Chapter Twenty-One

Aiden

 

My eyes hurt, my head hurt, hell, my teeth hurt. I stared across the living room, where I’d apparently fallen asleep in the chair by the window. Liam was asleep on the couch and Luke in the recliner by the door.

I vaguely remembered the night before as I started to stretch. These two, my friends, had come over, tossed me in the pool, and Blake…oh fuck, Blake. What had I done?

I got up quickly, too quickly, and fell back into the chair. My hands covered my head that now rested in them, throbbing.

“How do you feel?” Liam asked.

I looked up to face my friend, and felt embarrassed and ashamed.

“Rough,” I mumbled.

“I bet. You tied a pretty good one on for the last couple days,” he replied, no teasing, no smile, no playfulness in his voice.

I felt like an asshole. I knew I’d treated Blake horribly, and I barely remembered her leaving, but I remembered.

“Where’s Blake?” I asked, still groggy.

“She stayed with Alyssa,” Liam answered, still no expression.

Luke stirred in the chair, his eyes opening to the situation at hand. I was glad they’d come over, snapped me out of it, and, from the feel of my shoulders and my jaw, kicked my ass to make me listen.

“So, you’ve been in love with her for years?” Liam asked, sounding like he already knew the answer.

I stared into his eyes, unsure of what all I told him, what all I’d admitted to.

“I wish you would’ve told me,” Liam added.

“I’m sorry. I don’t think I even knew, not really,” I admitted.

“From what you told me last night, things had really heated up between you two,” Liam smirked, finally a hint of emotion.

Oh God, I’d apparently told him everything. How stupid. That was his little sister.

“Well, it doesn’t matter now. I fucked things up pretty good,” I responded.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be fixed,” Liam offered.

“Why don’t you call her?” Luke suggested.

The sun was starting to come up, and I knew I needed to get to work, but hearing Blake’s voice would make my day easier. I wanted to know she’d forgiven me, that she was coming home.

“Okay,” I agreed, grabbing my phone from the table beside me.

I called, and it rang, over and over, but no answer.

I hung up, dropped my head back to my hands, and thought about what I would do if she’d left forever.

“She’ll come around,” Luke encouraged.

Liam just shook his head.

“I don’t know. Things got pretty bad,” Liam added.

“How bad?” I questioned, hoping he could shine some light on the parts that were foggy.

“She said your abuela knew,” Liam sighed.

My heart ached as I remembered those words coming from Blake’s sweet mouth. I was an ass, a complete ass. I’d betrayed my abuela and hurt the woman I loved, and if my abuela knew, my mother must’ve known as well.

“What am I going to do?” I gasped.

“Get a shower, drink some coffee, and go to work,” Luke said sternly.

“The rest will work out,” Liam said promisingly.

I wasn’t so sure I believed him. I’d made one hell of a mess. But, I took their advice, thanked them for sobering me up, and headed to the shower. When I dressed, Luke was still there, but Liam was already gone.

“I really messed up,” I sighed to my friend.

“Yes, you did,” he chuckled nervously, patting me on the back.

“Thanks again,” I said softly.

“Let’s get you some coffee and get you to work,” Luke smiled, patting me on the back.

I tried calling Blake again as I drove Luke to his apartment. When I pulled into his parking lot, and he got out of my truck, I cringed, realizing I was finally alone.

“Go get some coffee, get some work done today, and you two can talk tonight,” Luke offered as one last piece of advice.

The coffee shop was just a block from Luke’s apartment, and on the way to my work, I stopped, pulling my truck right in front, and stepped out of my truck with weakened knees. I felt like a broken man, a man that was alone and would stay alone, because of his stupidity.

Inside, the woman at the counter was friendly, making me a large coffee to go as she rushed around behind the counter. I paid, turned to leave, and noticed Blake, sitting at a booth towards the back, but not alone.

She was with a man, one I didn’t recognize. He had broad shoulders, dark hair, and a pale complexion. They were talking, quietly, and his hand was extended across the table to Blake’s.

My hands curled into fists, my palms sweating and my heart racing as I stood there and watched them.

“Can I get you anything else?” the woman at the cash register asked, pulling me back to reality.

“No, thank you,” I mumbled, quickly finding my exit from the shop.

I was mad, furious actually, that Blake was confiding in this man, this stranger. I wanted to know who he was, why he was there, and what Blake was doing with him.

I rushed out of the coffee shop, climbed into my truck, and sped off towards work. At my desk, I dialed Blake’s phone again but got no answer. Of course not; she was busy chatting it up with this man, whoever the fuck this man was to her.

I dialed Liam and waited less than patiently for him to answer.

“Hey, man, you make it to work?” he answered.

“Yes. Who’s Blake having coffee with?” I demanded.

“What do you mean?” Liam asked, his tone confused.

“I saw them, Blake and some guy. They were having coffee, and looked pretty chummy,” I snapped.

“I don’t know. I’ve not been in her life for a long time. You probably know more about her than I do at this point,” Liam admitted.

“Well, whoever it is, she is letting him pet all over her in public,” I growled.

She was still my wife; fake relationship or not, the marriage was real. I hated to think she was already moving on, that maybe she’d been with this guy all along, and I was, what, just a place to stay, something to do?

“I can ask Alyssa,” Liam offered.

“Thanks, let me know what you find out,” I said quickly, hanging up the phone.

All the guys at the shop were asking where I’d been. I shrugged them off with a lie of being sick and then ducked into my office for the day. I tried to finish paperwork, but I just shuffled things around. All that was on my mind was Blake, and this man, and what they were possibly doing together.

When my phone rang, I grabbed it quickly, hoping it was a call from Blake. Instead, it was Alyssa’s name scrolling across my screen as I answered.

“Hey, Alyssa,” I greeted her as friendly as I could muster.

I was still furious, and my imagination was growing wildly at the unknown.

“I found out who the guy Blake was speaking to was this morning,” she announced.

“Who?” I asked quickly.

“You have to promise not to get me involved. Blake is my friend and my sister-in-law. I want you two to work out, but I don’t want to upset her or hurt you,” Alyssa warned.

“I’ll leave you out of it. I just need to know what’s going on,” I replied, holding my breath after I spoke, waiting to hear who this mystery man was, and why Blake was with him in public at the coffee shop.

“His name is Graham. Blake and he are friends,” she said.

“Okay, so where did he come from?” I demanded.

“I don’t know,” Alyssa answered.

“So, he isn’t a boyfriend?” I questioned.

The other end of the phone was silent, too silent. I cleared my throat, feeling the pain burning in my chest like indigestion.

“Alyssa?” I pushed.

“They used to date, but they are just friends now,” she responded reluctantly.

“Thanks for letting me know,” I sighed, hanging up the phone.

Wow, so it’s an old boyfriend. He obviously wasn’t from around here, so, what, he rushed over to comfort the lady in distress? Classy.