Page 41 of You Loved Me Once
“I never said Westin was here.”
“He has a name.” Bryce smiles and I glare at him.
“Yes, he has a name. Why do you care?”
Bryce shifts so we’re close enough that I can smell the mint on his breath. “I don’t. I’m married. Remember?”
I roll my eyes and lean back. “Yes, you are. I remember.”
The two of us continue to stare at each other and I work hard to read him. I’m not sure why he’s here or why he felt the need to talk to me, but Bryce is fighting his own demons.
“So, we meet again—in a bar.” Bryce clears his throat, breaking the eye contact, and I fight back the desire to trudge down memory lane. We’re not those people anymore.
I lift my glass, letting Rich know I need another. At this rate, he could bring me the bottle of Tito’s and I’d be happy. Who needs olives after the fourth—or was it fifth?
“Shouldn’t you be with your wife?”
“She’s sleeping and I needed to work,” he explains.
“Work? In the bar?” I question.
Bryce rolls the drink around his glass before bringing it to his lips. I’m just drunk enough to allow myself a momentary lapse in judgment as I think about what he once tasted like. The memory of a mix of whiskey, mint, and just . . . him, sends my pulse into overdrive. I remember how he’d kiss me with his entire body. It wasn’t just his mouth. I could feel all the energy he carried flow through the two of us, causing an overwhelming surge of emotions.
He kissed me with tenderness and power that battled for dominance.
I remember feeling drunk afterwards even though I hadn’t had a drink.
“Does it matter? I needed a drink, and here I am.”
Lucky me. “Yeah, here you are.”
Where the fuck is Julie? I really need her to get back here.
“So, you and the doctor?”
My eyes narrow and I try to piece together why he’s asking. This is the second comment now about Westin and I can’t help but wonder if it’s bothering him. It shouldn’t, considering he’s the one that actually moved on. Of course, he doesn’t know anything about my life and I’m not about to admit how pathetic I am.
“Westin and I have been together for a few years,” I admit.
“I don’t see a ring,” Bryce notes.
“Unlike you, who found someone and got married. Although I’ll admit Allison seems great.”
He takes another long sip before finally speaking. “She is. She’s been good to me, and,” his eyes meet mine, “she saved me after I went down a dark road.”
My breath hitches as the passion in his gaze tells me so much more. We were always in tune with each other when we were together. Bryce could look at me and I’d know what he was saying. It was like we were two halves of a whole that came together without any gaps.
“Because I left?”
“Yeah, Ren. You left and shit went downhill for me.”
“Don’t think it was so easy for me either,” I counter. I’m still recovering from it, and him being here has reversed what little progress I’ve made.
He looks up at the television, sighs, and then his eyes close. “I didn’t sit down next to you to fight.”
I don’t want to fight either. All I want is for things to go back to the way they were. I liked my life a few days ago. It wasn’t perfect, but I was...content. Westin and I were going to turn a corner and now I feel as though I ran into the wall—a wall named Bryce.
I play with the stem of the martini glass. “Then why did you sit?”
