Page 27 of Walker

“Your ex-wife was the last?”

“Sadly, no.”

“Aww, Walker. I bet that hurt her.”

“Not even sure if she knows. It wasn’t someone I was with on the side or anything. Just gave someone a lift to the clubhouse one day. After Poppy left me, I realized I couldn’t even remember the last time I took her for a ride, and I knew my fuckups with her were bigger than I ever imagined. It wasn’t just the cheating. When I felt like I wasn’t good enough, it was like a switch flipped inside me and I set out to prove myself right in all the ways. I stopped including Poppy in just about every aspect of my life, except for when I went home.”

“Do me a favor,” I demanded.

“What’s that?”

“I know we’re just testing the waters here with a date and in the big scheme of things, we don’t mean anything to one another, but if things head in a serious direction, don’t forget to talk to me.”

“Talk to you?” He asked.

“Yeah, you know, if you’re feeling a certain way, I’d rather know than play guessing games. I’d rather be told to my face that it isn’t working out – even if it is for a dumb reason like you not thinking your worthy. I want to know before you try to prove something to yourself.”

He looked almost embarrassed to have to address that. “You have my promise as long as I have yours in return. I’m not proud of how I behaved with my ex-wife. It taught me a lot of lessons that I’ve taken to heart though. Rest assured, that shit would not happen again.”

“I believe you.”

His head snapped around and his eyes found mine and searched for something in their depths – the truth of what I’d said, if I had to guess. “You do, don’t you?”

“Wouldn’t say it if I didn’t.”

“I like that about you.”

I smiled and reached over to take his free hand in mine. “Good, because so far, I like that about you too.”

Dinner was a good time with great food. Honestly, if our date had ended there and he took me home, I would have been happy. Thankfully, Trinity showed up at my house to take over for my sister, so that I wouldn’t have to end the night early. Since we had more time, we headed to a little hole in the wall bar where The Brass Values band was playing.

“Is it weird to go to a bar when you don’t drink?” I asked Walker as we made our way inside the unique establishment. As long as I’d lived in the area, I’d never been there before. I knew they had an open mic night and karaoke nights sometimes, and that both were really popular, but I’d always been too busy working nights at Paramour or home with my kids to go out and have a real adult life. When my husband was still alive, he always demanded casino nights with the boys but never actually followed through on allowing me time for girls’ nights while he stayed home with the kids. I couldn’t remember the last night we had together.

“Nah. The worst thing about bars when you’re the only sober one is you realize how stupid you must have looked when you were the drunk one.” I laughed because I’d told Trinity and Shaina that very thing the last time I was pregnant and went out with them for a bit. “Besides, it's better when it comes to watching the entertainment because I remember the bands I see instead of forgetting if they were any good or if it was the alcohol making them better than they really were.”

“Oh, thank God, someone else who understands that some bands are only good because their audience is drunk!” He laughed with me as we found a seat toward the back of the bar. It was one of the only tables left, but I was thankful it wasn’t closer to the front. We would still be able to chat and watch all the night’s entertainment – not just the band.

“My guilty pleasure is people watching,” I admitted as we settled in and ordered drinks. Water for Walker and a salted, spicy watermelon margarita for me. It would be my one and only drink with alcohol, but I couldn’t resist.

“I used to think people watching was overrated, but I agree with you now. The more I study the way others behave, the better my understanding of who they are and what to expect from them.”

I tilted my head to the side, interested in where he was going with that. He pointed to a couple on the other side of the bar. “Just a couple minutes here, and I already know those two will be fighting before the night is out. He’s been eye fucking other women, but he also noticed that other men were doing the same to his woman. She only has eyes for her man, so she’s noticed exactly where his attention has been.”

“Not on her,” I commented.

“Exactly.”

“He’s jealous because he knows where his mind has gone and thinks she’ll do the same.”

“Probably. He’s an idiot who doesn’t see what’s right in front of him – a devoted woman until he breaks her.”

“That’s sad.”

“For her, it’s sad now. For him, it will be a whole level of hell he wasn’t prepared for later on when he loses her.”

“I hate that for you.”

“What?” Walker asked.

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