Mister West by R.J. Lewis (animal farm read .TXT) 📕

“How are you guys?”

I’m vague. “We’re okay.”

He looks at me curiously, reading my expression. “Are you guys still together?”

The easy option is to say we are and leave it at that. Or I could say it’s complicated. But…

“We’ve separated, actually,” I explain softly, not meeting his eye.

He looks apologetic. “You came back, and I stupidly assumed it was to be with him. I’m sorry, Ivy.”

“No, that’s okay, Terry.”

Terry’s always been a genuinely good guy. One of the few friends of Derek I got along with. I’ve known him since I was sixteen, when I got with Derek in high school.

“Are you here with Heather?” I then ask. “How is she?”

His face falls in response. “She left me a few months ago.”

“Oh, shit, I’m sorry, Terry.”

He shrugs. “It happens.”

“Are you dating anyone?”

“Nah, it’s been a tough year for that.”

I’m genuinely surprised. This guy has a heart of gold, a long-term job, an apartment in his name, and he’s seriously good looking. He’s the definition of men who have their shit together.

“You should make your rounds,” I tell him, gesturing around the bar. “Plenty of women.”

“To be frank, I need to heal, Ivy. I’m not ready to dive in just yet. And anyways, they’re more interested in that suited dude,” he replies. “I think that’s Aidan West.”

I don’t look in his line of sight. “Is it?”

“Yeah, why aren’t you over there, having a poke?”

“Very freshly separated, Terry.”

“So? Derek was a dick to you.” When he sees my face fall, he doesn’t apologize. “It’s the truth and you know it. He shouldn’t have cheated on you. What an asshole. I couldn’t look at him the same after that shit came out.”

“Don’t let that ruin your friendship.”

“Someone capable of doing that to a loyal woman isn’t a friend of mine.” He says that with conviction. “I hope you’re far away from him. He’s a tornado. He’ll destroy whoever’s in his path.”

I don’t let him know I’m still living with him.

Instead, I look at him warmly, my eyes shining. “Thank you for your support.”

He wraps his arm around my shoulder and bumps his forehead to mine. He looks directly in my eyes and says, “You’ll look back one day, and this will all be a dream. I promise, sweetheart.”

I wrap my hand around his arm and squeeze. “That means a lot to me.”

He pulls away and asks the bartender for another round of beers. I’ve only had a few sips of mine, but I accept another one to be nice. We chat about his work and watch the fights. I don’t look back at Aidan once. I already know he’s being swarmed by ladies. I can hear the girly giggles from here.

The group Terry’s come with joins us. More familiar faces. Not Derek’s close friends, but loose acquaintances. No one asks me about Derek. I think it’s awkward because what he did made its rounds to everyone. It’s sort of humiliating to have that dirty laundry aired. I’d have preferred it be kept private. Spare me the pitiful looks.

Terry’s halfway drunk, the life of the party, cracking jokes and being touchy-feely. He touches my knee, rubs my arm, sits close. I know how it looks, but I also know he doesn’t mean anything by it. I scoot away and return my focus on the screen. The main event is coming.

“Having fun without me?” Aidan’s voice cuts through the air. He comes up beside me, so close his body is brushing against my side. He bends down, elbows on the bar, face inches from mine, staring straight at me.

“Did you think I’d just sit here like a puppy while you flirted your way through half the ladies in the bar?” I return, smiling. My smile is all wrong, though, and I think I shouldn’t have said that.

Aidan’s fingers come up. He runs them through my hair, focusing on the red strands. “I was looking for an escape. You didn’t come rescue me.”

“Oh, so you needed rescuing.” My voice is dry.

“You doubt me.”

I glance over his shoulder and at the ladies all huddled now, looking at him. “Go back, Aidan, you’re breaking hearts.”

“Don’t do that,” he returns, dropping his hand and moving even closer.

“Do what?”

“Don’t read into it. I came here with you. I hunted you down, remember?”

I look away, staring at the screen again because I don’t want him to read me. I don’t know why I’m feeling hurt. He did nothing wrong.

“You’re upset,” he says, and he sounds confused. “I don’t get why.”

“I’m not upset.”

“Some stranger was bumping foreheads with you, touching your arm, getting to feel you in ways I dare not, and you’re upset a few women talked to me?”

He was watching me the entire time.

My face goes red. “Terry’s my friend, not a stranger, and he was being supportive.”

“Supportive of what?”

I don’t immediately respond. I haven’t told Aidan about my conversation with Derek about ending things forever. I wanted the boundaries to still exist because I’m weak when it comes to Aidan. Part of me – the really deep part – is scared that all I am is a quest. Aidan may lose interest when he has his way with me, and he will have his way with me if he tries because I’m only flesh and bone and I can’t fight the way I feel for him if I tried.

“Ivy,” he stresses my name. “Temptress.”

My lips flick up, and my heart flutters. “I’m not tempting you right now.”

He stares at my lips. “You tempt me by simply existing.”

I feel my eyelids grow heavy as I look back at him. I flash him a sad smile. “How am I supposed to pretend to feel unaffected when you say things like that? Am I as easy as the rest to woo?”

“I’m not trying to woo you.”

“I worry this is all a game to you.”

He’s so close, we’re breathing each other in. If he flicked his tongue out, I might feel it. But he never gets any closer.

“This isn’t a game,”