Hate Sober (Love Me Duet 2)

Pulling away from him, I don’t look around. I stare at a man who’s seen me at my worst and been there to see me through my best.

“I’ve missed you.” I don’t mean to say it, it simply slips out.

His forehead scrunches as a woman walks over and touches his elbow softly. “Everly, this is Jacinta. Jacinta, this is Everly.” He nods his head to me.

She looks at me and smiles. “Alec has told me so much about you, it’s a real honor to meet you.” She’s so sweet, and when she looks up at him, she does so with a warm smile.

“Jacinta and I are set to be married.”

Holy shit!

He chuckles at the look on my face—I’m sure I look like I’ve just walked in on two people fucking.

Somehow, I manage to close my mouth and smile. “Congrats. Wow! That’s…” I trail off. I can’t say fast, because I was fast with Gunner. Three months and I was his wife. Though, in our world, I guess it’s not classed that way.

“Jacinta’s father is in business with yours,” Alec says to me.

I look at Jacinta who confirms with a nod before she excuses herself to go to the bathroom. I wait until she’s out of earshot before I speak, “Is this…” I shake my head. “Is this what you want?”

Alec looks to where she’s gone, then back to me. “She’s resilient. She manages to breathe life back into me, Squirt. I like her. A lot.”

“That’s good, Alec. So good. I’m happy for you. She seems lovely.”

“It was hard, but…” He goes silent and looks over his shoulder. I follow his line of sight to see Gunner staring us down. He makes no move to come over, and Alec looks back to me. “I heard about you two. I also heard he’s been working more and more, so soon he will be a force to be reckoned with.” He’s right, one day Gunner will be larger than my father, and soon he will own this town, of that I have no doubt. “You no longer love him?” Alec asks, and when he does, he leans in waiting for my answer.

“I do,” I tell him honestly. I see his body drop as he lets out a breath, then stands tall again. “But sometimes love isn’t enough,” I add.

“I get it.”

Jacinta walks back and slides into Alec’s side.

“I should get going,” I say, looking over Alec’s shoulder to see Gunner still staring our way.

“You aren’t staying?” Jacinta asks.

Alec chuckles. “Squirt here always tries to leave early, or better yet, never come in the first place.”

“This is true. I hate this type of event,” I reply through gritted teeth. “Now, I have to scrub my face free, and let my hair down.” It will take me all night to dig through all the pins holding my hair in place.

“You must come to the wedding,” Jacinta says.

Alec’s lips go tight at her words.

“Of course.” I smile at both of them as I go to leave, walking straight to the door to avoid Gunner as best as I can

“You leaving, Everly?”

Of course he’s outside, a cigarette in his hand as he leans against the wall. He pushes off and drops the cigarette to the ground, then he comes closer to me. His eyes roam me over, and I see the heat in them. He wants me as much as I want him.

“You look good. Fuckable,” he murmurs.

A shiver racks over me. “Goodnight, Gunner.” I turn to leave but he captures my wrist.

“Don’t you want me to fuck you, Everly? Push you up against the wall and tear the fucking dress from your beautiful body?” He says it so close to my ear, that his breath tickles my neck. “One last go. Let me fuck our marriage out of you, Everly.” I snatch my wrist away and turn to face him. He’s smiling, knowing he’s getting a reaction out of me.

“Do you hate me that much?” I ask angrily. “That you think it’s good to play with my emotions?”

“I could never hate you, Everly.” He turns and walks back inside, leaving me standing there confused at his parting words.

“You did what?” May asks, sitting in front of me. She watches as I start pulling each clip from my hair and then wipe my face clean. This is going to take me forever.

“I walked away,” I tell her.

May was waiting for me when I got home. I messaged her that I needed to talk.

“I can’t believe Alec is getting married. Holy shit, Ev.”

I nod my head, agreeing with her. “I know. Crazy, right? But he seems happy. So that’s all I want for him.” She goes quiet, so I turn around to look at her. She’s looking down at the ground. “May, you okay?” I drop my hands from my hair once I pull the last clip out and it falls down my back.