Page 94 of Sweet Surrender
Even though he wasn’t in town, like a fool he needed his dose of Taylor and had employed Ruby as his spy, offering private yoga sessions for intel. He felt like he was really going to regret those yoga lessons but if he got word of how Taylor was then it was worth any inappropriate touching or propositions Ruby hit him with.
According to Ruby, Taylor was fine and not missing him at all. Throwing herself into the bar and was coping well after Dale. Beau had been worried how she would handle the fallout, but Ruby assured him that Taylor had reached out to Justine for some sessions to help with dealing. He was so proud of her; his woman was so strong.
“-Tay’s plus one,” Dean said, pulling Beau from his thoughts.
“Wait, what? Is that for the wedding?” Beau demanded, his palms starting to sweat.Was she bringing a date?
“And now we know why he’s such a Gloomy Gus,” Blake said, a shit-eating grin on his face that Beau didn’t appreciate one bit.
“Hey, I remember what you were both like when your lady loves didn’t want you so let’s cut me some slack, alright?” Beau snapped.
“You’re absolutely right. I was a complete mess over Justine,” Blake said, shuddering as he remembered the dark time.
“Same. Sorry dude. I know my sister, she’ll come around. Unless you did something that I need to know about?” Dean’s expression turned slightly feral.
Beau opened his mouth, ready to tell Dean that he was ‘let’s get married, adopt fifteen babies and grow old together’ in love with Taylor but he was interrupted.
“Where is he?” A deep voice boomed through the house and then Will was standing in the doorway of Blake’s living room, currently painted a bright shade of orange. “Come here you sorry sonofabitch!” he shouted, opening his arms wide and he and Dean hugged before Will greeted Beau and Blake.
Beau felt guilt prickle at him. It was meant to be Dean’s last night of bachelordom and here he was being a mopey moperson with a broken heart. He needed to do better.
“You’re meant to be my bestie, why did you greet him first?” Beau fake pouted, shoving a beer into Will’s hand.
“Aw don’t be jelly, precious, I just needed to make him feel special,” Will teased before turning back to Dean. “How are you feeling man? Ready to run yet?”
“Hell naw, I’m excited. Can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with her, it’ll be our greatest adventure yet,” Dean said.
Jealousy punched Beau straight in the gut. That’s how he would feel if it was him and Taylor. He would give anything to be in Dean’s position. Their life together would be exciting, she would keep him on his toes, he would love the opportunity to keep surprising her. It would be magical.Magical?Dude…oh fuck off, it would be.
Will shuddered next to him.
“What’s wrong with that?” Blake asked.
Beau slung his arm around Will’s shoulders. “My man here is a serial one and done. Not the marrying kind.”
“It’s true. Although marriage makes great business sense, it makes yucky personal sense. It ain’t for me,” Will added.
Blake shook his head. “Dude, I’ve only known you a few months and I love you but, that’s bullshit. You just haven’t found the one who makes all your pieces fit together. Once you find that, you’ll change your tune, trust me.”
A contemplative look crossed Will’s face and he fell into silence.
“I think you broke him…” Dean quipped.
“Bullshit, I’m just wondering when you’re gonna feed me?” Will replied, snapping out of it.
Beau laughed and as best man, it was his duty to organize the pizza. Dean said he didn’t want anything fancy for his last night as a single man, just the guys, pizza and beers. He wanted to be with his family before the big day.
They ate, drank, watched movies and rough-housed when Blake challenged Will to an arm wrestle which quickly escalated. Dean backed down, his excuse that Christy would kill them if he turned up tomorrow with a black eye, and they couldn’t disagree.
They went to bed but Beau lay awake most of the night thinking about seeing Taylor tomorrow, his emotions at odds, feeling like he was about to have a big exam in the morning but also like a kid at Christmas. Fuck, he wished he pressed Ruby for more info. Was Taylor pissed he stayed away? Happy? Unaffected? Had she already found a new man? She did have a plus one to the wedding, what if she brought a date? His heart thudded at the thought before he decided to put her out of his mind and finally fell into a fitful sleep where she continued to torment him in his dreams.
Chapter 25
Anxiety burned in Taylor’s throat but hey, it was a nice break from the constant misery she’d felt over the last month, ever since he left her. She was adrift, floating around day to day without her anchor grounding her.
Beau had come back into her life, burrowed under her skin and set up home before he left her all over again. She couldn’t work out what was more painful, seeing him or not seeing him. She didn’t care anymore. She just knew she missed him with every fiber of her being. Missed coming home to him, telling him about the crazy customers she had at the bar. Missed hearing about his clients at the gym, missed baking dates with him, being kissed by him, waking up next to him. She just missedhim.
She tried to move on, but it was like he’d taken her joy with him when he left. She’d hit her life goal and bought the second half of the bar, but she felt no triumph. The only person she wanted to tell about it wasn’t around, he’d abandoned her just like she was afraid he would. She wasn’t even mad he’d left this time. She was just empty. So she continued floating around, her days without him insignificant, indistinguishable.
