A torrent of heaving sobs came from the other end.
“Perry! Honey!” Mom said between wailing crying. “Tell me it isn’t true!”
“Oh no,” I mumbled, reaching up to massage my temple.
“Wait—Mom—how did you even—”
“So you already knew?” she cried out. “Oh God, it is true. Chloe told me, Over text, for God’s sake. She used a crying emoji—and a damn coffin emoji.”
“How the hell did she—”
“She said she overheard your brother and Rachel talking in their bedroom!”
I nodded my head.
Of course.
Cameron and Rachel had three kids who were all sharp as tacks. Their pair of twelve-year-old twins, Cooper and Chloe, were truly like mini detectives. They could smell a secret from a mile away. Nothing ever got past Cooper and Chloe. They may as well have had their own kids’ TV show. And Dayna, their eight-year-old, was a precocious sweetheart.
The cat was completely out of the bag now. Mom knew about the divorce. And the big family reunion she’d been planning all year was shaping up to be a hell of a ride.
But I’d prided myself on being the diplomat in my family for my whole life. I listened. I cared. I put out all of the little fires. No matter what, I wanted my family to be able to depend on me, and I wanted to do everything I could to make sure they were happy and taken care of.
This time, it was just going to be a big job. I was going to have to work extra hard to make sure the reunion wasn’t a sob fest.
“Mom, let me call you back.”
3
Rock
My prowl definitely wasn’t working out tonight, but it was clearly because my dick was completely fucking broken.
Isobel was gorgeous. Too young for me, by far, but someone who would clearly be wonderful to spend a fun night with. But I had barely been interested. I had felt more desire to give her a hug and tell her good luck than I had been in sleeping with her.
But when my cock perked up at the sight of Perry walking back up front behind the bar, I knew for a fact that it was utterly broken beyond repair.
I wasn’t ashamed of getting a half-chub for another man, but I sure as hell was confused by it.
The look on his face made it seem like he’d just left a battlefront. He reached for a bottle of tequila again and swiftly grabbed a clean shot glass.
“You took off your apron,” I said as I watched him. I swallowed hard, shifting in my seat as if I needed to confirm I was still half-hard. I was.
“Huh?” he said, confused that I was talking to him at all. Why the hell was I commenting on what he was wearing?
“Sorry,” I said. “I’m a little drunk, and when I’m too drunk, my mouth does this thing where it basically won’t shut, and I can’t control it.”
Without his apron on, I could get a good look at Perry, which probably had something to do with my cock acting weird as hell. He was wearing a fitted black T-shirt and had a white kitchen towel slung over one shoulder. The man was actually really, really fucking fit. He clearly spent time working off all the rich, delicious foods he made.
He took one shot and then wordlessly disappeared back into the kitchen. A couple minutes later the door swung open again, and he presented a plate with three slider burgers on it.
“There,” he said, removing his apron again. “You can put this in your mouth. Should help with the talking and the drunkenness.”
I grinned as I looked at the juicy burgers, glancing back up at him. “Genius,” I said.
He gave me a nod before taking yet another shot of tequila. Christ, the man was putting back alcohol like water. He gave me a run for my money.
I’d been curious about Perry since I’d started visiting the bar, but I really liked the brief moments when he was around up front. The man sometimes looked at me like he wanted to devour me. Always when he thought I wasn’t noticing.
Maybe I was making it all up in my head, but I swore I’d seen him watching me like I was one of his delicious sweet creations, and he wanted to lick every inch. The attention was addictive. Perry was shy as hell, but my radar was golden. I’d always had a pretty good sense for when someone wanted to sleep with me.
I definitely didn’t have much else going on in Amberfield. It was fun thinking that a guy like him might be fantasizing about my body.
But tonight Perry seemed preoccupied. Anxious. I was starting to be more concerned with his well-being than I was with wondering if he wanted to suck me off.
Red reappeared behind the bar next to Perry, snapping me out of my trance.