A Girl by Any Other Name (31 page)

them away. “Baby, I’ve told you I love you with all the adjectives that exist in my vocabulary. But let

me tell you this, those sacrifices you’re talking about, I understand your reasoning. I can live with

them and you’re right, we can’t have a baby right now. So we’ll get you the morning-after pill

tomorrow and pray that you’re not pregnant, okay?” She didn’t reply. “One thing that I’m not willing

to sacrifice is you.” I buried my face into her neck, not wanting her to see the tears that were

threatening to form at the corners of my eyes. “I can’t handle losing you again. Please don’t leave me,

okay?”

She ran her fingers through my hair and kissed my cheek. “We don’t have to get the pill. We’ll

just pray. I love you, Tex. Let’s go to sleep.”

I fell asleep in her arms, feeling the comfort that only she provided me.

It wasn’t until the next morning that the dread set in.

She had never answered my question.

Chapter Seventeen

“‘Look, darlin’, it’s Johnny Ringo. Deadliest pistoleer since Wild Bill, they say.’” Tony greeted

me with the
Tombstone
quote, bumping Molly’s shoulder. We often quoted
Tombstone
since we both

liked it so much. He motioned the waitress for another round.

“‘Why, it’s the drunk piano player. You’re so drunk, you can’t hit nothin’. In fact, you’re

probably seeing double,’” I replied, adding my own quote. I shook his hand. “How come you always

get to be Doc Holliday?”

He smiled. “’Cause I’m the hero.”

“I think Wyatt Earp was the hero.”

“It’s debatable.”

“Hey, Molly,” I greeted, before taking up residence in my usual seat.

“You’ve been avoiding us,” she replied with iciness in her tone that I wasn’t used to.

“I’ve been busy.” I hoped she would let it go at that. I should have known better. They had both

texted and called me and I
had
been avoiding them. We usually met up every week like clockwork,

but I had bailed on them since finding Sylvie. I didn’t want to give up a minute with her. The only

reason I was here at all was because she needed to finish one of her portraits tonight and she insisted

I get out of her hair.

“Busy with your new girl?” Tony asked. Damn, I wasn’t sure if he was drunk or it had just

slipped his mind, but I’d asked him not to bring it up in front of Molly. It wasn’t that I was hiding that

I was in love, but I knew it would only hurt her. Molly had pretty much laid her heart out for me, and I

couldn’t reciprocate those feelings.

Molly sat straighter in her chair, and leaned into the table. “You’re dating someone?”

Fuck.

“Oh no, Molls, our boy’s in love,” Tony replied with a grin. I kicked him under the table.

“I’m seeing someone. Want to play pool?”

“Is it serious?” she asked with a false hope in her voice that made me feel guilty.

I’d been very clear from the start that I was still in love with the girl I’d met when I was ten. At

first Molly had thought it was cute, endearing, as women often did. She’d said we could be casual.

Then she had wanted more, so we’d become exclusive. I hadn’t minded because I genuinely liked her

company, but I’d always been clear that my heart belonged to someone else. After a while, Molly

hadn’t been able to handle it. I’d tried breaking up with her, apologizing to her, letting her know how

special she was, but that whole ‘it’s me, not you’ deal never worked. Molly was a sweet girl with a

nurturing heart, and a bubbly personality, and after several weeks of being pissed at me, she’d asked

if we could remain friends.

I’d been cautious about the arrangement, but we were both lonely so we’d kept each other

company. Occasionally our friendship had spilled into quick, dirty sex when one of us needed it. The

friends-with-benefits angle had satisfied my physical cravings and her longings, but in the end, it

hadn’t been fair to her. She deserved so much more than someone who couldn’t return her feelings.

The last time she’d cried afterwards. That was a few months ago, and I’d told her we couldn’t

do this anymore. She had still wanted to be friends, though, and my selfish self had agreed, because I

really needed a friend. Our relationship was dysfunctional, maybe even delusional, but it worked.

There had been other sexual encounters, but Molly was my only relationship besides Sylvie.

Fuck.

What the hell was Sylvie going to think about me hanging out with my ex-girlfriend? I hadn’t

even thought about it when I’d agreed to meet them. This was new territory for me. What would I

think if Sylvie did this? I’d be pissed as hell. I couldn’t dwell on it too long because both Molly and

Tony were staring at me, expecting an answer.

“Very serious.” I knew she wanted more information, but I wasn’t about to give it to her.

“How long?”

“Does it matter, Molly?”

“Yes, it does, Caleb. It matters to me. How long?” She swigged the rest of her beer with the skill

of a sailor on shore leave. She wiped her mouth and stared at me.

“Almost a month.”

“Well, glad to see that you’re finally letting go of your past.” The plied sugariness in her voice

left more of a bitter aftertaste than the beer I was drinking. She twirled her blonde hair in her fingers,

giving me the evil eye, and I suddenly wished I were anywhere but here.

“I’m so happy for you, man,” Tony said, patting me on the back, acting like Molly wasn’t even

there.

“We need to celebrate. We’ll get shots,” Molly said, gesturing for the waitress.

“I don’t think shots are a good idea, Molls,” I coaxed.

“It’s a fucking great idea,” Tony boomed. It was like he was taking enjoyment in my torment.

Before I knew it, three shots of snakebite were on the table. It was appropriately named because

like the bite of a snake, the drink, composed of tequila with lime juice, snuck up on you. “Keep them

coming,” Molly said.

“I’m only doing one,” I replied, taking a wedge of lime from the plate.

“Don’t worry, I’ll do the rest,” she said, running her fingers over the rim of the shot glass.

I sighed before taking my shot. “Wouldn’t you rather have a B52 or lemon drops or something?

This is pretty hard liquor here.”

“Pussy drinks,” Tony announced. “I love a gal who can drink,” he said, clinking his shot with

Molly’s. She smiled at him like they were suddenly best friends.

The waitress brought more shots. Molly did them all. I breathed a sigh of relief when she

accepted an invitation to play pool with a tall guy in a suit. Maybe the distraction would help.

“She’s pissed,” Tony stated.

I rolled my eyes. “No shit, Doc. I understand she might not be happy about it, but she really

needs to calm the fuck down. I was completely honest with her.”

“Girls only hear what they want to. You tell them you don’t like them that way, and they hear, ‘I

need you to change me.’ Especially that one,” he said, cocking his thumb in Molly’s direction.

“Why do you say that?”

“Bro, you’re kind of a dumbass. Never tell a girl about your unrequited love. They’ll take it as

an invitation to heal you of said ailment.”

“Yeah, you got a point.” Tony was right. I’d only told her because she hadn’t understood why I

was so distant. Instead of making my intentions clear, though, I think my admission only blurred the

line between us. Molly was a nurse too, so she was a healer by trade. She was really a very sweet

girl when she wasn’t acting all jealous crazy. She just wasn’t meant to be my girl. “She’s great, she’ll

meet someone.”

“She doesn’t want to meet anyone, Cal. She’s in love with you. And you’re such a fucking nice

guy that you’re ripping the bandage off so slow that the scab reopens. You need to rip that bitch off.”

“Who would have thought you were such a philosopher. Not tonight, though. She seems fragile

tonight. Besides, she’s on the express train to Drunktown. I might need to drive her home.”

Tony smirked, combing his fingers through his black hair. “What would your girlfriend say about

that?”

“I don’t know. On second thought, maybe you should drive her home.”

“Can’t. I have my motorcycle and only one helmet. Besides, I’m not as good of a guy as you. If I

take her home, I’m going to tap her for sure.” He jerked his head toward Molly, playing pool, being

obscenely loud and drinking shots like they might reenact Prohibition any moment.

“Jesus, Tony. How are we friends again?”

“I guess we bonded over football and romantic tragedies.”

“Yeah, guess so. How’s your cabin renovations going?”

Tony lit up as he always did when we talked about his cabin in the secluded woods of Holly

Oak. He was a do-it-yourselfer like me, and often sought my advice on how to go about certain

repairs. I had never seen it, but we were talking about going fishing there soon, since he also had lake

access. Unfortunately, those plans would need to be put on hold longer. I was having a hard enough

time leaving Sylvie for a whole night let alone a weekend. Maybe she’d want to come. It would be

nice to fish with her again.

Molly came up behind me, leaning over my shoulder, setting another shot in front of me. “Do you

remember when you licked tequila off my body? Here’s a pop quiz for you, professor…where did I

put the lime?”

I blushed, a mixture of embarrassment and unease. Molly was never this vocal. “I think you’re

cut off, honey.”

“You don’t have to worry about me.” She sat down next to me.

“So what’s she like?” Tony asked. Since Molly was between us I couldn’t easily kick him this

time.

“She’s nice,” I replied lamely, not knowing what else to say not to make Molly angrier. I was

really questioning why I’d ever thought it was a good idea for us to remain friends.

“Caleb, I thought you were a writer. Surely you can do better than that,” she said, taking the shot.

Her words started to slur and stick together without the appropriate pauses.

“Yeah, give us more. What does she look like? Do you have a picture?” Tony inquired.

I didn’t have one and I realized that was something I needed to fix right away, but at this time, I

was damn happy not to have one to share. “No pictures. She has brown hair and brown eyes.”

Molly huffed. “And all this time, I thought dyeing my hair blonde made me more appealing. I

should have just stayed a brunette.”

“Molly, I like your hair.”

“Not enough.”

No, we weren’t talking about hair coloring for sure. Shit.

Tony smirked. “
In vino veritas
,” he quoted the Latin motto, which also happened to be another

Doc Holliday saying, lifting his beer glass. The phrase translated to ‘in wine there is truth’.

“Well…anything else?”

“Damn it, Tony, you sound like my momma. Now shut up and drink your beer.”

The conversation shifted, and Molly left to go finish her game. I turned to Tony. “Stop asking me

about Sylvie in front of Molly.”

“Her name is Sylvie?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Fuck.

“No, it’s Sophie Becker. That was a mistake.”

“Calling her by another girl’s name, especially that name, is a sure-as-shit way to get you banned

from calling her at all.”

“It was just a mistake. Anyway, here’s the deal. I met her and I feel like everything has fallen

into place for me. I love her.”

“You love her after a month?”

“I can honestly say I do. She’s very special to me. The thing is, I really don’t want to hurt Molly

by going into any great descriptions so stop being an asshole and bringing it up.”

He lifted his beer to me. “I just want to celebrate the fact that you met a girl who could make you

forget about Lenore so easily.”

“It’s not like that.”

“You’re still hung up on Lenore then? Haven’t given up the search?”

I smiled, unable to contain it. “I don’t think I need to look any further. Lenore was a dead spirit

who haunted Poe. Sophie Becker is very much alive and she is my everything.”

I looked over at Molly, while Tony started rambling about his cabin. The man she was playing

with was a bit grabby and I wanted to make sure his advances were wanted by her. She seemed to be

having a good time, sitting in his lap and letting him lean over her when she took a shot, but I was

leery. Molly was an adult, but she was also very drunk. I reached to her chair and grabbed her purse,

fishing through it.

Tony gaped at me. “So first you break her heart, and now you’re stealing from her?”

“No, I just want an insurance policy that she’ll make it home okay.” I found the item I was

looking for and stuffed it into my pocket, placing her purse back quickly.

When I turned to glance once more, I saw Mr Grabby Hands kiss her. It was hard to tell if she

was struggling, but either way, it was clear she was inebriated and I needed to step in. “I’m leaving.”

“So soon? I was just going to ask if you wanted to call Sylvie to join us?”

“Yeah, that’s all I need. Let me ask the girl I’m madly in love with to join me for drinks with my

ex. No wonder you’re not in a relationship, man.”

“It’s by choice. Like you, I’m holding out.”

“For what?” I stood up and grabbed Molly’s purse and coat.