Anything but Minor - Kate Stewart Page 0,77
still on Rafe as his smile remained. “That man standing at the door is Rafe “The Bullet” Hembrey and he’s going to the show!” The whole bar erupted as Rafe began to walk forward and let go of my hand. Andy rounded the bar and met him halfway as they did the man-hug thing. Andy caught my eye over Rafe’s shoulder, and I gave him a wink before I moved my gaze over to Kristina. She stood paralyzed as her solemn face searched mine for any sign of emotion. I kept my face firm as the entirety of the bar stepped up to congratulate Rafe one by one.
“Drinks on the fucking house!” Andy declared as the noise level increased. I let my face fail me briefly and saw Kristina move and shook my head in a firm no.
She nodded once and began to pour as orders were thrown at her in rapid succession. I moved to help her, but Andy caught my hand. I looked up to him as his gentle blue eyes peered down at me. “Kristina could use my help—” I laughed dryly “—and yours.”
“Alice—”
“Please don’t,” I said as I ripped my hand away and walked behind the bar. Kristina and I knocked out the orders as Rafe and Andy chatted animatedly at one of the cocktail tables.
“Alice,” Kristina said in a plea as she dried a highball glass with a towel, “God, are you okay?”
I blew out a breath. I was finally numb enough to answer. “I just wanted a little more time.” I shrugged as another overwhelming round of pain shot through my chest. “It was too good to be true.”
“You don’t believe that.”
“Men like that...” I said as I gripped Mac’s empty mug and poured a horrible draft of foam. “Men like Rafe are too much to keep.” I turned to look at Kristina and saw her eyes on Rafe. I took a step back as he glanced our way with a smile. I smiled back as Kristina averted her eyes. Realization dawned as I studied her face, the same devastation I felt etched all over it. Alarm struck me first as I watched her heart break. Slight anger surfaced as I realized how obvious it had been, and then an overwhelming sense of understanding replaced it. Of course she loved Rafe. God, I’d been so damned blind. She’d been nothing but good to me since we’d met, and not only that, she’d been forced to watch us fall in love.
My heart ached for her as I watched her eyes avert painfully, the same expression she’d worn a dozen or so times in his presence. I’d been completely oblivious, too happy in my newfound love and ignorant to her infatuation. I felt the guilt replace the anger as I stepped over to her and wrapped my arm around her waist in a half-hug. “The man we love is leaving.”
Kristina looked over to me with tear-filled eyes. “Fuck, Alice, I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t, if you cry, I’ll cry.”
“Then I’ll cry,” Mac said in a drunken slur. Kristina ignored him as her eyes scanned my face for any sign of anger. I turned to her and pulled her to me with a whisper. “I love you, too, but back off my man, bitch.”
She laughed as she pulled away from me and caught her tears before they escaped. “I’ve been so damned stupid. He never even saw me.” She gulped back more tears as she began to wipe the water rings off the bar and looked over at me with clear guilt. “I would never ever do anything to—”
“I know.” I picked up a bottle and poured two shots of something blue. She grabbed her glass and mine and threw the liquid in the sink. “That’s not a shot, Alice.”
“Make it strong,” I urged as she began gathering bottles and I studied her. She was insanely beautiful. I would never understand it. “How could he not see you?”
“I guess he was waiting for you.”
“You could have told me.”
“Then I would have missed out on you.”
Her lips pursed and her eyes closed with emotion as I questioned her. “Andy?”
“He knows,” she said with the shake of her head. “He figured it out.” She shook the tin filled with ice and liquor as she spoke. “I’m leaving for Atlanta in two weeks. Andy still doesn’t want me to go, but I can’t stay. I feel guilty, you know?”
“For not loving him?”
“I’ve reached the conclusion that I love them both,” she said