Blood and Blade (Goddess with a Blade #6) - Lauren Dane Page 0,106
she gasped, rushing over to get up in Aimee’s space to get a look at her new haircut.
“It’s fantastic. Flirty. So sexy. Mysterious even. My God, why do you have such perfect features for short hair?”
Aimee, used to the way her best friend talked, understood it was all compliments and let herself be drawn into the house as she said her goodbyes to the others over her shoulder.
Once they were out of immediate earshot—though if they’d wanted to, the wolves could easily overhear though it was considered good manners to attempt not to eavesdrop—Aimee grabbed Katie Faith’s hand.
“Spill this story.” Katie Faith pointed at Aimee’s head with her free hand. “This is a reaction haircut. With some get-me-over-something colored tips.”
“This calls for liquor.”
Katie Faith nodded and led the way. In the large and old-school kitchen, her friend poured them each a shot of tequila and then she clinked her glass to Aimee’s. “All right. Let’s hear it.”
“So, Bob called me yesterday. Totally out of the blue.”
Three years before she’d met Bob through her job as a rural social worker. He worked for one of the agencies the grant that funded her job came from.
They’d been on and off over those years. Meeting when she went to Knoxville to check in with some of her clients and at the main office of the social service agency she worked for.
Katie Faith’s “bullshit” eyebrow rose. “Did he, now? In a booty-call way?”
Aimee got up to paw around through the cabinets until she found some chips and came back over.
“Well, it was weird. You know, he and I finally and truly broke things off more than six months back now. I haven’t seen him or spoken to him since. And, well, I know this sounds mean, but I really don’t miss him. It was fun while it lasted, but it was never going anywhere permanent.”
Even if they had both wanted to get more serious, there was still the problem of him not being from Diablo Lake. Bringing a human into town was a big deal. Marrying them into the community took dedication and a real match.
That was never what it had been with Bob.
“So,” Aimee continued, “he told me he wanted to meet up because he’d been thinking about me and I was like, ‘Dude, no, really it’s okay. I’ve moved on, I’m not mad but I’m done.’ So then he’s like, ‘Please can you just meet me? Just a few minutes.’”
She tore open the bag and stuffed her face in between the next two shots.
Katie Faith leaned back in her chair and gave her an appraising look before shaking her head slowly. “Oh, Aimee-girl, you’re going to kill me with this story, aren’t you? Last time you took this many shots of liquor in a short period of time it was the night I got left at the altar.”
Aimee snorted, remembering that gawdawful scene when Darrell Pembry left her best friend waiting at the church to run off with another woman. “Well, this isn’t as horrible as that, at least. However, you don’t even know half. Just wait for it.” She waved a hand. “So it was Friday and that’s when I go down to Knoxville anyway. I agreed to meet him for coffee. Because, girl, no one gets between me and lunch and if it was going to go badly, I didn’t want to mess up a meal.”
They bumped fists. “So say we all,” Katie Faith intoned, which made her laugh.
“I get there and he’s sitting at a table already. I go over and he gives me the gracious-ex cheek kiss and hug and I’m like, he was a pretty good guy, I hope this can be cordial but I’m not feeling any tinglies at all. Not a one.”
And at one time, they’d really had them.
“And then.” She took a bracing breath because even remembering, it filled her with so much emotion. “Sweet, sweet baby Jesus. The man tells me several things. First, he’s married. Has been for fifteen years.” Nausea rose again at the feeling of betrayal that’d washed over her.
“Get out!” Katie Faith yelled it so loud Jace pounded into the room, looking alarmed. She winced at the sight and gave him a sheepish smile. “Sorry, honey. Aimee just told me something totally awful.”
Jace turned his gaze Aimee’s way, staring carefully. “Do you need us to teach someone a lesson for you?”
Aww, he’d just offered to beat a boy up for getting fresh like a real big brother would.