Page 14 of Top Shelf

CHAPTERSEVEN

sadie

Levi’s jaw drops,and I can feel Tyson tensing up in my grasp. I readjust my fingers in his, my hand getting clammy.

“Soon-to-be ex-wife,” I say, holding my voice as steady as I can. I hate the way he makes me feel small. I hate how I feel exposed to him, vulnerable, even in the dive bar of the town I grew up in, next to two of my oldest friends.

Well,ex-friends.

Levi and Tyson look from me, back to Hayden, back to me.

“‘Soon-to-be’ is a matter of opinion,” Hayden laughs, and I want to punch him in his smug fucking face. “Regardless, we are very much still married,” he says, waving his ring finger in the air. Then he eyes my hand, still interlocked with Tyson’s. “But that doesn’t seem to bother you much.”

Then his eyes grow a little darker.

I know that look because I’ve seen it before. Many times.

I squeeze Tyson’s hand, but I feel him move slightly in front of me.

“He didn’t know we were still married,” I say, looking right at Hayden. “I told him we were already divorced.”

There’s no way I’d let Tyson take a shot from him.

Hayden nods slowly.

“I’m sure you did,” he says, his voice oozing with sarcasm. “So how long have you been fucking my wife?”

Fucking asshole. He’s such a goddamn narcissist that he can’t even comprehend me wanting to be with someone else.

If only he knew…

He’s testing us.

His eyes dart back to Tyson, and I swallow. I open my mouth to speak, but he lets go of my hand, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me toward him.

“A few weeks now,” he says, his eyes never leaving Hayden’s. A devious smirk plays across his lips. “Maybe a little longer.”

I watch as Hayden’s eyebrows jump.

Tyson has no idea how long we’ve been separated. I could have just left him yesterday for all Tyson knows. But right now, he doesn’t seem to give a damn. He’s giving it right back to Hayden, and I have to admit, it feels really fucking good.

“Well,” Hayden says, clearing his throat and rolling up his shirtsleeves, “that’s an interesting way to try and get a vote.”

Tyson stands and shrugs.

“Don’t ask a question you don’t want the answer to, my man,” he says, holding his hand out for me to stand up too. “Now, let me get this pretty lady home. I have some plans for her.”

He winks in Hayden’s direction, then tightens his grip on me. He pulls me in closer and places a kiss on my head. I feel my whole body tingle, both from the stress and from the feeling of being so close to Tyson again.

Levi stares at us as we say goodbye.

Finally, he clears his throat.

“I, uh…I’ll call you tomorrow, Ty,” he says. Then he nods his head in my direction. “Night, Sade.”

Tyson claps his back, then looks back to Hayden.

“Nice to meet you, Hayden,” he says with that same slick smile. Then he walks me through the bar and out the door. When we get outside, I let go of his hand and walk farther into the parking lot, breathing in the chilly fall air and trying to calm myself down.

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