Page 13 of Past Lovers

“What the fuck happened?”

Adam laid his head back on the pillow, his head throbbing painfully. He closed his eyes, reminding himself never to drink,everagain. At least in the amounts he’d imbibed the night before. “I told you I was sick.”

“No—why did Clay put in his notice?”

Adam’s eyes whipped open. “He what?”

“You didn’t know?”

Adam sat up on the edge of the bed. He’d been on the edge of telling Clay everything that morning. Yeah, he’d fucked Melanie—with Clay. They’d shared her—and the fact Clay didn’t seem to remember that only proved Adam had been right all along. Had he spilled all of it, Clay would’ve likely beaten the shit out of him.

He’d looked ready to do it earlier.

“I didn’t know.”

“He came in here, angry and full of venom. He’s spent the day barking at everyone. I figured after that call this morning about you two being late and only him showing up, you might’ve been the cause of his ire.” His father paused. “Am I right?”

“Possibly.”

His father sighed. “Then you need to fix this shit and fast.”

“Don’t know that I can, Dad. It’s that bad.”

“What happened?”

Adam shook his head. “I can’t discuss it with you.”

“Stop the dramatics. You get that boy’s head back in the game. We need him here.”

The phone slammed, ending the call. Adam tossed his cell on the bed and fell back on it, not sure he could make things right. The only way he could just might make things ten times worse.

Hey, Clay, I fucked her while you were fucking me.

Adam’s head went right back to that night… his body tightening with need.

Fuck.

He closed his eyes, wishing it had never happened.

The phone rang again, and he was sure it was his father, ready to yell at him again. He eyed the screen and saw it was Jesse.

“Man, it’s not a good time right now.”

“Well, hello to you, too,” Jesse snapped on the other end. “I was just checking in—I heard Clay left Melanie and was staying with you.”

“The other way around. She kicked him out.”

“About damned time,” Jesse said. “We should all go out and celebrate!”

Adam’s head throbbed. He was all done celebrating. “Nah… not a good idea.”

“Why’s that?”

“I doubt Clay’s in the mood to celebrate.”

“Why not?” Jesse asked. “He’s finally free. He should be ecstatic.”

“Yeah, he should be.”

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