Page 37 of Betrayal & New Beginnings

“I can take you both to that,”Archersaid beforeIhad the chance to offer.

“Oh no,Ican just borrow one of the cars.There’sno need for you to drive out of your way to get us both,”Ellieresponded andIwas about to offer myself, butArchercut in.

“It’s not out of my way,Ellie,”Archerinterrupted smoothly. “Ruthielives in my same apartment complex, and we sometimes drive to work together any way.Ican take you both and then drop you back off when we come into the office.”

“Oh, okay.Ididn’t realize you both lived in the same complex,” she said, andIrealizedIdidn’t know that either.Ididn’t know much aboutArcher, other than he wasVince’scousin, grew up inVegas, used to be a cop until something bad happened, or maybe a few bad somethings happened, and one of his sticking points with starting the new company with us was thatRuthiewas going to be our secretary.Ialso vaguely recalledVincesaying he may have also been married once, thoughIwasn’t sure about that.

I put those thoughts on the back burner for now.ArcherandElliefinished up their conversation about the self-defense class, and then we all went our separate ways.Ireally did have a few errands to run, soArcherwas going to dropEllieoff at work whileVincewent and moved her car.

SinceIdidn’t want to talk about it in front of the guys,Imade plans to talk toEllieabout what happened last night after we were done at the pub tonight.Plus, this would give me time to get my own thoughts together on whatIwant to do, since at this point,Ireally didn’t have one single clue.

14

ELLIE

I walked into the pub, happy to seeTammythere already, andIsmiled and waved at her quickly asIwent to put my purse in the break room before coming back to the bar to work with her.AsIrounded the back and came into the bar area, she was staring at me with the biggest smile on her face, andIcouldn’t help it if hers was contagious and it made me smile too.

“Looks like somebody had fun last night,” she said as she leaned in closer to me so that no one else could hear us.Mysmile instantly turned into a shocked face.Howdid she know that?DidWadetell her?Shelaughed and leaned in again.

“Girl, if you don’t want to talk about the details, that’s fine, but it’s written all over your face that you had a good night last night.I’mjust happy one of us got lucky.”Shewinked at me.

I could feel my face flush as embarrassment took over.Istood there speechless for a few moments before her voice startled me back into the present.

“Here,” she said, handing me a fresh draft beer. “WhileIswap the first keg, take this toTed, and you can go askJimmywhat he wants, thoughIcan already tell you he wants an order of potato skins andDr.Pepper,”Tammyinformed me.

“How the hell do you remember everyone’s name and order all the time?”Iasked her.

“Girl, my superpowers are remembering every one of my customers’ names and leaving laundry in the dryer until it wrinkles.Thenturning the dryer on to de-wrinkle, and then forgetting about them all over again,” she said while laughing.

I laughed too becauseI’ddefinitely done that a few times.

“Well, mine are dating red flags and picking the slowest line at the grocery store every single time,”Itold her, and she burst out laughing.

“We’ll circle back about that first one later, but let me get these kegs changed out first,” she said before she walked into the back.

I knew she was going to ask more about it because that was howTammywas, but she was also a great listener, and so far, appeared to give great advice, so maybe it wasn’t a bad thing.MaybeIshould also plan to pick her brain aboutWade.Icould really use a female friend to talk to about this.NormallyIwould callKatie, but she was on vacation with her cousins, andIwanted her to enjoy that time off since she rarely got it, what with going to school and working full time.I’dcatch her up when she got back.Inthe meantime, maybeTammycould offer some advice.

We hit a slow point in the evening, andTammyandIwere sitting back just drying some of the glasses and putting them where they needed to be.IthoughtI’dbegin to get evening close prep done early.Tammy, however, had different plans for our free time.

“Okay girl, talk,” she said grinning at me.

“Umm, talk about what?”Itried to deflect, but she looked at me likeIwas stupid and waited for me to respond.

“First let’s talk about what had you grinning like a loon when you walked in here today, and then let’s talk about these red flags you seem to date,” she said with her full attitude on display.

I sighed and gave in, hoping maybeIcould get some good advice out of her.

“Wade andIhad sex last night, a few times actually, and nowIdon’t know what to do or howI’msupposed to act around him because we work together andI’mgoing to see him all the time, andIdon’t want it to be weird or awkward, especially if he didn’t really enjoy it, because he lives across from me, andIcan’t exactly escape him,”Irambled quickly spilling all of that out at once.

“Take a deep breath,Ellie,”Shechuckled lightly. “First,Isaw that boy today, and he had the same damn grin on his face that you did when you walked in, soI’mguessing he enjoyed it just fine.Second, that boy isn’t dumb, soIdoubt he would have taken that step with you knowing it would turn into several levels of awkwardness, especially knowin’ who your brother is, if he was just lookin’ for a quick lay.”

I knew what she was saying made sense, butIdidn’t have a lot of experience with this sort of thing, andItold her that.

“Tammy,I’veonly slept with two other guys.Thefirst was my boyfriend in high school whoIdated for a year beforeIlet him get that far.Thesecond guy is the big red flagImentioned, soIdon’t exactly have a long history of what to do in this situation, and half of that history was a very bad decision.”

She was quiet for a few moments before speaking.

“Couple quick questions.”Sherolled right into it. “Wasthe first one a red flag too, or just the second one?”

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