I felt like I belonged. I usually came here when stuff got rough with my old lady, but I came tonight because the past twenty-four hours had been absolute shit.
Bad news from the labels aside, I missed Lace. I kept wanting to call her but wouldn’t. Expecting her to appear, but she didn’t. And it killed me.
“Why do you have sunglasses on?” Ann asked around a huge bite of cake, the last one on her plate.
“None of your business, squirt,” I said without any heat.
“Because he drank too much.” Miriam frowned, and then so did the little one. “Like Dad used to when he was here.”
Miriam was right. I’d woken up a few hours ago in a puddle of my own drool. I still had cotton mouth and a pounding headache that resulted from mixing a shit-ton of booze with the pill cocktail Kyle had served me last night.
Suddenly, I heard shouting, surprised it was Bryan’s mom. She hardly ever raised her voice. Turning in the direction of the yelling, I saw her.
Lace.
She stood only a couple of feet from me, her back pressed against the wall. A moment after our gazes connected, her expression went from surprise to a remote mask. I suspected she’d been trying to slip out the door while my back had been turned.
Wanting her, I reached for her before I remembered she’d defied me. Shown her true colors. So I kept my arms where they were, empty at my sides. The couple of feet separating us might as well have been ten thousand miles.
“What the hell?” I narrowed my gaze. She couldn’t see my eyes behind the sunglasses, but they were full of fire. I was pissed. She did this to us, not me. “What are you doing here?”
“You don’t have a right to ask me anything anymore.” Lace lifted her chin, practically breathing fire. “Why are you here?”
“What right do you have to ask,” I said, throwing her words back at her, and she flinched as if she were the injured party in this scenario.
I hated myself that I had to curl my fingers into fists to keep from reaching for her. I wanted to comfort her, even though I’d been the one to cause her discomfort. It was crazy.
“Right. My bad.” Her beautiful amber eyes bright, she tossed a lock of her hair over her shoulder. “I guess we did say all that needed to be said the other night.”
“Babe, I—”
“Not your babe. Not anything to you, apparently.”
I frowned. “Not true.”
“How’s it not? You cut me down. Made me feel like less than nothing.” Her lip trembled. “In front of everyone.”
“You were the one who drew the blade,” I said. “Knifed me in the back. Opposed me when you should have stood with me, on a night that could have secured our future. You did that.” My brows snapped together. “Not me.”
Holding her arms stiff at her sides, she was upset but defiant and glorious. Her eyes shining. Pink in her cheeks. Rapid breaths lifting her perfectly round tits. Even mad as hell at her, I wanted to fuck her.
“I don’t want to fight with you.” Lace’s shoulders drooped as the anger suddenly seemed to drain out of her. “I mean, what’s the point. You’re right. I’m wrong. You already decided.”
“You have it all messed up.” Frustrated, I shook my head.
Lace was the one who’d duped me into thinking we were on the same page, that my dream for us was her dream. I wasn’t a priority for her. I wasn’t a priority for anyone. Alone to look after myself once again, I had to return to my former harsh reality before I’d detoured with her.
A door popped open in the hall behind me. I knew by Lace’s expression that Bryan had appeared. I hated it, the way her eyes softened whenever she looked at him. He wasn’t the sweet boy she’d once known. That was fairy-tale bullshit.
“War. Fu— I mean, hey,” Bryan said, all overly cool. “I wasn’t expecting to see you tonight.”
“Yeah, apparently not.” I shifted so I could see both him and Lace.
Unfortunately, his mom was also in my peripheral vision. Trapped in the hall behind him, she seemed upset. I didn’t want her to be upset. She was one of the few adults—including Mr. Garrett and Addy Footit—who didn’t think my existence was a waste of oxygen.
Bryan raked a hand through his hair. “Not trying to hide anything, man.”
“Why’s Lace here then?”
“He invited me to come up,” she said,