“If you’re having one.”
“Yep.” Chassie planned on having a whole lotta beer. She definitely needed alcohol to get the conversation started and probably an entire case to follow through with her plan. She took two bottles of Bud Light from the door and passed one to him. Snick, hiss, pop echoed, as the lids were untwisted.
Edgard’s backside rested against one counter; hers on the one across from him. She gulped her beer, cautioning herself to be tactful and calm, but what burst forth from her mouth was, “Are you in love with my husband?”
He visibly paled. And knocked back an equally big swallow of Budweiser in lieu of answering.
“I’ve heard Trevor’s side. I talked to Channing and to Colby. So that leaves you.”
“And if I say yes, Chassie? What then?”
“I’m totally thinkin’ we have a gunfight in the street to determine who’s tough enough to win Trevor’s affections,” she said lightly.
That brought a slight smile. “You are a smartass.”
“And you are avoidin’ the question, amigo.”
“Jesus, do you know how hard it is to look at you and answer that question?”
“No harder than it is to look you in the eye and ask it.”
“Touché.” Edgard picked at the label. “Do I love him? That’s what I came here to figure out. Or if I’d given so much importance to the memory of him—to the memory of us—that I wasn’t able to move on.”
“Like you’d somehow…glorified your past?”
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Edgard nodded. “I seemed to remember only the good times. And because we weren’t public about our relationship, there were plenty of bad times.”
Chassie inhaled a slow breath. “This ain’t me bein’ cruel, but I hafta ask. Did you honestly believe he’d take you home to meet his folks and you’d settle down on a little ranch, just the two of you?”
“No.” Edgard let the bottle dangle between his fingers and repeated, “No. Never.
That’s one of the reasons I left. I realized Trevor could never be for me what I needed.”
“Is that another reason why you’re here? To see if I’m enough for him??”
Those honey-brown eyes met hers. “Yes.”
“Have you come to a conclusion?”
“Not even fucking close. I’m more confused than ever.”
“That makes two of us.”
Silence stretched as they pretended to drink their beer.
Finally Chassie broke. “I told Channing it’d be easier if I hated you.”
Edgard studied her. “You did?”
“Yeah.”
“You really don’t hate me?”
“No. Are you shocked?”
“Completely.”
“I actually like you.” She swigged from the bottle. “Ain’t that a kick in the ass?”
“I guess we’re even on that account, because there’s something mighty likeable about you, little Chassie.”
She snorted. “Little.” Then she drained her beer and slammed the empty on the table, avoiding his gaze. “Jesus, it sounds stupid in my head, and it’ll sound even dumber when I say it out loud. But I can see why Trevor was drawn to you.”
Edgard stiffened up.
His defensive posture made her blurt out, “It ain’t only that GQ cover model face and smokin’ hot body you’ve got goin’ on. You are like him in so many ways. Yet so 118
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different. You complement him. Not in the same way I do. And that doesn’t seem like such a bad thing. And I can’t believe I even think that, let alone said it.”
The air crackled with tension.
“That isn’t helping clear up my confusion, Chassie.”
“I don’t give a flying fig if it is or not. It needed to be said.”
“Got anything else that needs to be said?”
“Yeah.”
“Then spit it out.”
She didn’t answer. She didn’t know if she could.
The dryer buzzed in the cellar.
“Look at me.”
Chassie shook her head, hating how the demand wrapped within his silken command caused her heart to pound faster.
Then Edgard was in her space. His hand cupped her jaw, forcing her head up. “You do not get to drop that bomb and then pretend you didn’t light the fuse as you’re standing there holding the match.”
“That fits, because I feel like I’m walking through a goddamn minefield when it comes to this. None of this makes sense. You’re in love with my husband and despite those warning signs I could actually lose him, I’m…”
“What? Tell me.”