Page 78 of Secrets That Bind Us
The door to the bar opens, and Tiffany Myers steps through. I dart my eyes away, knock back my own shot, and let the warmth of the whiskey settle in. I don't normally drink whiskey, but with everything else going on, and Will giving us the news that we'll be opening The Ink Plot sooner rather than later, it felt like a good night to have a girl's night.
In one of the only two bars in the outskirts in a town of barely two thousand people.
Where half of the women here have probably fucked Dean.
And the other half knows I broke his heartand thentried to fuck him.
I groan inwardly and blow out a whiskey-tinged breath before I start doing math in my head and hurt my own feelings. I can't wait to leave Adelaide in my rearview mirror again.
As soon as we walked in, it felt like a record scratched and everyone turned to face me.
I clear my throat. "Out of all the questions you could have asked me, that one was not on my BINGO card."
She shrugs. "Just thought I'd ask, seeing as to how you've kept so much from me recently."
"Ouch," I sigh, knowing I earned that jab. "I haven't gone because I'm still trying to process all of it. Dean. Us. The shop. The parlor. The house. The wedding. Seven hundred pounds of coffee." I flick my gaze to hers and lift a corner of my mouth up into a smirk.
She matches it and starts to giggle. "Oh my God, it was so much coffee."
I start giggling too, "I thought the boxes were gonna fall on top of me."
"The online thing said fourteen ounce bags! I thought it meant fourteenouncebags!"
I throw my head back this time and laugh,reallylaugh until we're both pointing to the other because we might be in our thirties, but goddamn, we're still dumb. Soon my stomach hurts, and Zoey's wiping at her eyes when we finally stop. I shake my head. "Fuck, I missed you." And it’s true. I’ve missed nights like tonight where I can justbewith my best friend.
She blinks at me, still smiling when the bartender gives us our shots, and we knock them back quickly. "Do you… remember that time we went to Austin with our guys, and Dean kept making Van Gogh puns?"
I nod, grimacing at remembering how awful they got.
She tips her empty shot glass to me, still smiling. "That's when I knew The Sheriff was for you."
"Remember that time your daddy went with mine to some pig auction, and we stole your daddy's tractor and went riding around his farm, but it got stuck, and Evan came with his daddy's tow truck, and pulled us out?"
She nods, beaming, eyes glassy.
"That's when I knew Evan was yours. I think y'all were broken up at the time."
"We were."
"Why?"
"I caught him helping some freshman with her homework." She scrunches her nose.
My mouth drops open in shock. "Zoey!"
She tilts her head back, cackles, then covers her face with her empty hand. Her engagement ring glints in the stage lights. "Oh my God, I was so stupid. I just hated seeing him so close to her, and she was all over him. Ugh!"
"I don't think there's ever been anyone else for Evan other than you."
She points at me, still holding tight to the empty shot glass. "Not true. He datedTiffany Myersin seventh grade when he first moved here for a whole ten weeks. Slimy bastard." She grimaces. "I can't believe he dated someone before me."
I gasp and throw my hands in the air dramatically. "The gall! The audacity! To date a girl before he ever met you."
She slams her hand on the bar top. "That's what I said! I knew you’d get it." She giggles again, then waggles her brows at me. "You know, we fucked in that tractor after you left."
I shake my head. "Of course you did." Then I groan and rub my forehead. "Oh no... you just reminded me Savannah's about to be that age where she's... you know..."
"Horny?"
