Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 112850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Chapter 30
Mace
The good times and busy bar were everything right in my world. The jukebox blared, the patrons’ laughter hitting an octave just above the music, and the never-ending beer pours were what I knew best.
I nodded to the beat as I worked as hard as I had ever worked. It was a Thursday night, leading into a three-day holiday, so I was working an extra night this week, and the town turned out like they always did.
“Mace, I need my screwdriver,” Lori yelled in that piercing tone of hers from her spot where the waitresses gathered, waiting for their orders. The high-pitched sound that both her and Mariah Carey made didn’t bother me this time as I reached for the proper glass to build the drink.
“Mace, I’m going out to take a call,” Tommy called loudly, standing on the rung of the barstool directly in front of me. I barely lifted my gaze from making drinks.
“Keep your coat on the chair or it won’t be here when you get back,” I yelled back as I slid the requested drink over to Lori.
Nico stood directly across the bar from me. Arms crossed menacingly, staring… no, glaring around the room. He was such an eyesore to the good time around him that I wondered why his presence wasn’t questioned.
It had been one full day since Slade had dropped his atomic bomb, and I’d only communicated with him two times. Both times by text. Both only so he could give some excuse that it wasn’t a good time for him to talk.
Only once did he manage to say “I love you” before signing off.
My hands went a million miles an hour, all repetitive work. Reading orders and preparing drinks was something that I didn’t have to think about as my mind was lost to Slade.
He loved me. He did. His silence was only due to the guilt he carried over everything.
No, that brand of logic, such as it was, did sound ridiculous. But, I got it, and I knew one thing for certain: that actor did, in fact, love me to the moon and back. My problem was that I missed him communicating with me all the time. Slade was my love, but also my best friend. He knew me and accepted me for who I was as a person.
By Sunday, when Slade came back to Texas, I was sure to be my own version of wrecked. Another piece of the world that Slade had to pick up and put back together again.
I barely sensed that the vibe in the bar had shifted. I lifted my gaze to find the source of the disruption, half expecting one of these dumb cowboys to try to pick a fight with Nico. I searched for my father to handle the tension.
When I realized Nico was pushing his way through the crowd, heading my direction, I froze, a glass slipping from my hand. Between us were a lot of heads bent, groups gathering to stare at their cell phones.
My father came in through the front door. Tommy jogged through that same door, unease written on his face.
“Let’s go,” Nico said, reaching across the bar top to take hold of my T-shirt, dragging me out from behind my bar station. His grip was strong. Whatever was in his path to freedom was knocked over. It was such a startling move that I let it happen. The silence around us was louder than anything I’d heard before.
“That way,” my father pointed.
“What happened?” I asked, moving in the direction Nico led until I matched him stride by stride. We were through the back door; Lori’s car was there waiting. She was behind the wheel.
Okay, my family was liking all this way too much.
Nico guided me to the back seat, putting a hand on my head, shoving me downward into the vehicle.
“What the fuck?” I managed as Nico climbed into the back with me, using my body for traction as he continued over the center console to take the front passenger seat.
The back door wasn’t shut when the sedan jumped forward, tossing me from one end of the seat to the other.
Lori hit the clutch, spinning the car in a one-eighty turn, a move fit for any Fast and Furious movie. She drove like a bat out of hell, leaving the bar in the rearview mirror.
“You can slow it down,” Nico barked in his deep voice.
“No way,” Lori declared, her upper body inches from the steering wheel. “Who knows when I’ll ever get to do this again.” The clutch dropped again, jerking and sprinting us around a curve until we reached full throttle again.
“What happened?” I asked, fearful for my life. Nico extended his phone over the front seats to the back. I thought Slade was on the other end, but when I finally looked at the screen, I saw a picture of me, shirtless, laughing in front of Slade.