Chapter 5

ChapterFive

CHLOE

I hadn’t planned to come tonight, but I missed Sawyer so damn much. It was hard to mask the hurt that hit me when he told me he wouldn’t be making it home for dinner. I had a whole night planned out for us and was working on it all day.

He’s been busy these past few weeks so I wanted to do something special. My husband has always been more than perfect and he’s given me a fairytale the last three and a half years. I’m not going to guilt him over working so hard.

I thought it wouldn’t hurt to stop by since I know a lot of the employees. That feeling is confirmed when I spot Sawyer across the room. Excitement bubbles in my chest when he realizes it’s me and his eyes light up. He’s never been one to hide his affection, and it’s never mattered who was around.

When I put on this little black dress, I was hoping it might get me into a bit of trouble. My plan is to lure him away early. It covers more than the outfit I planned on wearing when he got home tonight, which was only an apron.

“Chloe, didn’t think I’d see you here tonight,” Luke says and then gives me a kiss on the cheek.

He’s my favorite of my husband’s friends and one of the only ones he spends time with. None of the other men that he used to play poker with ever come around. That’s why I’m surprised to see them all here, but I guess it’s Paul’s bachelor party so it makes sense. Sawyer stopped going to poker night after we got married.

“I thought I’d swing by and say hi.”

“Sawyer will be happy. He’s in a shit mood.”

“Oh, what’s?—”

“Hey sis.” Paul throws his arm around Luke’s shoulder, who immediately shrugs it off. Then Paul sways on his feet.

“Hi, Paul. How is the party?” I keep the smile pasted on my face to be polite, but he’s the reason Sawyer had to take over for the company.

“About to get a whole lot better.”

“Paul.” Sawyer’s hand comes down on his shoulder and Paul flinches. Some of the liquid in his glass spills out, and I’m guessing things are still bad between the two of them. “Don’t.” The warning in Sawyer’s tone is clear.

“Is everything okay?” I ask because the tension is heavy.

“No it’s not. Your husband—” The word slips off his tongue with utter distaste.

“I’m warning you.” The hand Sawyer has on Paul’s shoulder squeezes.

Paul lets out a yelp and jerks out of Sawyer’s hold, then splashes more of his drink onto the floor. I take a step back so it doesn’t land on my heels.

“Oh you don’t want her to know what you did?” Paul smirks, but Sawyer looks murderous. “That you’re no better than the rest of us?”

“What?” I push, wanting to know what the hell is going on.

“We’re leaving.”

Sawyer shoves Paul back, and he stumbles before bumping into Luke. Luke manages to save him from falling on his ass.

“He fucked you on a bet,” Paul blurts out loud enough for the entire restaurant to hear.

Sawyer grabs my elbow to lead me away from him. “He’s drunk.”

“That first day, Chloe. Poker night. Whoever got into your virginal panties first won.”

My heart drops and so does Paul when Sawyer lets go of my elbow and punches him in the face. Paul hits the floor hard and blood pours out of his nose.

“Fuck!” Paul squeals, squeezing his eyes shut.

Sawyer clearly isn’t done with him and goes in again. I try to reach for his arm but I’m not fast enough. Sawyer grabs Paul by the collar and lifts him back to his feet.

“Apologize for speaking to her that way,” Sawyer demands.

“Me? Apologize?” Paul starts to laugh but it turns into a grunt when Sawyer punches him in the stomach.

“Sawyer!” I call to my husband because I realize that everyone’s attention is now on us. He’s going to get himself arrested.

He glances over at me, but his eyes only meet mine for a second before he lowers them.

“Tell her, Luke,” Paul coughs. “It’s true.”

With everything happening so fast, my brain is still catching up with what Paul has fully said. I was a bet?

My mind flashes back to the day I moved in. Paul was suddenly nice and invited me to cook for the poker game. How all of them hooted when I walked in the door. Heck, Sawyer was at the door ready and willing to help me.

When I glance at Luke, he doesn’t answer. Instead, he runs his hand through his short hair, looking anywhere but at me. He’s not denying it, that’s for damn sure. As I search the crowd and find the others I recognize from poker night, they’re also pretending none of this is happening.

“Luke.” I reach out and touch his forearm, and his gaze finally meets mine. “Is it true?”

“You should talk to your husband. I’m sorry, Chloe.” His voice is soft, but once again, there’s no denial.

“Sawyer?” My eyes fill with tears, not wanting to believe it. “It’s not true.” I say the words I want him to repeat so that we can leave and pretend this never happened.

“Chloe.” I hate that he uses my name because he never calls me by it.

Sawyer throws Paul out of his hold, and my stepbrother collides with a table with a loud clatter. Sawyer takes a step toward me, but I retreat as my hands go out in front of me.

“Answer me. Say it’s not true.” I know he won’t lie to me. Or do I? If this is true, what do I really know about him? A tear escapes, but I quickly swipe it away. Everyone is still watching us, and the restaurant is utterly quiet.

“It’s not what you think.” He takes another step toward me, but I match it in retreat. “You think you can run from me, kitten?”

“Just answer this. Was there a bet?” I snap, and the last part comes out sounding more hysterical than I intended it to. His brows rise in surprise.

He’s quiet for a beat before he says the word that stabs me in the heart. “Yes.”

The fairy tale I thought was ours disappears, and I feel like I might be sick.

“Officers, it was him. He attacked me,” Paul slurs and it’s then I see two cops closing in around us.

“Don’t do it,” Sawyer orders me in that same tone that commands my body so easily.

I pause for a second, but I know this is my only chance so I turn and dart towards the door.

“Chloe!” Sawyer shouts, and when I push through the door, I look back in time to see the two officers grabbing Sawyer to stop him from chasing after me.

Once outside, I wave my hand at the first taxi I see and hop in.

“Where to?” the driver asks, but I have no freaking clue. I need a second, and that’s not something Sawyer will give me.

“Just drive please,” I say before swiping at the tears on my cheeks. It’s pointless because they aren’t stopping anytime soon.