Page 5 of The Jackpot Screwer
“You should hook up with Carter,” Hunter said. “He’s got problems with his better half too.”
“I can assure you, without wanting to sound like a douche, there is nothing better about my wife.”
I winced. “That bad, huh?”
“Yep. That bad.” Jacob then proceeded to gulp down more than half his drink. Finally, he slammed his glass down and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Guess you may as well be the first in town to know, Lydia has pretty much moved out and we are no longer together.”
“Shit,” Hunter replied. “I’m so sorry, Jacob.”
“Don’t be. It’s been a long time coming.”
Penny patted Jacob’s hand. “You want another, honey?”
He shook his head. “No, I was just giving her long enough to get the last of her shit out of my house. I need to collect JJ from his play date soon.”
“The last of her shit?” I asked. “So, this has been coming a while.”
“Christmas was kind of the breaking point. Don’t want to go into too much detail, I have JJ to think of, but let’s say she’s not the woman, wife or mother, I thought she was. My son is my priority, so me and her are done. JJ is staying with me.”
Hunter and I watched him silently as he drained the rest of his glass. He then got up, gave us another chin lift and left.
“Shit,” I groaned. “Being an adult kind of stinks. I don’t think I want to be one.”
Hunter laughed. “Well, I’m pretty sure there’s not much you can do about it.”
Thinking of Bronte and the baby growing inside of her, I had to agree with him. I loved my life, it was carefree and fun, even working twelve-hour days like I regularly did never seemed much of a chore. As for me and Bronte, well we were just getting started and having a child was certainly going to change all that. While I loved her and wanted us to be together, no matter what, I also realized that our lives were going to change drastically. They were going to get a lot harder. That thought had my stomach roiling and set my nerves jangling.
“Bronte’s pregnant,” I blurted out.
Hunter dropped his bottle of beer with a thud on the bar and reared back. “Say what?”
“You heard me.” I swallowed hard. “That’s why she’s pissed at me.”
“You’re having a baby,” he hissed, chancing a glance at Penny who was cleaning down at the other end of the bar. “Are you fucking insane? Actually no, scratch that, is she fucking insane?”
I shrugged. “She’s kind of insane and angry. In fact, I’m petrified of her because she's so damn angry. She actually hit me with her mom’s broom when she threw me out last night for suggesting we still have sex even though we broke up.”
“So, she let you in after we left?” Hunter asked.
“Yeah, well she kind of had to.” I scratched at the scruff on my cheek and grimaced. “I passed out when she told me.”
There was a moment, just a tiny moment, when I thought Hunt was being sympathetic and a good friend. That moment didn’t last before he almost busted his guts by letting out a huge roar of laughter.
“Not funny, man.” I punched him in his shoulder, but he was too busy laughing to notice. “I mean it, shut the fuck up.”
“You fainted. Wait until I tell Ellie, she’ll piss her pants.”
“No,” I cried, grabbing hold of his arm. “You can’t tell her. Bronte swore me to secrecy.”
“I won’t tell her why, just that you did.” He slapped my back. “If you think I’m wasting that little fucking nugget you are so wrong my friend.”
“Why the hell are you my best friend?” I threw my hands into the air. “Actually, you know what, you don’t need to be any longer. I’ll get someone else. I’ll ask Alaska.”
That made Hunter laugh even louder. “You can’t interview for the job and when did you develop a stammer.”
Frowning, I shrugged. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“You’ll ask Alaska,” he repeated, but I looked at him blankly. “Do you not realize how funny that is; you’ll ask Alaska. I’ll ask her, get it?”
