Page 98 of My Fiancé's Brother 2

He slapped me on the ass. “So, there are a bunch of guys that want to go out tonight.”

“Okay.”

“Wives are included.”

“I can make that work.”

CHAPTER 33

Despite our joking,there was a distance between us that made my heart ache. Instead of finding that place where we were in sync, we felt like two polite strangers.

The day passed, and then we took a taxi to the bar. I wore a cute little yellow sundress and a pair of flats, coupled with a jean jacket.

“MacDog!” Someone yelled across the bar. Hand in his, I followed him across the huge bar, looking around. There were pool tables in one corner. There was a stage where a band was setting up. He led me to a couple of tables that were pushed together, filled with faces that were starting to look familiar.

“Emily,” Lauren called, “Come over and sit here with us.”

I pulled my hand out of Jackson’s hand and made my way over to Lauren. I glanced over my shoulder. He stood there, watching me. I recognized a few of the women from the Scentsy party. They made room for me to sit with them.

“Thanks,” I smiled. Jackson made his way over to where the men played darts. He laughed at something one of them said. He needed this. This was his community. These people were his comrades, hisfellow soldiers and he needed to meet with them socially. I understood that, and I wanted that for him.

As the night wore on, everyone around me, including the wives, seemed to consume copious amounts of alcohol. If I wasn’t pregnant, I was pretty sure I would be flat on my face by now. As it was, I was potentially the only sober person in the entire bar.

The women huddled down on one end of the table discussing school politics. The men passionately competed at darts and drank their faces off. I felt all the muscles in my body tense when I noticed Harper approach the men. She was wearing a short jean miniskirt that was halfway up her long, lean legs coupled with a white, button up shirt that was open far enough to show plenty of cleavage and tied around her midriff. Her long blonde hair was sexy messy.

“I was telling the math teacher, there is no reason to punish Ben with extra homework. He needs help not more work.”

Harper walked right up to Jackson who was about to take his turn at the dart board. He looked down at her and said something that made her laugh. I felt my cheeks flush. Something ugly crawled in my stomach.

“Well, did you hear what the gym teacher did to the grade six class? They had to do boot camp in the rain. Those kids were freezing. I phoned the teacher and told her that this wasn’t BUDs training, this was physical education.”

Jackson finished tossing his darts and walked back to the high table. Harper followed him. He took a sip of his beer. I watched as she took the bottle from him and took a drink off his beer. She talked with a huge smile on her face. She said something that made them both laugh. I watched as she leaned down on the table, pushing up her cleavage, so it was spilling out of her shirt. She looked ridiculously sexy.

It was Jackson’s turn to shoot again, only this time he gave Harper his darts. He looked over her shoulder as she took her aim and tossed the dart. She apparently made a great shot because she turned around and gave him a quick hug.

I wanted to puke. Instead, I stood up. On unsteady legs, I walked to the washrooms. I washed my hands and stared back at my reflection. My belly beneath my loose dress looked less like a baby and instead I just looked short and chubby. My face was chalk white.

I couldn’t compete with that. Harper was everything I wasn’t. She was tall, curvy, sexy and blonde. I was a short, pregnant and a shy redhead and I felt so low, I could barely deal.

It didn’t matter how much he told me there was nothing between them. Those were all lies. The moment those two came together, sparks were flying off them both. He was committed to me, but I knew in my heart that he loved her.

I dried my hands on a paper towel and straightened my shoulders. Jealousy burned in my gut. My husband was in love with another woman, and I hated my life.

I weighed my options. Runaway? Leave the bar? Pick a fight? Been there, done that. Nothing made a difference. Now it was time just to accept the truth of the matter. At some point, I knew in my heart, that he would leave me for her. I wasn’t going to solve anything tonight. My goal was to make it through the evening in one piece. I would smile, laugh, and pretend to be happy. Right now that was the only strategy I could think of.

I walked back towards the tables when someone grabbed my arm.

“45 calories.”

Despite my mood, I smiled. “Burger guy.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Watching everyone else drink, you?”

“Same.”

“You’re not drinking?”

---