Page 118 of Mr. Flirt

Fall Off a Cliff

Shep

I hadn’t been to the bar across the street for at least a month and a half, maybe longer. All I knew was the last time I was here, Lucy was trying her lines on some poor, unsuspecting victim.

The memories made me smile until my eyes met up with Brendan and Mike. I’d managed to ignore them this long, but I figured to shut them up, I’d agree to come over for drinks and set them straight. I needed time to reevaluate my life and the choices I’d made to get me here.

Holding a cold beer wasn’t going to help things along any. In fact, choosing this joint only made things rawer and turned my anger up a notch at my friends. No, it wasn’t their fault that I was in this situation. I was the idiot who wasn’t really thinking about the ramifications of what my friends said or did. I was solely focused on seeing Lucy again.

But I was the man who lost the love of his life because he couldn’t help himself around his friends. I didn’t want to be a jerk. I’d been lucky in life. Mike had been lucky in love. Poor Brendan was still waiting for his luck, so I never wanted to be the sourpuss. Now, I wish I’d been the sourest of them all.

The bar bustled with the afterwork crowd as the happy hour drew to a close, and Mike and Brendan sat across from me. We were at a table next to a window, so I managed to stare outside more than at my friends. It was April first, and I’d prayed that I wasn’t in store for some practical joke, but being that I wasn’t speaking to them much, I was pretty certain this was just a coincidence.

“How’s it going?” Brendan asked.

My eyes met his. “Been better.”

He nodded. “I can imagine. Actually, I can’t because I’ve never met theOne.”

“Right,” I said flatly, unsure of whether he was trying to make me feel better or not.

“So, what did you guys want?” I asked, taking a sip of my beer. “You got me out, so shoot.”

“Well, we wanted to talk to you,” Mike started. “We know you’re mad at us for roping you into some really ridiculous things. We’ve all been acting like we’re twenty for far too long.”

“And we wanted to apologize.” Brendan frowned. “We really do.”

“You both have. Many times, through text. That’s plenty.”

Mike raised his brows. “Except you don’t respond.”

“I’ve been busy.” I shifted in my seat and scanned the bar. It was nearly filled to capacity.

“Wallowing around over a woman.” Mike stared at me like he wanted to challenge me and push my buttons on purpose.

“You should understand,” I said pointedly. “Imagine if it were Skylar the jokes played out on.”

Mike nodded. “No. I hear ya.”

“I don’t think you do.” I took a sip of beer and noticed one of the regulars in a booth by himself. It was Cliff, the doctor who’d fallen over his tongue that one night Lucy was here practicing flirting. Seeing him made me smile. When she’d come back to our table, Cliff couldn’t keep his eyes off Lucy, and she was blissfully ignorant of the attention. My heart squeezed just thinking about her.

How beautiful she was.

Her intelligence...

The sparks...

“What can we do to rebuild our friendship?” Mike asked, point-blank.

“Our friendship is fine,” I growled. “I just need time, okay? It’s not your fault I’m here. I’m a big boy. I should have remembered the dare and told Lucy about it, but I just let it slide.”

“You’re our best friend.” Brendan pressed his lips together for a few seconds. “And we can see the toll it is taking. You look like shit. You’re holed up in your condo. You won’t even look at another woman.”

I scowled and shook my head. “Why would I? Lucy is who I want. Lucy is who I screwed up. Do you think I should just start sleeping around to forget about her? It won’t work.”

“You’ve said a million times how you know you’ve broken her heart just when she’d finally opened up to someone.”

“Right.” Like I needed to be reminded.

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