haze of alcohol and avoidance. I flirted, I drank, my new pool playing partner was more than happy to keep rubbing up against me, and Nora never once made eye contact with me. At first, I felt saddened by the fact that she was hell bent on ignoring me, but the more I drank, the less I cared.
I’d be out of this town in no time and I’d never have to see her again. The air had been cleared. She hated me, but I could feel someone staring in my direction and I was pretty sure it wasn’t Georgia. If she was really as over me as she pretended to be then surely she wouldn’t have been worried about me flirting with some girl at a bar.
“Wanna take a shot?” she said with a giggle that would have normally driven me insane. I’d make the sacrifice if it meant giving Nora something to think about. I glanced in her direction and finally managed to catch her staring. She turned her head quickly, but I was already on to her. I smirked, knowing that I could still affect her.
“You bet, doll,” I answered, handing my new drinking buddy some money. “Make it a double.”
When she returned with two shots in her hand, I’d just started to feel like maybe there was a still a chance for me and Nora. Then I saw a familiar face walk through the door and make his way over to where she was sitting. Beau Gregurich. I couldn’t stand the guy in high school and just seeing him again made me want to pick a fight. Fuel was definitely added to the fire the second I saw Nora stand up from her booth and wrap her arms around his neck like she was actually happy to see him.