I laughed sardonically and pushed her hand off my chest. "Yeah. You bitches see what you want to see. I don't care."
Turning, I moved out of the restaurant and walked to my truck. I was grateful Chloe had forced us to take separate rides. The last thing I wanted to do was walk home after the mess I'd made between us.
I texted Brian to meet me at the bar near my place and headed that way. He lied to me or she lied to him. I needed to know which. Someone owed me a damn apology because I wasn't going to be the only one on my knees this time. I'd been there too many times in the last twelve years and I was tired of it.
I drove like a bat out of hell as I tried to think through how to get Chloe to see me again. I just needed to apologize for how ugly I'd been. She wasn't a whore. I was. I didn't need to leave things like that with her.
Her words rang through my head again and I growled low in my chest. Had she broken up with the football guy? Was she really looking for a guy like me or did she make that shit up to cover her tracks?
The authentic hurt in her face told me that she was telling the truth, but I was terrified of playing the fool. It was easier to tuck my feelings back deep down inside of me and just go around as the town dick. it was better than being a broken man with nothing left to offer anyone.
I parked and walked in, slowing my stride and putting my facade in place. There was no reason to let anyone see me upset. It would just cause talk amongst the locals and leave me looking like an idiot.
"Hey." Brian lifted his hand in the air.
"Hey." I sat down and nodded to his beer as Pauly walked up. "I'll have a Budweiser, too."
"You bet, Finn. Good to see you, son." He stuck out his hand and I shook it.
"You too, Pauly." I turned to Brian. "Chloe said she doesn't have a boyfriend, Brian."
"And, you're surprised by this?" He chuckled and lifted his beer to his lips.
"Yeah, actually, I am. Did she seem like the kind of woman that would have two men?"
"No, not at all, but it's usually women like her that you have to watch out for." He shrugged.
"What? Why?"
"She's classy, beautiful, brilliant, and has the world waiting for her next move. Girls like her know how to lie, how to look the part, and it leaves us guessing. I don't like it, Finn."
"I don't care what you think she is or isn't. What I care about is whether she really told you that she's dating someone."
"Yeah, Finn. I've known you my whole fucking life. I wouldn't lie to you." He turned away from me and took another drink of his beer.
"What exactly did she say? Lay it on me." I'd forced myself to calm down, not wanting to upset him. He was my best friend and there was no way he wouldn't shoot straight with me over a girl. We'd been friends for far too long and been through a ton of shit together.
"She said that she was glad she got to go out dancing. Her boyfriend back in California is the jealous type and never lets her get out and have a little bit of harmless fun." He rolled his eyes and let out a long sigh. "It was something to that tune. She said she had a man, and I was just warning you. She's lying to you or she was lying to me."
She might have lied to Brian to save him from asking her out. She was that type of girl to save a poor guy from looking too much liked an idiot. Her character just screamed goodness. The memory of her bringing the cup of hot chocolate to me a few days back rose behind my eyelids and my heart contracted painfully. Sitting in her kitchen and talking about nothing had been so damn nice. So right.
"What are you thinking?" Brian asked.
"That I need to get her back. I fucked things up tonight because her brother validated what you just said and I was angry with her." I shrugged. "I should have been a man and just asked her about it, but I didn't. I acted like a brat and treated her like she didn't matter, which honestly, couldn't be farther from the truth."
"You just met her, Finn. Don't you think you're being a little irrational about this?"
"Not at all." I glanced over at him and took a swig of my beer. "But then again, I believe in love. I've tried to pretend like I don't so I don't have to hurt so much, but the honest to God truth is that I believe in it."
"And, you should," Pauly butted in, leaning toward us and staring me in the face. "I met my wife on the dance floor one night thirty years ago. It was an old country hoedown in Kentucky and the minute I saw her, I knew. Sounds silly, but that's because it doesn't happen to everyone. Those of us who are struck with its overwhelming power know the truth of it, though. If you've felt it, you better not let it go, Finn. It don't come around but once in a life, and sometimes not even once."
"That sounds great, Pauly, but I've never felt like that. Not once." Brian sat back and lifted his eyebrow at the old barkeep.
"Just because you've never tangibly seen gravity, you can't deny that it exists, Brian. It's a force, just like love is. Stop being ignorant and open yourself up to the possibility that somewhere in the world there a woman just for you. When you see her, time
stands still and you find yourself willing to-”
I cut him off as I stared at the liquor bottles behind him. "To do anything for her. You'll give up your own dreams, cut family ties, or move across the country for her. Anything to have her as yours."