“AJ,” he told Gage, his muscles tightening right back up again.
“You can take it. I need to go round up the guys, anyway,” Gage replied. “I’ll catch you later.”
As his partner wandered out of the room, Reed raised the phone to his ear and greeted his other partner. “Hey, man, what’s up?”
“Nothing really,” came the gruff reply. “I just wanted to make sure you restocked the bar after yesterday’s rush.”
Reed searched for any false or unhappy note in AJ’s voice, but heard none. “Yes, Mom, I restocked the bar,” he grumbled.
“Good. I figured you’d forget.”
A frown surfaced. “I’m not sure if I should be insulted by how little faith you have in me.”
There was a beat, and then AJ spoke up guiltily. “Sorry, force of habit. I’m so used to staying on top of you that I keep forgetting you’ve finally got your shit together.”
This time, the remark didn’t offend him. Truth was, he hadn’t been very responsible in the past. He’d spent his younger days drinking too much, blowing off work, and thinking himself a big-time hero because he happened to fight pro. But he’d cleaned up his act three years ago, after he and his friends had pooled their winnings together to buy the club. Reed had quickly discovered that once you had a real stake in something—and a bank loan to pay back—you grew up real fast.
Nowadays, he spent most of his nights doing inventory and signing other people’s paychecks, and he genuinely appreciated that AJ recognized he was no longer the irresponsible, self-absorbed jerk he’d once been.
“Don’t worry, Gage and I are handling things on this end.” Reed hesitated. “You still taking the weekend off? Or are you coming in now that you and…” He trailed off, uncertain about how to proceed.
But AJ had always been able to read his mind. “Now that me and Darcy broke up, you mean?” There was a pause, followed by a tired laugh. “Let me guess—she told Skyler, and Skyler didn’t waste any time telling you and Gage.”
“Actually, ah, Darcy told me herself.” Reed battled a rush of discomfort. “I stopped by the Krib last night and ran into her there.”
He was greeted by silence.
A very long silence.
“You still there, man?”
“Yeah, I’m here.” Another pause. “Was she with another guy?”
His fingers tightened around the phone. Crap. Should he tell AJ the truth? Lying to his friends wasn’t something Reed did often—if ever—but AJ had sounded so unhappy just now that he didn’t want to make him feel worse.
And ha—he’d known the breakup wasn’t mutual. If it had been, there definitely wouldn’t be this much tension rippling over the line.
“Naah,” Reed finally said. “She was only there to dance.”
The lie burned his throat as it exited his mouth, sparking a pang of guilt.
But…was it really a lie? In the end, Darcy hadn’t gone home with another man, so why upset AJ when Reed had successfully managed to thwart disaster?
“That girl loves to dance,” AJ said ruefully. “I always felt like such a tool when she dragged me to all those dance clubs.”
“Are you…how are you handling it?” Reed injected a hefty dose of sympathy into his tone. “You’re not crying into your pillow and listening to Celine Dion or anything, right?”
A snort sounded in his ear. “Hardly. I’m doing fine, man. Honest. It wasn’t working, and we both knew it.”
Reed shifted in his chair, his chest tightening uneasily again. He wasn’t sure what to say next. He’d never been great at talking about his feelings, or helping others work through theirs. There weren’t many people he felt comfortable confiding in, and when he was the one serving as confidant, he couldn’t seem to vocalize all those nice, encouraging words they needed to hear.
“Well…” Reed cleared his throat. “If you ever want to talk about it…”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’ll go to Gage.” AJ snickered. “Not that he’s a sparkling conversationalist either, but at least he doesn’t run out screaming when people start talking about their mushy feelings.”
Reed couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, I kinda suck at it. But seriously, bro, I mean it. If you need to talk, I’m here.”
“Thanks, man.”
“Hey, you wanna go out for beers soon? After the weekend rush?”
“Sure. Sounds good.”
After they’d hung up, Reed leaned back in his chair, feeling like a load had been lifted off his chest. And now he was even more sure of what he needed to do.
This attraction to Darcy?
It needed to be squashed. ASAP. Sleeping with her wasn’t an option. Same went for dating. And since neither of those options was available to him, he was simply torturing himself by continuing to obsess over her. The only available course of action was to forget about her. Pretend she’d never walked into their lives.
Of course, that was easier said than done.