Page 46 of Needing Happily Ever After

“Not really.”

It was a lie and Damon knew it.

“What about you?” Damon turned the questioning around, to get the attention off Katie. “Would you ever want the big wedding again?” He realized the moment the question came out of his mouth that it probably wasn’t a good one.

Sarah got quiet and sat back in her seat with a small shake of her head.

“The wedding we had last Saturday was a huge one.” Faith jumped in, clearly able to read the mood of the room. She shot Damon a look. “Everyone came from the city and they were a total party group.” Faith started to regale the table with tales of drunk guests coming on to Logan and after a few minutes, everyone seemed to have forgotten about the awkwardness.

Damon snuck a look at Katie, and even though she looked to be smiling and laughing, she still seemed quite distracted.

“Hey,” he whispered into her ear. “Want to—”

“I just need to go to the bathroom.” She interrupted him. “Excuse me for a minute?”

“Of course.”

Damon stood and pulled her chair out for her while she grabbed her purse and made her escape to the ladies’ room.

He watched her go for a moment and then turned to his friends. “I’ll grab another round. Be right back.”

The moment he was at the bar, he gestured for the bartender, ordered a round, and an additional shot of whisky for himself. It was supposed to have been a fun night, but he couldn’t help but wish he and Katie were back in the cottage, tucked away from reality, alone from the outside world again. Things had seemed a lot simpler then. Maybe she was second-guessing their decision to stay married? Was she regretting her choice? Damned if he knew. She wasn’t talking.

Damon took the shot the moment the bartender poured it and downed it in an easy swallow. He gestured for another.

“Shots, huh?” a voice behind him said, followed by a slap on the back. “I’ll take one, too.”

Damon turned to face the voice and immediately broke out into a massive smile. “Nick.” He hugged his buddy, clapping him on his back. “You made it. Thank God.”

“Is it that bad?” Nick turned to survey the room. “I mean, it’s a small town, but I’m impressed. This place is packed.”

“It is. I’m glad you made it. You were supposed to text when you got in. I would have met you.”

Nick laughed. “I’m a big boy. And meeting at a bar seemed pretty perfect to me.”

The bartender slid two glasses of whisky toward them and they clinked glasses in a mini toast.

“I am glad to see you, though. It’s been stranger than I thought, coming back to town after so long.”

“Strange how?”

Damon sipped, rather than shoot his whisky this time, and contemplated telling Nick the truth that he hadn’t even told Katie—that he’d expected life in Glacier Falls to freeze in time when he left. He’d expected to come back and have everything be exactly how he’d left things. But his friends had moved on. So many of them had moved completely, and the ones who had stayed, their lives had all changed. He couldn’t help but think of Jeremy. And Jeremy with Katie. He didn’t want to, and he’d been doing his best to not think of Jeremy with Katie, especially considering their own relationship had progressed.

But he couldn’t help it. That was definitely one thing that had changed since he’d left. They obviously had a relationship of some kind, and no matter what Katie had said, Damon couldn’t shake the feeling that there’d been more to whatever had gone on between them than Katie had said. Had he interrupted something between them when he came to town? Had Katie settled by staying with Damon? Was it Jeremy she really wanted but she’d felt forced into a relationship with him because of their deal?

He didn’t want to think about it. And he was definitely not going to ask her about it. That certainly hadn’t gone well the last time he’d tried.

“Hello? Damon? Did I lose you there for a minute?” Nick stared at him with a half-smile. “The only thing strange here is you. Maybe you’ve been back in this place too long.”

Damon didn’t like the way Nick said this place, but he didn’t bother to say anything.

“Strange like, nothing stays the same.”

Nick nodded. “That’s true.” He raised his glass and drank what was likely whisky, deeply. “Just like you moving off to some backwoods town to marry the local sweetheart and leaving me high and dry.”

“Hey.” Damon spun to face him. There was nothing distinctly offensive about the way he’d referred to Katie, but it was definitely implied. Or did he just think it was implied?

“I don’t mean any offense.” Nick held up his hands. “I’m just saying, we had a good thing going in the city. Bars, women, parties, more women.” Nick grinned and lifted his drink in a silent cheers. “It’s been a good run.”

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