Alex POV

After I finished my call with Bobby, I wandered over to the clerk's desk. Mike was still talking to Carolyn.

"What are my chances of finding an open liquor store nearby?" I asked him. He looked me over carefully, and I guess he decided that if anyone needed a drink, it was me.

"There's a twenty-four hour place about three miles from here. Take 71 south for a mile, then go west on Route 62."

"Thanks," I told him, surprised that there actually was a place. I'd had visions of knocking on doors in the motel until I found someone with a private stash.

I motioned to Mike that I would be back in a minute and then I drove to the liquor store. I didn't know what his drink of choice was because it seemed he changed with his mood. Beer some nights, scotch some, bourbon others.

I nixed the idea of beer. That was a social drink. It took longer to hit you and you had to drink larger quantities in order to feel the effects. After the day we'd had, I had a feeling the hard stuff was in order.

I grabbed a bottle of Jim Beam and then because I figured what the hell, I picked up a bottle of Jose Cuervo, too.

Fifteen minutes after leaving, I was back at the motel. Mike was standing outside in the snow.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked him.

"Where the hell did you go?" he countered. I held up my booty as I got out of the car.

"Oh, you didn't," he said with a grin. "Have I told you lately that I love you?"

"Yeah, you texted it to me half an hour ago," I teased.

"Bourbon and tequila?" he questioned as he took the bottles from my hands. "Are we going to get sloshed?"

"We don't have to drink it all," I laughed. "I wasn't sure what you'd want."

"Anything to take the pain away, sweetheart," he said casually as I opened the door to my room.

I turned on the lights and waved in the direction of the lone chair in the room. Instead, Mike went into the bathroom and looked around.

"No cups," he commented.

"There were some in the lobby by the coffee pot," I told him.

"I'll be right back."

While he was gone, I turned on the laptop and plugged in the cord to hook the modem up to the phone line. I couldn't remember the last time I'd traveled somewhere that didn't have wi-fi, but I was grateful that I still kept a phone cord with me.

And then, because I felt a little weird about the fact that I was going to be sitting in my hotel room drinking liquor with Mike, I sent Bobby a text.

Drinking with Mike in the motel room.

I almost clicked send, but then I added: I love you.

He replied: Drinking with Carolyn at her house. How messed up is this? I love you, too.

I was sitting on the dresser next to the laptop and still trying to log on to the dial-up when Mike got back with two Styrofoam cups.

"Find us a flight yet?"

"Are you kidding me? I'm still trying to get on."

"Bourbon or tequila?"

"You pick."

"Tequila it is."

He handed me a cup full of the bronze liquid just as my internet connection was finally complete. I tossed back half of it and then set about making the flight plans.

"Everything okay with you and the big guy?" he asked me after he topped off my drink.

"Yeah," I said in surprise, turning around to look at him. "Why not?"

"Well, you talked to him and then you left to find a liquor store…I thought maybe something was up."

"No. It's good. It's just…"

"Sexually frustrating?" he supplied with a grin. I suppressed a smirk and turned back to the computer. I was going to have to draw the line at talking about sex while drinking tequila with Mike in a motel room.

"Can we leave here by five-thirty tomorrow morning?" I asked him as the web page I was waiting for finally came up.

"Fine by me."

"We can catch the eight-fifty back to JFK."

"Book it," he agreed, filling my cup yet again.

I was feeling the burn in my belly and my head was starting to get a little swimmy. Food had been minimal throughout the day. I guess it was hitting Mike hard, too, because the next words out of his mouth caught me completely off guard.

"What is it that you see in Goren?" I looked up at him quickly, curious as to the context of the question.

Mike was leaning back in the chair with his legs stretched out in front of him. I watched as he downed another shot.

He didn't appear to be saying it in a derogatory manner, and really, it would have surprised me if he had. I knew he thought a lot of Bobby.

"Why do you ask?" I asked cautiously.

"I um…I…oh, man. I must be really tired," he said as he sat up and ran his hand over his face. "Never mind."

"No. You asked for a reason. What is it?"

"It's just that…I think we're a lot alike, me and him. I mean, not in some things, but in the way that…it's how we…"

And then I knew where he was going.

"You think you're both damaged," I stated. He looked at me and slowly nodded.

"We both had to overcome a lot. And it fucked us up in ways that even we don't always understand. But you love him anyway. You're able to see past his flaws."

"Yeah," I agreed quickly. "And he sees past mine. No one's perfect, Mike. And I don't know a lot about what you had to deal with growing up, but I do know that you're a good man now. And Carolyn knows that. Are you doubting that she loves you?"

"No," he sighed. "I want her to marry me. Is that crazy?"

"It's not crazy. You guys are already married," I commented.

"Really married. With a license and everything. And earlier I'd made up my mind to ask her, but then when I had her on the phone, I chickened out. She's too good for me. Why should she have to settle for someone like me?"

Oh my God. He and Bobby really were just alike.

"Mike," I began. "There are so many things wrong with that question that I don't even know where to begin."

I waited for him to look me in the eye and then I continued.

"It's not settling. You're a catch. She's just as lucky to have you as you are to have her. And besides that, I've never known Carolyn to do anything she didn't want to. If she wasn't happy with you, I'm sure you'd be the first to know."

"Wow, that sounds almost exactly like the pep talk I had to give Goren not too long ago," he replied with a grin.

"Well, listen to yourself then. But don't ask her on the phone," I continued. "Wait until we get back."

He nodded at me and poured us both another drink.

"You're buzzing," I told him as he handed me my cup.

"I'm past that. I think I'm full-on drunk."

"No," I said, unable to stop the laughter. "Your phone. You're buzzing."

Bobby POV-

After talking with Alex, I was missing her more than ever. I didn't want to go back to our apartment alone, so I was grateful when Carolyn suggested I sleep on the couch.

"At least that way, you won't be home if more cops show up at your door tonight," she teased. She had a point.

But neither of us were ready for sleep, so after our conversations with our significant others, we met back in the kitchen and worked on the bottle of scotch.

"I didn't expect to miss Mike this much," she admitted after nearly twenty minutes of silence and half a bottle of scotch. "It's always me that goes away, not him. I think it's harder to be the one left behind."

"Yeah," I agreed. "I always had a knack for leaving Alex behind. I could kick myself for that now. But I would follow leads, go off on my own, never giving a thought to how it made her feel."

"I think you've more than made up for that now."

"Maybe."

"Not maybe. She trusts you completely. You guys don't even think twice about keeping the other one up to speed. I bet you've already told her that we're sitting here drinking together."

"Well, yeah," I admitted, a little embarrassed that I was such an easy read. "I thought it might look bad…you know, me and you alone in your house…drinking."

"Well, they look worse," she said with a smile. "They're alone in a motel drinking."

"So Mike texted you, too," I concluded, smiling back at her. We were all pathetic.

"Yeah. I uh…" She paused and ran her hand through her hair. "I think that maybe...maybe I made a mistake."

"Another one?" I asked with a tease. "What's that lifetime tally now, two?"

"Ha! Hardly. Do I have to remind you about Jack Quarles? That counted for quite a few just in itself."

"Don't be so hard on yourself about him."

"He was married, Bobby. Married. And he turned out to be a criminal. Do I have to say more?"

I shrugged and refilled our glasses.

"And then today I completely underestimated you and Alex. And Mike, too. I can't believe I was so narrow-minded as to try to pigeonhole you guys like that."

"You're an organized mind," I told her. "It's perfectly normal to try to fit people into specific boxes."

"Yeah, but still…you don't do it."

"Well, I'm not such an organized mind," I replied with a grin.

I waited for her to say something, but she stayed quiet.

"So what mistake have you made now?" I asked her, trying to get our conversation back on track. However, the scotch combined with exhaustion and lack of sleep was making it difficult for me to even remember what the track was.

"Mike."

I looked at her in shock and my heart was in my throat. She'd made a mistake with Mike? He was like a brother to me. A real brother, like what I'd always wanted my brother to be. If she dropped him, he was going to be crushed. Not to mention the fact that I had developed quite a fondness for her, too. And things were never the same in friendships once a couple broke up. It just didn't work to be friends with both people. You had to pick.

"I…uh…I don't know why I'm telling you this," she said. "It's just that, well, I've been thinking about things, and I think that I was wrong."

"About Mike."

"About not wanting to marry him. I think I do. I mean, I know I do. But he's asked me once and I said no. I can't expect him to ask again."

"So you ask him," I replied, relief flooding through me with the realization that I had misread the situation. Idiot, I chastised myself.

"I thought about it. On the phone earlier. I was going to, but he seemed off. A little hesitant. I think there's something he's not telling me. And I hate talking on the phone because I can't see his expressions, and with cell reception sometimes I miss certain nuances of his speech patterns…"

"Carolyn, are you analyzing him or having a conversation with him? You're over-thinking it."

"So I should just…"

"Just ask him."

"I can't call him now. If they're in the room, they won't get a call."

"Send him a text."

"Ask him to marry me in a text message?"

"Why not?"

"I thought you were supposed to be so romantic," she chastised, shaking her head. But she pulled out her phone and held it in her hand.

"It's not about me. Is Mike a romantic?"

"No. Well, sometimes. He tries because he thinks I need it. But he's more of a cut-to-the-chase kind of guy."

"Then cut to the chase."

She stared at me a moment longer, tossed back the rest of her drink, and then typed a message.

TBC...