Page 71 of Vicious Arrangement
“Hey, Joshy,” I say. “It’s Noah. I miss you too. Sorry I couldn’t be at dinner.”
“I like Ara an’ Agnus,” the kid says, “but I wanted you too. I like you, too, Daddy.”
“Thanks,” Asher mutters good-naturedly. “No, really. Glad you like me.”
Joshy squeals with laughter, and I can see in my head Asher tickling him. “Daddy, stop. I’s talking to Noah!”
“Sorry. My bad.”
“You’re silly, Daddy,” Josh says.
I bite my cheek. “I’m really sorry I couldn’t spend time with you tonight, Josh, but how about I make it up to you this weekend?”
“Fishing?” Joshy asks.
“Fishing, just you and me,” I say.
An excited yell erupts. “Can Ara an’ Agnus come too?”
That horse? “I’m not sure dogs like fishing.”
“Ara?” Josh asks, the hope in his voice vibrating over the phone. Fuck. He likes her.
I swallow over the lump forming in my throat. “We’ll see,” I say. “We’ll see.”
After I talk to Asher for a bit, he tells me he has to get Josh to bed, and he’s got work to do, and I should go home. He hangs up.
He’s right. I should go home.
I head back into the bar and take my seat, and Jace holds up the bottle. “Another?”
I nod. “Probably shouldn’t.”
“Probably shouldn’t? When has that ever stopped someone?”
“Probably never.”
He laughs, and I take a sip and hold up my empty glass.
“On me,” Jace says, “I’ll keep ‘em coming and leave you be. You look like it’s one of those nights.” And he refills the mostly empty glass.
I stare down into the now full glass, the amber liquid reflecting the low lights above the bar’s bottle selection.
It seems like most nights have been one of those nights lately, and the smart thing is to just get up, pay up, and scram.
Yeah, going home’s the smart move, but being smart is also about opening up. Because if I go home, I know I have to apologize to Aria. I’m going to have to do it at some point,but right now is too much, too… I don’t know. Too open to vulnerabilities.
“And you say that like you’re the fucking victim,” I mutter under my breath, taking a swallow of the whiskey.
I was an asshole, but I figure tomorrow I’ll still be an asshole and still sharing the doghouse with her beast.
And…
Fuck…
My asshole status is going to be debated, and my apology fall on angry ears that deserve to be angry whether now or later.
Later’s safer, so I stay.
