Page 31 of Stay this Christmas
“I have been that guy,” I admitted. “But I’m trying to be better.”
ELEVEN
harper
If anything’s moreawkward than being a seventh wheel, I’d love to hear it.
Creatures of habit, we’d wound up at The Broken Hammer yet again on a Saturday night, at two wooden tables pushed together, couples taking up each of the sections. Except for mine, where I valiantly held up my side of the table by myself. Going it solo. A lone wolf. Just me, myself, and I.
I should mention I’d had a bit to drink already. With Eden pregnant, I’d given up my faithful post as our group’s default designated driver and had made short work of a bourbon. It might not sound like much, but for someone who rarely had more than a glass of wine with dinner, the bourbon had quickly loosened me up to have a good time.
Except for the tricky little bit about being surrounded by happy couples.
Conversations about Booker’s undefeated high school basketball team and Ty’s plans for a gazebo on his acreage whirled around me, but I mostly just listened. Partially because my brain had already gone fuzzy from the bourbon, but I also liked to watch them.
Kind of made me a weirdo, but I did.
Seeing my three closest family members and best friends in love was a trip. They couldn’t get enough of each other, and it was adorable to see. When Dean tugged lightly on Eliza’s multi-colored braid, looking at her so full of devotion, I died a little inside. Booker had one hand on Eden’s knee while he talked, and I knew in a few months, that hand would be on her growing belly. Ty kept his arm around June, their chairs snugged up close and their sides pressed together like he’d never let her go again.
I loved to see it…and it kind of broke my heart at the same time. I know: weirdo.
“That gazebo sounds like a piece of craftsmanship,” Dean said to Ty. “I’m planning to put a pre-fab shed on my property, but I think the hardest thing will be pouring the concrete slab.”
Eliza grabbed his arm, leaning into his side. “I can’t let you do the she-shed thing.”
He smiled down at her but turned his attention back to Ty. “We’re working out the details.”
“A shed would be no problem.” Ty took a drink of beer with one hand while his other lightly trailed along June’s arm. “You need any help with that, let me know.”
“I will, thanks.”
“I think the she-shed for your soap business is a great idea,” Eden said between sips of ginger ale.
“So do I, but it’s the principle of the thing.” Eliza shot Eden a look, but her gaze turned moony when it hit Dean again. “It’s too much.”
“No such thing.” He leaned down to place a sweet kiss on the tip of her nose. She gazed back at him like she owned the whole world.
Jealous tentacles squirmed inside me, squeezing and poking until I couldn’t sit still. Maybe I’d watched the love-fest a little too long tonight. Grabbing my purse, I stood up. “I’ll be right back.”
I beelined for the bar. The Broken Hammer was stuffed to the rafters, but I found a couple of empty barstools and ordered another bourbon, trying to squash down the bitterness caroming around inside me. I was happy for the girls—I was. I delighted in their joy as much as anyone, but seeing all three couples at once could be a lot to take.
Too much, really. Like getting the triple-scoop sundae with all the toppings and extra whipped cream. Sweetness overload.
The bartender slid a small glass of amber liquor my way, and I knocked half of it back in one go.
“That was impressive.”
My shoulders sagged even as my heart rate kicked up at the caramel-sweet sound of his voice beside me.Of course he would be here.I hadn’t been able to escape him lately.
Sam slid onto the barstool next to me, a small smile curving along his lips. I swiveled to face him, taking in everything from his dark blue long-sleeve T-shirt and jeans to his black Converse he’d propped on my stool’s footrest. He leaned one elbow on the bar, his body angled toward me, that smile growing wider the longer I looked him over.
“Ugh, don’t,” I said, fiddling with my bourbon’s paper coaster. “I can’t take it right now.”
He toned down his smile, his eyes shifting past me to the couples I’d left behind. “Sorry. Looks a little awkward over there. When did all this happen?”
“In the last year. Eden met Booker last fall and fell madly in love. They got married this summer. June and Ty reconnected during the lead-up to the wedding, and they fell madly in love. Then Eliza started working with Dean and went from wanting to strangle him to—”
“Let me guess: they fell madly in love.”
