was to buy you a CBC Wit and hot wings or anything else you wanted and put it on his tab. You ready for it now?” Ray asked.
“I guess. Thanks.” She dared to look at Shelly after Ray spun to get their order.
Shelly wore a distinct I told you so expression of her own as she said, “He texted the bartender at your favorite bar and asked him to send you your favorite beer and food.”
“And his nickname is Heartbreaker,” Alicia added.
“Maybe it’s ironic,” Shelly suggested.
“Or maybe he’s a player,” she pointed out.
Shelly lifted one shoulder. “You’ll never know if you don’t give him a chance.”
“I’ll just have to live with not knowing, thank you.”
She said it, but as Ray set the beer in front of her, the question remained, could she do it?
TWENTY-FOUR
Coming home felt . . . different.
He knew the reason for that. Alicia.
The proof was in the fact that the wheels had barely touched down on the tarmac and he had his cell out and powered on, just to check for a message from her.
There was none. Which didn’t help his mood.
Neither did the fact that there was a voicemail from his mother.
As he listened to her excited retelling of how Dale had proposed to her on the beach in Hawaii, he realized he could have done without the message. He’d have been better off if his mom had ghosted him as completely as Alicia had.
So there he sat at McP’s Pub on his regular barstool drinking his usual beer in their established homecoming ritual, and not enjoying a moment of it. Because every time he checked his cell phone, there still wasn’t a message from Alicia on there.
And now he was torn. Did he send her one even though he’d made last contact and she’d never responded?
A sudden thought hit him. Was this how women felt when he didn’t return their texts?
He was hit with a wave of guilt over every time he’d ghosted a girl, because this—this waiting in limbo—fucking sucked.
Maybe he did deserve the nickname Heartbreaker after all.
“What are you pouting about?” Liam asked.
“I’m not pouting.” He scowled at being caught in what might possibly be construed as a pout.
“Gotta agree with Lucky, Heartbreaker. That there looks like a definite pout.” Ray’s agreement only had him scowling deeper.
It was a sad day when a man couldn’t count on his bartender to be on his side.
“Whatever,” he mumbled.
“What’s wrong, buddy? Your girl giving you grief?” Liam asked.
It would be nice if he could bitch to his teammates about his real problems with his fake girlfriend, but, real or not, he couldn’t admit to them she was ghosting him. Or that there was a good chance he would never see her again. Or how very much that idea bothered him.
Instead, he shook his head and revealed another truth—one he didn’t mind sharing. “My mother got engaged while we were gone.”
Liam’s eyes brightened. “Really? That’s great.”
He drew back. “No, it’s not.”
“Why? What’s the problem?” Liam asked.
“I barely know him. Hell, she barely knows him. I only met the guy once but I’m not sure if I trust him.”
“Want me to take him out for you?” Liam smirked as, in a gangster voice, he jokingly offered to kill Brian’s mother’s new fiancé.
“No, smart ass. I don’t.”
“Then I guess you’re going to have to let your mother live her own life. She’s an adult. It’s her decision.”
His head came up as Liam echoed Alicia’s words almost exactly. Two people. One opinion. And both of them disagreed with him.
Was he not seeing the situation clearly because he was too close to it? Could he be wrong about Dale and his mother? That thought was yet another thing to put him in a cranky mood.
“Anyway, I’m outta here.” Liam plunked his glass down next to his money and squeezed Brian’s shoulder. “Go visit your girl. I’m sure she can cheer you up. Make you forget you’re getting a new daddy.”
New daddy. Fuck.
He grunted an obscenity-laden response as Liam headed out the door, leaving him alone with his beer and Ray the traitor, who walked over now and slid a piece of paper in front of him.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“Your bill from your girlfriend’s beer and wings.”
His brows flew high. “She was here?”
“Of course, she was here. You think I’m making it up?” Ray grumbled.
“No.” He couldn’t help his smile. Alicia had been here and she’d let him buy her a beer and wings. That had to be a good sign. “Did