Page 11 of The Leaving Road

“She’s back. I saw her today.”

“You saw her today.”

“Yeah. I invited her here tonight, and her friend she was with said they were going to come.”

“Magnolia’s back, and she’s coming here. Tonight.”

“Dude, are you just going to keep repeating everything I say?”

I sat stock-still. I needed to digest this. Magnolia’s back? She’s here? It’s been eight years. I had carried a lot of anger toward her for a long time. She just left eighteen years of friendship without even saying a single goodbye. I had known she was struggling in the wake of her mom’s death, trying to take care of herself and her dad. And I admit, I was an asshole back then. Just before her mom passed, Cassie and I hooked up at a party, and that’s what started it all. I knew Magnolia hated Cassie, and Cassie had always been unfairly cruel to Magnolia, but unfortunately, she was hot and said all the right things.

After she took my virginity, I was a goner. I was a shitty friend as I started to pull away from Magnolia, and all Cassie would do was bitch on end about it. In fact, I was so much of an asshole back then and unable to give up our friendship that I took to crawling into her bedroom room at night after dropping Cassie off so we could still spend time together. I started ignoring the mean remarks Cassie said about her because I didn’t feel that way, but I was too much of a pussy back then to stick up for her. She was my best friend; I shouldn’t have let her get away with it. It took me ending things with Cassie to realize just what an asshole I was to Magnolia back then. I didn’t blame her for leaving, though, but I did resent the way she cut out my mom because she didn’t deserve that.

“Lost in the past, Sloan?” Jace’s voice brought me back to the present.

“Yeah, just thinking.”

“She looked good…way good. She’d always been pretty, but she’s a serious ten now.”

“Enough,” I growled.

“Yeah, you always said you guys were just friends, but I have a feeling that’s bullshit.”

“It’s not bullshit. We were only friends, best friends, but only friends, nonetheless.” I could admit that my feelings for Magnolia had started changing when I turned sixteen, but she never showed any interest. She laughed at my headgear, let me sleep over, played video games, but when the headgear came off, I knew girls were interested. She never once showed me a sign that she wanted something more, so I shoved that fantasy firmly in a box, tapped it shut, and never thought to open it because our friendship was important to me—or at least, I thought I was important.

“Sure, well, I guess there will be no harm in seeing her tonight, then.”

“Does she know I’ll be here? Pretty weird that she cut this entire town out of her life for eight years, but now she has no problem going out with the first guy that asks.” I all but pouted.What the hell is wrong with me? She can do whatever she wants.

“Considering we are at your family’s establishment, I think she knows there’s a good chance you’ll be here.”

“Hmm…” Maybe she’s here to mend some old fences, so to speak, since her dad passed.

“Although, I think her agreeing to come has more to do with her friend. She insisted that they come tonight, and Magnolia caved. Her friend is something, man. I want to run my hands through all that red hair until she lets me pull on it while she screams my name.”

“That’s enough, Jace. I don’t need to think about your sexual habits. Plus, you’re married, remember?” I smirked at him.

“Don’t fuckin’ remind me. Let’s go out front so I can play some darts.”

It was seven-forty-five, and no sign of Magnolia or her friend yet. I wondered if they decided not to come after all. I kept myself busy behind the bar, even though I wasn’t necessarily needed, but it was better than sitting around for something that might not happen. I was washing some of the dishes when I felt it, like static electricity. I slowly looked up and took in my surroundings, every male in the place had their eyes glued to the front door.

Magnolia arrived.

Fuck.

Chapter 8

Magnolia

“Stop biting your nails, babes, it’s gross.” Lexie took one hand off the steering wheel and smacked my hand away from my mouth.

It’s always been a bad habit of mine when I was nervous. I had a feeling I’d be seeing Sloan tonight—one of those deep gut feelings, and I was mentally preparing myself for it. I had let Lexie do my hair, so it fell in soft waves down to the middle of my back, a hint of a smokey eye, and some tinted Chapstick. I knew I was attractive; I wasn’t a virgin by any means.

I could admit, in my senior year of college, I went a little crazy with the drinking and partying since it was my last year. Just because I wasn’t emotionally available didn’t mean I wasn’t physically available. The body I had been self-conscious of growing up made grownmenfall to their knees, so I was confident in that aspect.

My skin-tight jeans, boots, and a white sweater that loosely hung off one shoulder was just a smidge see-through so you could make out my lacy black bralette. It was cute with a hint of sexy, which was exactly what I had been going for.

“Just say the word and we leave, no biggie,” Lexie said as she turned into a parking spot in front of Montgomery’s. She so graciously offered to be the DD since she all but made me come in the first place.

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