Page 106 of Secrets in Love
I’d successfully snagged a table in the darkest corner of the bar, and my dedication to refreshment went well for the first hour. I bumped into my friend Brendan in the restroom and managed to string together an excuse as to why I hadn’t paid him a visit, but I bolted back to the darkness when he asked me about the lease on the hall. There, I continued to drink and was well on my way to oblivion when I saw—or rather, felt—her.
“Look what the cat dragged in.” Her soft, amazing-smelling hair tickled my face aftershedragged her boobs across my back, then whispered into my ear, “I heard you were back in town. And solo, too, I believe.”
I stood and waved. “Hi, Polly. Bye, Polly.” But she grabbed the waistband of my shorts and yanked me back into my seat.
“Don’t be like that, Natey. We have always been good buds. I bear you no ill will. Even though you broke up with me when I was naked and covered in food.” The guy sitting behind us almost choked on what looked like his white wine spritzer. “I only have ten minutes of my break left. Let me buy you a drink, then we can talk, and I’ll fuck off and leave you alone for the rest of the night. I’m worried about you, Nate. I promise I mean no harm, but it’s up to you.”
“I’ll have a beer.”
Polly kept her promise. We sat and talked—well, she mostly talked—for the rest of her break, and then she was gone. The only time I saw her for the rest of the night was when I got yet another drink.
As I drank, I stared at my phone and the pain it carried inside it. Photos, hundreds of them, ninety-nine percent of which were of Evie, beamed into my eyeballs.
I stared at her for hours. She was so beautiful and looked so happy. She was damn sexy too, even when—especially when—she didn’t look so happy. Those damn pouty lips and big blue eyes had my cock jumping with every shot. If only I still couldn’t smell her, taste her, feel her skin beneath my fingers.
That hope I had when I read the letter was starting to fade. My birthday was coming up in days, but I held little expectation that I would hear from her then.
Finn offered little in the way of gossip. He was likely too scared of Evie’s revenge if he told me too much. What he did tell me, though, was that she was struggling. That she was always sad and often cried herself to sleep. But he also told her she seemed happy at work, and that she was officially a partner in VAAD.
My heart was as full of pride as it was pain.
Around the time I could barely lift my pitiful head from the table, my friend returned. “Hello, Polly Waffle. Have you come to cheer me up?”
“Someone’s had a few too many. Obviously, you haven’t been coming to my side of the bar. I would have cut you off a keg or two ago.”
“Don’t be like that, Pol. I know I’m a few sheets to the wind, but like you said, we’re mates.” I hiccupped in her face. “Mates that have seen each other in the nude, and I’m sad. Hey, do you remember that time I asked you to fix me?”
Polly sighed and sat beside me. “Yes, Nate. I do remember. I remember it very well.”
“Oh, that’s nice. I think I remember it too. Maybe I need you to get me to ask if you’d fix me again because I don’t feel too good. It hurts, here, Pol.” I took Polly’s hand and, to the best of my ability, held it over my chest, albeit the wrong side. “Can I tell you a secret, Polly Waffle? Evie broke my heart. She let me fall even more in love with her and let me think she loved me too, but then she wouldn’t come home with me. That’s why my heart is hurt. ‘Cause Evie didn’t love me enough.”
I think I cried then, and I do believe Polly was almost crying too.
“You need to go home, Nate. I’m calling you a cab.” Polly then leaned in and kissed my cheek. That was the last thing I remembered.
A distant voice roused my sweaty, smelly body from slumber. “Nate! I’m here! You’re not still in bed, are you?”
“Evie?”
“Nate?” it repeated.
It’s a dream. It must be a dream. Evie’sinNewYork,andI’mhomealoneanddrunk.
“Nate, how could you?”
My eyes shot open. A blinding pain pierced my brain as a halo of blonde curls, blue eyes, and a white dress came into focus. “Gidge, you’re here?” She looked like an angel, but she was crying.Why is she crying?
“Good morning, Evie.” A second voice hit me harder, flooring me like a fucking sledgehammer to the head. It, too, was familiar, but shrill and unwelcome. It was also closer, much closer.
Shivers and an Arctic chill followed the hand I felt running down my chest. I turned in slow motion and found Polly, with my sheets wrapped around her body and twisted in her fingers beneath her chin, lying beside me.
“What the fuck, Polly?” My stunned face turned back to Evie, who seemed frozen. Her mouth was wide open, her fists clenched at her sides, and she didn’t appear to be breathing. The only movement was one tear sliding down her flushed cheek. “I didn’t know she was here, Eves. You have to believe me. Nothing happened… I think… I mean, I’m sure—”
Evie suddenly stumbled back. “Oh God!”
I thought my words had snapped her trance, but it was the graceful movement of my bedmate, who, naked as the day she was born, slipped from the bed, and stepped toward Evie. Polly stopped when they stood toe to toe, bit her lip, and slowly ran her finger along Evie’s quivering bottom lip.
“Why don’t you join us in bed, Evie? Maybe the three of us could have a little fun. I’ll even let you be in charge,MistressAusten.”
