Then, I walk out of that house with the sounds of her yelling behind me, and I feel truly free for the first time in my life.
I’ve tried not to care, tried to pretend that I’m okay.
I know the truth now, so I can move on.
But thing is…I can’t.
The more I’ve sat and thought about what Ava did, the angrier I’ve gotten. The more I think about Evie keeping the truth from me while climbing into my bed and making me want her again, the more the anger manifesting inside me grows like a fucking tornado, and I feel ready to blow.
But worst of all, I miss Evie. I miss her more than I did in all those ten years combined. Even now, after all of this, I still love her.
Can you believe it?
I’m seriously fucked in the head.
But then Evie’s absence has always been the hole in my life that I could never fill.
Maybe I deserve this shit because I’m such a stupid fucker.
The bartender has just poured me another drink when the door to Reilly’s opens.
Max slides onto the stool beside me. “Good to see you’re spending your time off work effectively.”
“What are you doing here?” I pick up my glass and take a drink.
“Well, I haven’t heard from you in five days, which is a long time in our world and weird for you ’cause you always have been such a needy bitch when it comes to me. So, I called your office, and Mark told me that you weren’t in today and that you haven’t been in all week, which is odd for you because you never take a day off, not even when you’re sick. You know, I’ve never been able to wrap my head around that because you fucking hate that studio.”
“And your point is?” I take another drink before placing the glass on the bar. I curl my hand around it.
“My point is, the studio is where you hide. You hide in that place, burying your shit in your work. You’re not there, so something is severely wrong. I called your cell.” He points to it on the bar. “And you’re clearly ignoring that, so I stopped by the hotel.”
“You stalking me?”
“Always. You know I can’t get enough of your hot body.”
That almost gets a smile out of me.
“I’m your friend, Adam. I wanted to check on you and make sure you were okay.” Max tells the approaching barman, “Couple of fingers of whiskey and another of whatever this asshat is nursing.” He squints at my glass. “What the fuck is that anyway? Water?”
“Vodka, neat, assface.”
“If you’re looking to get shitfaced, that’s the way to do it.”
That’s exactly what I’m aiming to do, what I’ve been doing these past few days.
I take another sip of vodka, enjoying the burn down my throat. It’s the only thing currently reminding me that I’m still alive.
“I saw Evie.” Max drops the words into the air like a dirty bomb.
My eyes flash to his, and I slam my glass back down on the bar, nearly breaking it.
“You, what?”
“I saw Evie.”
“When?” I grit my teeth so hard that my jaw might shatter.
“When I stopped by the hotel, looking for you, and of course, you weren’t there. So, I went to the coffee shop.”
The barman puts our drinks down on the bar.
“Thanks,” Max says to him. He picks his glass up and takes a sip. “Fuck, that’s good.”
“Evie?” I growl. Jesus, it hurts to even say her name.
He puts the glass down, lifting a brow at me. “By the way, thanks for telling me that you were still married, fuckface. Gotta say, I didn’t see that coming.”
I don’t even have the energy to be sorry for not telling him. “I told you that she was back. You didn’t need to know any more than that.”
Ignoring me, he says, “I’m going to take it that you were severely embarrassed by the fact that you never filed those annulment papers, and that’s why you hid it from me. For future reference, I already know what a loser you are, so you don’t need to hide anything from me. And I’ll also forgive you for not telling me that you were fucking her again because I already figured that one out. You don’t need to be a genius to know that—even though I am a genius. You and Evie never could be in the same room without mauling each other.”
“I don’t want a fucking history lesson,” I say through gritted teeth. “What I want to know is why you were talking to Evie.”
“Because you were in hiding, and she clearly had the answer as to why.”
“And?”
“And we talked. She told me everything, including what happened the other day. She told me why she…left you.”
I look away.