Cade
Waiting to talk to Charlotte was a stupid idea. The regret piled higher after each day had passed. And now I was here at Holloway’s, almost a week later, halfway to drunk, and losing my mind over her.
After my third beer, I started thinking seriously about just walking to her townhouse and telling her what was gonna happen between the two of us. Her complex was right across the street; I could see it out the window. Her light was on in the garage, damn it, so she had to be up. I could be over there right now, maybe convincing her to forgive me. Then perhaps we could have another round on the staircase.
She was mine; that’s all there was to it. I had to make her understand how I felt. I had to make her see how good we were together and convince her to stay this time.
“I think I’m going to go over there,” I said to the table full of my brothers, plus my brothers-in-law, Trevor, Jake, and Luke, and Luke’s Army buddy, Liam, who my mother had practically adopted and within months had become like another brother to all of us.
“No, you are not, no fucking way,” Asher, the oldest of all us Barrett siblings, declared, laying a hand on my arm when I tried to stand up. His hair was bright red, just like my little sisters, Lily and Rose. The rest of us were boring with various shades of brown.
“You’re well on your way to being drunk, you idiot,” Jude added. “You’ll only end up pissing her off.”
Levi just shook his head and sipped his beer, his semi-permanent smirk firmly in place.
“Never talk to your woman when you’re drunk and upset,” Asher instructed. “You’ll end up saying or doing things you will not remember in the morning. Nothing good ever comes from it.”
“He’s right,” Levi agreed. “Happened to me with Becca.” Every eye at the table snapped to him. He never ever talked about what went down with his childhood sweetheart. In fact, none of us knew what had happened to end their relationship. One day it was just over, and neither one of them said a word about it. He hadn’t had that much to drink, but maybe he was just drunk enough to finally spill his guts.
“So, uh, what happened, man?” prodded Jude, his fraternal twin, and the one with the best chance to get him to talk. His tone was as casual as he could make it, even though we were all dying for the story.
“I proposed to her, drunk off my ass. Ring and everything, then forgot about it the next morning. She woke up happy and I woke up clueless. And then it was over. To be fair, that wasn’t our only problem, it’s just the one that sent all the other ones spinning out of control. She’ll never forgive me. Hell, she won’t even talk to me.”
“Dude,” I breathed. “That’s—I don’t even know what to say about it. That’s how much it sucks. I’m sorry.”
He scratched his dark stubble and shrugged. “It is what it is. I’m going to order some shots. I don’t want to be mentally present until at least noon tomorrow.” He slid back his chair, then stalked to the bar.
“He saw her at the station today visiting her brother,” Jude informed us when Levi was out of earshot. “It was bad.”
Luke poked me in the side. “Cade, she’s here. Do not look behind you.” Of course, I immediately turned and looked. Honestly, everyone should know by now not to tell me that.
Charlotte was hot as hell in a snug black sweater dress and the same high-heeled boots from our night together. She was accompanied by Gwen and my cousin Savannah; they were on their way to a table. She slowed down when she saw me. Her smile was faint as she waved to me, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Something wasn’t right.
“Charli?” Liam’s jaw dropped. “Is that you?” I spun around, watching as he stood up with a huge smile on his face.
“Liam! Oh my god! I haven’t talked to you since—well you skipped out on the graduation ceremony, and then we heard you enlisted . . .” Her face was lit up like a Christmas tree as she ran into his outstretched arms. “You didn’t say goodbye to us, you big jerk.” She pulled back and lightly slapped him on the arm. “How the hell are you? What are you doing in Sweetbriar? Oh my god, you guys, it’s freaking Liam!”
“What’s up, freaking Liam?” Luke joked. “We’re all waiting. Carry on with the explanation.”
Liam chuckled then turned to me. “I had no idea your Charlotte was my Charlotte. I can’t believe I didn’t put it together.”
I froze. His Charlotte?
Did they?
Had they?
What the fuck was going on?
I had to remind myself I had no right to be angry, no matter what had gone on between them. “Your Charlotte?” I questioned through my clenched jaw.
Liam’s eyes went soft with sympathy while Charlotte continued deliberately avoiding my eyes. “Hey, no worries, Cade. Not that kind of mine, okay? We went to NYU together. We were both in the writing program.” He turned back to Charlotte “Hey, how’s Trent doing?”
“He’s great.” Her smile came back at the mention of her ex-husband, and I scowled. I was barely hanging on. I felt like punching someone, but unfortunately, there was no one around who deserved it. “His play just opened. He’s on Broadway, Liam!”
“Damn, that’s amazing! Just what he always wanted.”
“Yeah, so he’s doing great.”
Liam’s eyes shifted between me and Charlotte. I could see his mind working as he put the pieces together. He obviously knew everything. “And you?” He asked her softly as he eyed me. “How are you doing, Charli?”
“Fine, of course. Uh, I’m doing great—”