Three Years Later
I woke up staring at the stained ceiling of the cheap motel room. My head throbbed. My mouth tasted like whiskey and regret. A woman shifted beside me in the bed. I turned my head and looked at her. The blonde with her bare skin is tangled in cheap motel sheets. I didn't remember her name.
Did I ever?
I sighed and swung my legs off the bed. The carpet felt sticky under my boots.
"Hey," I said flatly.
She stretched like a cat, smiling lazily. "Morning, baby."
Her voice grated against my skull.
"Why are you still here?" I asked.
I bent down, grabbed her dress and heels from the floor, and tossed them onto the bed. Her smile vanished instantly. I needed her gone.
"What are you talking about?" she said, sitting up. "You fucked me all night. I thought..."
"Yeah," I cut in.
I didn't even look at her.
"You thought wrong."
She stared at me like I'd slapped her.
"I gave you the best night of your life," she said, trying to sound confident, but there was a crack in her voice now.
She pushed the sheet aside and walked toward me completely naked. Before Eden, she might have done something for me. But now? I feel nothing. Just another warm body. Just another night trying to forget. I drank on every run now. Every stop at every bar, I can find. Most nights ended the same way, whiskey, a stranger, and a morning I barely remembered.
Because when I stayed sober…
I thought about Eden.
About the way she smiled when she was nervous. About the coffee shop she wanted to open. About the night she disappeared. About the broken glass and the blood on the counter.
About Click's voice yelling. The gunfire popped. For six months he was in recovery. I forced the memory away. The woman reached for me, her hand sliding down my stomach.
"You don't mean that," she purred.
Her fingers brushed my cock. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward the door.
"What are you doing?" she yelped. "I thought—"
I opened the motel door and shoved her out into the cold morning air. She was naked, but I didn't care. I do not like repeating myself. She shrieked. I tossed her clothes after her and slammed the door shut. The lock clicked. Silence filled the room again. My phone buzzed on the nightstand.
Click:
I see your new conquest isn't happy.
I snorted. He was watching from his own room. He was probably laughing his ass off. He loves it when things go wrong for me. Things have not been the same since Eden left. On some level he blames me.
Cash:
Yeah. Well, she knew where we stood.
Three dots appeared. Then another message.
Click:
Get your shit together. We leave in an hour.
Another message popped up.
Click:
There's a diner down the street.
We can grab breakfast before we head back.
I stared at the message for a long moment. A diner down the street sounds perfect for my hangover. Funny how life works. Because somewhere down the road, in a small diner neither of us knew about yet…
Everything was about to change.