Page 14 of Liberating Bells
Nausea sets root in my stomach, and I take a deep breath in through my nose to try to quell it.
As soon as I’m in my chair, I reach for my phone, picking up on line one. Back to work. “Ms. Stevenson, this is Ryan Miller. Thank you for returning my call.”
I force myself back into business mode, focusing on my job. I have to think about this rationally, so I don’t royally fuck everything up again. Izabel loves Mark, she must. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have said yes to his proposal.
So then why does it bother me this much?
Because it’s her.
No matter how much I try to convince myself or anyone else, it’s useless—I’m definitely not over Izabel, even after all this time.
6
RYAN
Liam’s groanreverberates through the bar as I sink the 8-ball into the pocket. I look over at my friend and grin victoriously. He glowers at me as he leans over our table, his head buried in his arms. Walking over, I pat him on the shoulder.
“There, there.”
Liam shrugs my hand off his shoulder and stands up, shooting me a glare. “That’s the third time you’ve beaten me, Miller. You sure you ain’t a pool shark?”
I lean against my pool cue and smirk. “I’ll never tell my secrets.”
Todd watches us with amusement as he refills his glass with beer from the pitcher. We’ve been here for a few hours now. The guys offered to take me out for my birthday: nothing terribly exciting, just a few guys in a bar with beers and pool.
I’m honestly having a blast.
It’s been a while since I had a guys’ night with anyone other than Teddy. Liam and Todd are so busy these days that it’s been hard to get us all together. They concocted the plan without me knowing until the last moment. Much to my surprise, though, they fully delivered on a good birthday celebration.
“Rematch,” Liam growls, standing up and stalking back over to the table where he re-racks the balls. “I break this time.”
I shake my head as I watch my friend. “That’s not going to give you an advantage. You broke last time.”
“Bet?” he all but snarls in my direction. I know it’s in jest, but it amuses me greatly that he’s so bothered. “I’m onto you, Miller.”
From what I’ve gathered, it’s been a while since Liam was allowed out of the house. With his wife, Juliet, just now getting out of her residency and into an attending position, and a one-year-old at home, he’s been booked solid. Thankfully, a lot of Liam’s work can be done from home, which allows him the chance to spend time with his son during the day.
Todd chuckles from his seat. I’ve offered to let him play, but he says he’s having too much fun watching me hand Liam’s ass to him.
“How’s the biz going, Ryan?” Todd asks, as Liam positions his cue and breaks the pool balls with acrack. They scatter across the table in a mess of solids and stripes.
“It’s good,” I say, watching Liam scowl. He takes aim and sinks a solid. “I’ve got a few projects lining up.”
“I heard Izabel paid you a visit,” Liam says and sinks another solid.
I raise my eyebrows at him. I hadn’t told anyone of her impromptu raid on my office. “How’d you hear that?”
Liam glances at me after he misses his next shot. “Your turn. Try not to miss. And Jules and Izabel tell each other everything. Mostly.”
“Mostly?” I line up my shot.
My opponent stands to the side and rocks back and forth on his cue. I hope it falls out from underneath him. I would laugh for days. “Izabel is not allowed to comment on Jules’s parentingtechniques, and Jules is not allowed to talk about Mark, other than to ask how he is.”
Mark.
His name thunders through my head, and I miss my next shot. Liam rubs his hands together in glee, no doubt thinking about how he’s two up from me.
“What’s with that guy? For real.”
