Nineteen

E

Bella lets out a long breath. "I think I'll take that beer now."

She takes a sip and starts peeling the label off the bottle while I try to figure out where to start.

Bella chooses for me. "Why don't you tell me how the two of you met?"

I've already told her about what it was like growing up in a small town and she sympathizes. I was the only child to a doctor and interior designer.

"You know I was raised to follow in my father's footsteps, but I knew early on that I wasn't interested in the medical field."

Bella nods for me to continue.

"Well, Jess and I got partnered up on a literary project, and we spent a lot of time working together. My parents adored her, and I did too. Things were easy in the beginning. We were the 'it' couple."

Bella snorts. "Of course, you were Mr. Popular." She sobers up. "Go on."

"Senior year came around, and I was under a lot of pressure. Jess started trying to convince me to go to the college she got accepted to. They had a great medical program, but I didn't want that life. My parents finally came to terms with it, but she was pissed." I grab my beer and take a long pull. "She gave me an ultimatum, and that lead to our first break up—"

Bella holds her hand up to stop me, and a blush forms high on her cheeks. "I'm sorry to interrupt you. Can I use your bathroom?"

I laugh and tell her where to find it. She stumbles out of the room, and I take the moment to mentally prepare myself. I take off my flannel and toss it on the other end of the couch.

When she returns, Bella flops down next to me and looks up expectantly. "So, you broke up, and she went off to college while you started bartending ..."

"We didn't stay in contact for those five years she was gone. She friended me on Facebook right before she graduated and asked if I wanted to reconnect when she moved home. At the time, I was in a situation with a girl. It was nothing serious."

"Friends with benefits?" Bella asks, and I nod.

"When Jess and I met up, it was like old times. It was easy to fall back in love with her so I ghosted Lauren. I'm not proud of that. She deserved better, but I was young and dumb."

"And in love."

"I thought it was love. Jess wanted to move fast, and we were married before she started working at the hospital. I inherited this house and started working a lot to save up for a bar of my own. It didn't take long for the resentment to set in."

Bella reaches out and grabs my hand.

"My nights were crazy, and I was barely home. Every penny I made in tips went into my savings, and my checks covered everything like electricity and food. I didn't ask her to contribute because it was my duty as the man of the house. I enjoyed providing and taking care of her as best as I could when I wasn't working."

Bella offers to grab us new beers, and I drain my bottle. When she gets back, she pulls the blanket off the back of the couch and covers her legs.

"It all came to a head when I finally had enough saved to open my bar. I went looking at spaces and came home to divorce papers."

Bella chokes on her beer. "What the fuck?" she croaks.

"Yeah, she admitted that she'd been unhappy for months and that she didn't have plans to be a bartender's wife forever."

"But you were a bartender when you got married. What did she expect?"

"Me to change my mind and find a real job. I gave her the divorce, and she could obviously afford a good lawyer. I wasn't so lucky." I breathe through my nose. "In the end, Jess got a chunk of my savings and the Camaro I had before we were married."

"God damn." Bella sucks her teeth. "No wonder you're so jaded."