Page 32 of Naughty & Nice

I hesitate briefly, wondering if I want to divulge any more information to these two, and notice Noah waving another bottle at me. Flicking him my middle finger, I decide if I don’t come clean, I could probably suffer some serious damage to my liver. “Well, it appears she’s tight with Ashley. And Martin. I’m sure the three of them had a huge chuckle at my expense.” I attempt to take another sip from my beer and realize it’s empty. “I wonder if the whole thing was a setup.”

“Wait a minute. Your dimwitted ex-girlfriend happens to be friends with your new girl? What are the odds, Trevor? And there’s no way that was a setup. First, Ashley’s not clever enough to manage a rouse that complicated. And second, why would she? Nothing personal, man. But if she was that interested in you, she wouldn’t be with Martin.”

“Noah,” my mother scolds from the other room, confirming this charade for what it is. A pathetic six-pack shakedown.

“How did you piece all of this together, Sherlock?”

Grabbing my phone, I show him the picture I saved from the Times-Dispatch online post.

“Oh, I have that.” My mother is so close I can feel my hair move.Did she teleport in here?As I peer over my shoulder, a folded piece of newspaper is thrust into my face without warning.

“What’s this?”

“It’s Sunday’s paper. It was in there. Look.” She instructs, pointing to the photo.

“Holy shit, man. She’s hot. You nailed both of them?”

I turn just in time to see my mom clock Noah in the back of the head.

“Ow! Fuck, Mom.”

“Language, Noah.”

“So, is your girl a Hooter’s girl? Didn’t know a town as small as Sycamore would have a Hooters restaurant.”

“They don’t.” I inspect the photo a little closer and realize Addison is wearing some type of uniform. There are several other girls meandering behind her with similar skimpy outfits.

“Let me see that,” Noah stammers. “Good grief, you dumb fuck. She’s working there. She’s a Nascar girl.” He points to the two girls in a different photo leaning on a race car on either side of a dude with a dad bod. “Ow! Jesus, Mom!”

“Language, Noah. And stop calling your brother names.”

“All right. Shit, man-” I laugh as he covers his head and corrects himself. “I mean, shoot. I hope you can fix this.”

“There’s nothing to fix. She’s too good for me. If I can freak out and break up with her like that.” I hang my head in shame. “She deserves better than me.”

“You’re probably right,” Noah says just before my mother’s hand connects with the back of his head again. “Damn. Glad I wasn’t taking a sip of beer. I could’ve lost a tooth.”

“Trevor Laurence. You were only acting out of fear. Now, she deserves an apology and a hefty serving of groveling. But if she’s the one, get your act together and go get her back.”

“Are we even going to remember this conversation tomorrow?” I ask, looking at all of the empty beer bottles strewn about the coffee table.

“All bets are off for me,” Noah replies, rubbing his head. “I think I might have a concussion.”

CHAPTER25

Trevor

Pulling up to my apartment,I have a sense of peace I haven’t felt since my breakup with Ashley. Odd, given my main objective, winning Addy back, seems next to impossible after the way I’ve treated her. Hell. I’ll never know why she ever gave me a chance in the first place after all of the snark I’ve given her. Groveling will be no easy task, and I need to accept whatever she dishes out gratefully. Whatever it takes to prove to her, I’m in this for keeps.

Taking a fortifying breath, I enter the bakery, the metal clink of the door’s bell bouncing against the rustic wooden walls of the space. “Hello?”

Alden comes darting out of the back. “Hey, sorry to-” He quickly halts his steps. All pleasantries are abandoned once he sees it’s me. “What do you want?”

Fuck. Here we go.“Hey, Alden. I came to apologize.” This guy is intimidating. He’s like her surly older brother. The kind that’d take you out for daring to look at his sister the wrong way, much less dump her. Pushing my sweaty hands into my pants pockets, I continue. “I’m really sorry, Alden. I misinterpreted something I saw and let my fear and anger over a prior girlfriend’s cheating get the best of me. I know I don’t deserve her. But I owe it to her to say I’m sorry.”

“You really hurt her, man. I’ve watched every single guy in this town hit on her. Even a few not-so-single. But she never looked at any of them the way she looks at you. I’m not sure if I’m willing to let her risk it with you again.”

Hanging my head in shame, I know he’s right. “I get it. But I’m willing to do anything. Time away made it clear how much she means to me.”Or so drunk the truth poured out.“Do you know when she’s scheduled to work again?”

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