“Yeah...” I was confused. I was the fucking idiot who got married on the fly, not Beck. For all his jokes, relationships were one thing he took deadly serious. “Shit, man. You had dinner with us at six then went to work. The fuck did you do?”
He finally managed to pull his hand away from Mia and tucked it into his pocket. “Involved a woman and tequila. Will you leave it at that?”
“No!” Mia shrieked. “Leave it at that? No. Tell me what you did right now.”
“Leave it, gorgeous,” he said to her.
He was still the luckiest son of a bitch I didn't punch him every time he called her that. He was basically my brother, and I knew it was just his term of affection for her. Like she called him sweetie. Mostly when he was being a dick.
“No. Sweetie, I don't understand how 'involved a woman and tequila' involves you wearing a wedding ring.”
Like that.
Beck sighed heavily and dropped onto the end of the sofa. He buried his face in his hands and shook his head. “Finished work early. Met a woman. Got drunk out of my mind. Got married.”
“Get an annulment then,” I told him. What was the fucking problem? Apart from the obvious.
“Can't.” He slid his gaze to me. “I fucked her after.”
That was the problem.
“Beck.” Mia said his name softly and sat next to him. “What are you gonna do?”
He blew out a long, tortured breath and looked at the wall. “Wait until she comes into work next and talk to her about a quickie divorce, I guess.”
“Wait.” I leaned forward. “What the fuck do you mean you're gonna wait until she comes into work? Are you telling me you got a member of staff drunk, married her, then fucked her?”
“Yeah. One of the girls. She was off her game so I took her for a chat, threw back a couple of shots with her—”
“Sounds like more than a couple.”
“Yeah, well, it was. Don't worry, yeah?” He looked at me. “I'll handle it. She sees it for the mistake I do. Easy fixin'.” He got up and walked back into the kitchen.
This time, Mia didn't follow. She slid along the sofa and tucked herself into my side. Her teeth sank into her bottom lip, and she peered up at me, concern in her eyes. “Oh no,” she whispered. “This is bad, isn't it?”
I gently squeezed her and kissed her head. Her worry for him was palpable. “Yeah. Yeah, angel. This is bad.”
The End