Conception (The Wellingtons #4) - Tessa Teevan Page 0,102
Apparently, I’m shit out of luck.
Think, Knox.
So she’s not here, but she’s not far. Snapping my fingers, I race back to my car.
Mickey’s.
Where else would she be?
Except when I slip my leather jacket on, run a hand through my hair, and force myself to remain calm and walk into Mickey’s like I own the place—not exude the desperation I’m feeling—Amelia’s nowhere to be found.
The chime of the door cuts through the Queen song playing on the jukebox, and when I look to the bar, Sunny’s surprised eyes are on mine. She’s in the middle of wiping the bar, her movements stopping when our gazes meet. I make a beeline for her, and she raises an eyebrow as I drop myself into a stool across from her.
She turns away, and I tap my fingers on the counter impatiently while she pours two fingers of whisky then slides it to me.
“Look what the cat dragged in.”
“Nice to see you too, Sunny.” That’s enough for pleasantries. “Where’s Amelia?”
She chuckles. “Wow, you get right to the point, don’t you?”
My forefinger rims the glass she put in front of me. The whisky is calling to me, its sweet scent a promise to take the edge off, to calm me down, but if Amelia isn’t here, I can’t be impaired.
“When you go eight goddamn months away from the woman you love, yeah, you kinda wanna get to the point.”
Her eyes widen. “Well, this certainly is an interesting turn of events.”
“Sunny, as much I enjoy you, I already got the run around from your grandmother.”
She leans across the bar. “You left, Knox. Why should I tell you where she is?”
Irritation swells in me, and I reel in my temper before I do something I regret. Like shaking Sunny until she tells me what I want to know.
Tossing back the whisky, I slam the glass down, wincing when it nearly shatters under my fingertips. “Why do you people keep saying that? She pushed me away!”
“You weren’t here, Knox. I was. I was the one brushing her tears. The one forcing her to eat when she had no appetite. She was a mess and you weren’t here,” she repeats.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to argue with her. Of course I didn’t know what a mess she was. Amelia all but pushed me away. I was ready to jump all in, headfirst, into the deep end with her. Instead, I basically got a, “Thanks for a great summer. Maybe I’ll see ya around,” from the woman who’d captured my heart.
Not wanting to pour out my heart to Sunny in front of the whole crowd who got to witness my summer romance last year, I lean in, lowering my voice. “I’m not a fucking mind reader, Sunny.”
“Maybe you should’ve been.”
I hold her steely gaze, fighting the urge to punch my fist through the counter, both because I need to keep my calm to get answers and I’m not really keen on breaking my hand before finding her.
Thankfully, Joe takes this exact moment to walk behind the bar, a sight for sore eyes. I nearly sigh in relief when he saunters towards us. Throwing a towel over his shoulder, he glances between me and his girl. I don’t know if it’s the desperation on my face or what, but the guy takes pity on me. He takes out two shot glasses and pours something without a label. Then he tosses one back and slides the other towards me. I let the peace offering rest in front of me, not taking my eyes off his girlfriend.
“Sun, babe, go check on the guys at the pool table and let me talk to Knox.”
She pouts up at him, but he sets his jaw. Then she rolls her eyes. “Fine. At least this way I won’t be lying when I tell Amelia it wasn’t me.”
I raise my empty glass in a toast to him. “You’re a saint for taking that one off the market. It takes one hell of a man to handle her.”
Joe grins. “You have no fucking idea.”
And I don’t want to.
“I didn’t leave Crystal Cove because I wanted to,” I say. “I had to go. Amelia told me to.”
“I don’t think it’s so much that you left. More that you never came back.”
Before I can protest, because I really want to fucking protest, Joe leans a forearm on the bar.
With a low voice, he keeps going. “I know, man. It makes no fucking sense. Women. I’ve overheard enough to know that