Page 2 of Breakaway (Nashville Knights Hockey #3)

Chapter Two

DAX

“ D oes this place look good?”

Turning into a space in the parking lot of a dive bar, I face Chloe in the front seat. She’s picking at the frayed hem of the sweatshirt she’s wearing.

“What?”

She glances up, big blue eyes staring back at me. It’s hard to pin down the emotions there. Anger. Sadness. Rage.

Considering we were supposed to be at her wedding reception right about now, it doesn’t surprise me.

“This bar. Does it work?” A neon sign flashes over a nondescript black door. The sign is the only giveaway that it’s a bar. “It was the closest place that I could find that was open.”

Chloe unbuckles her seatbelt. “It’s fine. As long as they have tequila.”

Jumping out the door to follow her inside, I see that the interior matches the exterior. More black walls. Sticky floors. A few pool tables scattered around with a long bar lining the opposite wall .

With only a few patrons lingering around high-top tables, I doubt anyone is going to pay much attention to us in here. Which is exactly what I need to figure out what the fuck happened.

“A bottle of tequila,” Chloe tells the bartender as she takes a seat on a wobbly barstool.

“A bottle or a shot?” he questions, running a cloth over a glass.

“Bottle. Two glasses, please,” Chloe says.

“You got it.” He nods at her and fishes a bottle from the back wall to bring over to us.

I pull my credit card out of my wallet and pass it over to him. “And maybe a couple of waters too.”

I have a feeling we’re going to be here for a while. Grabbing the empty glasses, I pour us each a drink.

“What are we toasting—” I can’t even finish before Chloe is knocking it back.

“More.” She snaps her fingers at me.

I do as she asks and she swallows it in one gulp.

But before I pour another, I take her glass and push the water in front of her.

“Okay, at least have a drink of water to chase it. I don’t need you turning into a puddle of tequila. And I need you sober to tell me what happened.”

She rolls her eyes. “What happened is your brother is a dick.”

I roll my eyes right back at her. “I know that. But why specifically today?”

Chloe grabs the bottle and takes a swig right out of it. I cringe. There is no way that can be sanitary.

“Because he’s cheating on me!”

“Wait, what? Since when?”

I wish I could say I was surprised, but I’m not. Duncan really is a dick .

“I don’t know. He was telling her he loved her and that they’d see each other after the honeymoon and how I’m not the right person for him and he’d never marry someone so, so… boring .”

“Her who?” Taking the bottle from her, I suck down my own sip. What a fucking asshole my brother is.

Not only was he marrying the woman I’ve been in love with, but he was— is —cheating on her. He never deserved someone so good. Someone he apparently deems boring .

“I don’t know!” she shrieks. “He was on the phone with her.”

“Can I punch him?”

Chloe grabs the bottle from me and takes a drink. “Not before I do. But that would require seeing him. And I don’t know if I ever want to see him again in my life. That bastard. I’d run him over with my car if I could.”

“I wish I didn’t have to see him again,” I mutter, taking the bottle from her and letting the alcohol burn on its way down.

Fuck. That is a cheap tequila, almost guaranteeing a headache in the morning. Even from a few shots.

“Did you know he was cheating on me?” Chloe cuts me a scathing glare. “I swear, if you knew…”

“Relax.” I rest my hand on her forearm. “I would never have let you marry my brother if I knew. I promise.”

She visibly sags, rubbing the heels of her hands against her eyes. “I knew you wouldn’t. But God, I can’t trust myself now. I mean, how did I let myself get so taken with a man who called me boring?”

“You’re not boring.”

Her eyes snap to mine, ignoring what I am saying. “Am I boring?”

“I just answered you. You’re not boring.”

“You answered too quickly. Guess that answers that question.” She grabs the bottle and pours at least two shots’ worth in her glass before taking a sip.

“You’re not boring,” I promise her. “Duncan didn’t deserve someone like you.”

“Am I just that unlovable?”

“No.” My voice is firm so she knows there is no more argument. “Duncan is the one at fault in this situation, not you. He was not the right guy for you.”

“Then who is?”

She pierces me with watery blue eyes.

Me.

I’m the one that will show you what you deserve. Shower you with so much love, you won’t know what to do with yourself. The one who will never make you question where his loyalties lie.

“You haven’t met him yet,” I say instead. No point in confessing my feelings to her when she’s one shot away from drunk after running out on my brother.

“I’m going to swear off all men.”

“All men? Why don’t you start with Duncan and see how you feel in a few years?”

“Do you think I could get away with murdering him?” Chloe asks, ignoring me, swigging her drink. “I mean, if it was a jury of all women, I would definitely get away with it.”

“As much as you want to”—hell, get in line, Chloe, because I want to murder him too—“you can’t. I’d miss you too much if you did.”

“Fine. No plotting his murder, but does that mean I get more tequila?”

The bottle is already way lower than it should be in the time we’ve been here. Pulling out my phone, I see we’ve been here longer than I realized .

It’s then I notice the slew of missed calls and texts. From the guys to Duncan to my parents.

All of them can wait. Chloe is the only person that matters.

“Will you at least eat something if I say yes?”

Chloe grins at me, nodding. “Yes.”

“Good.” I wave the bartender over. “Anything on the menu we can order to eat?”

“I can do nachos or a hot pretzel with mustard. If you want food, there’s a taco stand down the street.”

“Pretzel, please,” Chloe tells him. “But what kind of mustard?”

He looks confused. “Dijon?”

“No mustard then. But maybe a side of cheese if you have it.”

He looks to me as if to confirm what she asked for and I nod. Don’t mess with a drunk bride.

“Got it.”

“Ugh. It’s probably because I like yellow mustard.”

Hiccup.

“What are you talking about?”

“Keep up, Dax.” Her words start slurring together.

Chloe has never been one to hold her alcohol well.

Throw in cheap tequila and she’s going to be feeling it in the morning.

“I get yellow mustard on my ham sandwiches. That’s it.

Maybe if I was a spicy mustard kind of girl, Duncan wouldn’t find me so boring. ”

“I don’t think your mustard preference is the reason he finds you boring.”

“But what if I want to be a spicy mustard girl? I could be,” she says.

“Can you?”

“No.” She buries her face in her hands. “I don’t like spicy mustard. What’s wrong with good old-fashioned yellow mustard?”

All I can do is rub comforting circles on her back as the tears finally start.

“There is nothing wrong with yellow mustard. I happen to love yellow mustard.”

“You do?” She peeks one eye over at me.

I nod. “Yes. It’s my favorite kind.”

“You’re only saying that to make me feel worse.”

“Better, you mean?” I quirk a brow at her, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“That’s what I said.”

A steaming pretzel and a cup of nacho cheese is set in front of us. I nod in thanks and push it closer to Chloe. “You need to eat.”

“At least it’s nacho cheese.”

“I know.” Smiling at her, I rip a bite off for myself and dunk it into the metal ramekin. Fuck, that’s good. I’m starving.

Because we ran out, we are missing the food at the reception, and before that, I was too anxious to eat.

The last thing I wanted was to watch Chloe marry my brother. My goal was to get drunk enough at the reception to not remember a second of it.

Now? Now I have no idea what is going to happen because Chloe is sitting next to me in a dive bar instead of dancing the night away.

“Maybe I could be nacho cheese. It’s spicy enough to not be boring.” Another hiccup as she stares into the tiny container of cheese.

“Okay, Chloe. I think it’s about time we cut you off.” I smile at her. “No more wishing you were food.”

Pulling the almost empty bottle away from her, I slide her water glass closer to her .

“Where am I supposed to go tonight? It’s not like I can go back to our place.”

“How about we go up to my cabin for a few days?”

“Really?” Chloe sways on her stool. “You’d do that for me?”

I clasp a steadying hand over her elbow. “You know I would do anything for you.”

“But he’s your brother.”

“And?”

“I love you, Dax. You’re the best friend anyone could have ever asked for.”

That’s me. The best friend. The one that she’s never been in love with.

No, she’s been in love with my cheating dickhead of a brother.

“I know. You’re my best friend too.”

It’s not like I can tell her I love her. I mean, I do, but not in the same way she loves me.

Before either of us can say anything else, her head thunks to the bar top.

Fuck.

I wish I could hear her saying those words to me in a different way. But right now, her emotions are a jumbled mess because of leaving Duncan and her wedding behind.

Right now, my best friend needs me more than ever. I’ll be there for her no matter how much it hurts.

That’s all I can ever be to her.

All because of my fucking dickhead brother.

God, I really do hate him.