Page 4 of First Comes Marriage
Maybe he could forget she existed altogether.
The sound of a key turning in the deadbolt on his front door broke through the music, but Baz ignored it. Ignored, too, the muttered curses and clomping of heavy shoes moving across his apartment. He took another sip of his Scotch, never opening his eyes, as someone turned off the music.
“So much for not caring,” Ethan muttered at his side.
“Fuck you.”
Gavin sighed. “I told you we should have come earlier.”
“I’ll make coffee,” Jamie announced from the open concept kitchen.
Baz slowly opened his eyes, keeping his gaze locked on the rolling waves of the bay through the wall of windows at one end of his apartment. He lifted his glass to his lips again, but Ethan snatched it from his hands. “I think you’ve had enough for one night.”
“I’m pissed off, not drunk,” Baz grumbled.
“We brought food,” Jamie said over the sound of Baz’s microwave whirring to life. “Pizza.”
“To soak up the booze,” Ethan said with a pointed look.
“I’m fine. You can go.”
“Doubtful. Besides, we need to settle this before the Merchants’ Association meeting tomorrow night.” Gavin held upa worn Scrabble box in one hand and a tin of Uno cards in the other. “What’ll it be?”
“Pain in my ass.”
“We love you too.” Jamie thrust a mug of coffee at him.
He accepted the mug and went to the wall of glass overlooking the bay as Gavin and Jamie set up the evening’s board game at his dining room table. Baz rested his forehead against the glass, letting the coolness seep into his skin. Ethan came up beside him, his hands dug into his pants pockets.
“You wouldn't be day drinking because of a certain redhead who happens to be back in town, now, would you?” Ethan asked.
If Ethan was surprised that Sabrina’s reappearance in town had rattled Baz, he didn’t show it, and Baz wasn’t sure if he was grateful or frustrated. He deserved to have someone call him out for the hypocrite he was, for tying himself up in knots after a fleeting glimpse of the woman he claimed to hate. Someone should point out that he hadn’t had a single feeling about a woman in a decade, and it was fucking ridiculous for Sabrina, of all people, to be the first to get under his skin. But he should have known Ethan wouldn’t be that person.
“I heard she’s staying with Mrs. Page,” Ethan offered.
Baz took a sip of the coffee, wincing as it burned his tongue. He glanced at Ethan, clocking the thoughtful narrowing of his eyes. “Just fucking say it.”
“Is all this, the Scotch and the music, because you’re upset she’s back, or because you’re upset you care?”
Baz ignored the question, which was its own kind of admission.
“She submitted an application to the Merchants’ Association for some kind of pottery studio. Seems like she might be planning to stick around for a while,” Ethan continued.
Baz snorted. “A pottery studio? Guess she decided not to get that MBA after all.”
“Maybe it’s time the two of you actually talked about whathappened. You used to be friends.”
Again, he ignored Ethan. He didn’t need to talk to Sabrina to know what had happened. He had never been good enough to marry Holly Page. Everyone knew it. It had been stupid of him to have ever thought Sabrina felt differently.
“Are we playing or what?” Gavin called.
Baz took another sip of his coffee and turned to face his friends. “You ready for me to kick your ass?”
Ethan laughed. “Big talk from the guy who’s slurring his speech.”
“Even if I was drunk, which I’m not, I’m better at this game than you’ll ever be.” Baz took a seat across from Gavin at the dining room table.
“Prove it.”