Page 10 of His Cowboy Heart

“Nanthany will mine you for information.”

“I am a rock.”

“She will water board you.”

“I am like a safe.”

“She will kick you in the nuts.”

“I’m sorry man, I will crack and spill all your secrets. You know I’m weak when it comes to my nuts.”

“Worthless,” I said, putting money on the bar. “I gotta get out of here. If I show up at the party smelling like a bar, I’ll have a whole other shit storm.”

“Your life does not sound fun right now. You have some big decisions to make.”

“I’m going to go through with it. I’m going to marry her,” I said. “I’m a lucky man.”

“I meant the project,” Miguel said, his eyes wide. “You sure you are doing the right thing? You think that is how you should talk about your fiancé? You sound like you are making the decision to run a marathon or gathering the courage to eat your vegetables. That’s fucked up. “

“Oh, come on,” I said. “Abigail is great.”

“You sound like a man talking himself into something.”

“We make a great team.”

“How romantic.”

“We have great sex.”

“That is because sex is great my man,” Miguel said. “That’s not a reason to get married. Do you love her?

“Yes.”

“Do you love her,” he lowered his voice.

I said nothing.

“Look my man,” he patted me on the back. “Today someone offered you a chance to go back to Salishan. The night of your engagement party, you are shown another door.”

“It’s not a sign.”

“Whatever you do next my man.” Miguel pounded his chest. “You need to have a clear mind, clear heart.”

“If you say can’t lose, I will punch you in the fucking face.”

“I will not say that, but I will think it,” he said, grinning. “And you and I both know that marriage is big. You have always wanted to get married.”

“True.”

“So if you are going to marry Abigail . . .”

“Which I am.”

“Make sure your eyes are open wide.”

I nodded and looked at the mirror above the bar. I remembered the way I’d made love to Abigail the night before. I wanted it to be love but it felt emptier. “I got to go.”

Miguel stood and hugged me, patting me on the back. I wove through the crowd thinking of Abigail. She was beautiful. She was classy. She was perfect and utterly wrong somehow.

I tried to ignore how easy it was to lie when I stood beside her. When had I gotten so good at playing make believe?

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