Drew's shoulders. "I set you up."
I feel my knees buckle. I can't process all of this. I don't understand why I'm in the middle of this. I twist my neck sharply and search through the crowd for Rebecca. I need her to help me. I want her to help me understand what's going on.
"Give me back my money." Drew pushes against Nathan to no avail. "You set me up."
"That money was for Cassie." Nathan pushes him back. "It was for your kids."
The mention of Allie and Aaron stops Drew in his tracks. "You don't know anything about my kids."
"I know you're a sad excuse for a father," Nathan scowls. "You gambled away everything."
I feel so lost. It's almost as though I've stepped into another universe. I need to leave. I push myself back up from the chair and my eyes settle on the green-eyed stranger who brought Nathan a beer.
"I have to go," I whisper as much to him as to the heavy, emotionally filled air that is suffocating me.
"I'll take you." He stands and reaches out his hand.
"My friend is here." I motion towards the table I shared with Rebecca. A group of older men are sitting there now. I scan the people gathered near us and her face doesn't appear.
"Cassie put you up to this, didn't she?" The distant sound of Drew's raised voice arguing with Nathan rings through me as I step out into the darkness and the heavy night air.
Chapter 3
"Where did you go?" I place the mug of hot coffee I've been nursing for the past ten minutes down on the table. "You bailed on me."
"I saw you with Fingers." Rebecca pours herself some before she turns to me. "You never mentioned that he knew Drew."
She's diverting the conversation. "You just got up and left. You didn't think to come tell me?" I'm pissed and I have every right to be. It was her idea to go get a beer in the first place and because of that my entire life fell apart in the space of five minutes.
"Jess, you were sitting with Nathan." She spits out his name as if it's vile. "You were busy so I called it a night."
"You knew, didn't you?" I ask even though I'm sure of the answer. "You knew Drew was married to Cassandra."
"What?" The coffee that was just in her mouth is now spread out unceremoniously all over the table and the front of my robe.
I cock a brow at the reaction. She may be good at manipulating people and getting her way but I doubt that even she could mock surprise so convincingly. "You didn't know?"
"You're wrong." She reaches for a paper towel to soak up the mess. "There's no way he was married to her."
"They were married." I still can't absorb the fact even though I heard it firsthand last night. I spent hours after Nathan's friend, Garrett, dropped me off trying to decipher exactly what happened.
"I never met the ex." She takes a generous mouthful of coffee. "She's still hung up on him."
"On Drew?" I almost burst out laughing. After learning that he was shirking his child support duties, I can’t imagine what Cassandra sees in him.
"How can it be Drew?" She leans both elbows on the table as she shakes her head. "She talks about her ex like he's the best thing that ever happened to her. His name is Andrew. Ah, that makes sense I guess."
I shrug my shoulders. "Nathan knew all along. He knew when he made the bet." The word slips out with my thoughts. I didn't want to confess any of this to my best friend.
"What bet?"
"I can't talk about it." Technically I won't. I don't want to humiliate myself even more.
"Jess." She inches her chair on the floor so she's sitting next to me now. "Spit it out. What bet?"
It would feel amazing to just let this all out. I'm just not in the mood for all the reminders that she warned me that Nathan was just using me for sex. "You're going to tell me that you knew he was a mistake all along."
"Fingers?" A thin smile covers her lips. "That goes without saying. Spill the beans. What the hell is going on?"
"Do you remember that night when we went to the club with Bryce? Right after he moved in?" I don't want to make
I feel my knees buckle. I can't process all of this. I don't understand why I'm in the middle of this. I twist my neck sharply and search through the crowd for Rebecca. I need her to help me. I want her to help me understand what's going on.
"Give me back my money." Drew pushes against Nathan to no avail. "You set me up."
"That money was for Cassie." Nathan pushes him back. "It was for your kids."
The mention of Allie and Aaron stops Drew in his tracks. "You don't know anything about my kids."
"I know you're a sad excuse for a father," Nathan scowls. "You gambled away everything."
I feel so lost. It's almost as though I've stepped into another universe. I need to leave. I push myself back up from the chair and my eyes settle on the green-eyed stranger who brought Nathan a beer.
"I have to go," I whisper as much to him as to the heavy, emotionally filled air that is suffocating me.
"I'll take you." He stands and reaches out his hand.
"My friend is here." I motion towards the table I shared with Rebecca. A group of older men are sitting there now. I scan the people gathered near us and her face doesn't appear.
"Cassie put you up to this, didn't she?" The distant sound of Drew's raised voice arguing with Nathan rings through me as I step out into the darkness and the heavy night air.
Chapter 3
"Where did you go?" I place the mug of hot coffee I've been nursing for the past ten minutes down on the table. "You bailed on me."
"I saw you with Fingers." Rebecca pours herself some before she turns to me. "You never mentioned that he knew Drew."
She's diverting the conversation. "You just got up and left. You didn't think to come tell me?" I'm pissed and I have every right to be. It was her idea to go get a beer in the first place and because of that my entire life fell apart in the space of five minutes.
"Jess, you were sitting with Nathan." She spits out his name as if it's vile. "You were busy so I called it a night."
"You knew, didn't you?" I ask even though I'm sure of the answer. "You knew Drew was married to Cassandra."
"What?" The coffee that was just in her mouth is now spread out unceremoniously all over the table and the front of my robe.
I cock a brow at the reaction. She may be good at manipulating people and getting her way but I doubt that even she could mock surprise so convincingly. "You didn't know?"
"You're wrong." She reaches for a paper towel to soak up the mess. "There's no way he was married to her."
"They were married." I still can't absorb the fact even though I heard it firsthand last night. I spent hours after Nathan's friend, Garrett, dropped me off trying to decipher exactly what happened.
"I never met the ex." She takes a generous mouthful of coffee. "She's still hung up on him."
"On Drew?" I almost burst out laughing. After learning that he was shirking his child support duties, I can’t imagine what Cassandra sees in him.
"How can it be Drew?" She leans both elbows on the table as she shakes her head. "She talks about her ex like he's the best thing that ever happened to her. His name is Andrew. Ah, that makes sense I guess."
I shrug my shoulders. "Nathan knew all along. He knew when he made the bet." The word slips out with my thoughts. I didn't want to confess any of this to my best friend.
"What bet?"
"I can't talk about it." Technically I won't. I don't want to humiliate myself even more.
"Jess." She inches her chair on the floor so she's sitting next to me now. "Spit it out. What bet?"
It would feel amazing to just let this all out. I'm just not in the mood for all the reminders that she warned me that Nathan was just using me for sex. "You're going to tell me that you knew he was a mistake all along."
"Fingers?" A thin smile covers her lips. "That goes without saying. Spill the beans. What the hell is going on?"
"Do you remember that night when we went to the club with Bryce? Right after he moved in?" I don't want to make
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