Thursday Nights (The Charistown Series) Read online

  Standing there alone, silently, fists tight and mouth open on the sidewalk in the middle of Charistown was not how he pictured this night ending. He was on sensory overload from everything that went down in the last twenty minutes. That’s probably why he startled when a big hand landed on his shoulder.

  “Gage,” Max swallowed the large lump in his throat. “What the fuck?”

  “Let her go for now, Max. Let’s get out of this fishbowl and head to the pub across the street.” When Max tried to argue, Gage shot him a look that asked for Max’s faith in him, so he followed.

  The pub was dimly lit and smelled like stale beer. The walls were lined with dart boards and holes associated with bad aim. It was late on a Monday so the crowd was thin, pared down to just the regulars and the staff. The two men walked stiffly to the back of the pub and sat at a table. With their asses barely hitting the seats, a waitress appeared. She was a twenty-something over-bubbly little thing with a name tag that read Roni. Judging by the wide eyes and huge dimpled smile, Roni was very happy about her new table.

  She tried to do some flirting and walked away looking defeated when she got nothing more than a drink order for four shots of whiskey and a pitcher of beer.

  The duo sat in an uncomfortable silence until the first round came. As the glasses hit the table, Gage nodded his head, gesturing for Max to take the shot. When the amber liquid hit the back of his throat the burn came as a comfort more than a sting.

  Before the second shot, Gage began to speak. “So, here’s the deal, DeLucca. I’ve got a shitload to say, and it appears you’ve got nowhere to be.”

  “Gage, I don’t have time for this…whatever the fuck this is. I need to go find Janie and get her back,” Max blurted.

  “Max, you stubborn ass, there is no ‘you and Janie.’ You never truly had her in the first place. You could have, but you screwed that up, my friend. You haven’t gotten through your past…you haven’t even been living in the present…so how the hell are you planning to get to your future?”

  Gage’s matter-of-fact tone had Max seeing red. Like a spring, he shot up and slammed his fist on the table. “After all of your touchy-feely lectures about letting myself love her, I finally do…and now you want me sit back and let her be with Owen fucking Michaels?”

  Gage slowly stood and looked Max straight in the eyes. “You and I both know this isn’t about Owen Michaels. She could have been with any other man. This is about you, Max, you! Now, sit down,” he growled, “and listen to what I have to say. Because if you don’t, I promise you, this time I will walk away from you and never look back. Do you hear me? I am asking you as your brother and your best friend…this time, trust me.”

  At Gage’s words, Max felt all of the anger seep out of his body. He heard what Gage was saying—and what he wasn’t. When the choice came last time, Max chose Chloe, and he had chosen wrong. He would not make the same mistake again. Max slowly sat down on his chair and slid his fingers around the small glass in front of him.

  After allowing the second shot to glide down his throat he quietly said, “Okay, Sebastian. I trust you.”

  Max watched as Gage allowed himself his first shot, quickly followed by the second. His friend had amazing self-control, so seeing him scrub his hands over his face made Max’s insides twist with concern. What could he possibly be gearing up to tell me? Max thought to himself.

  “Max, I’m gonna say some stuff to you that I’ve been holding onto for years. And I hope—no, I pray—that on my judgment day these things can be overlooked due to the truth behind the words.”

  Max could see the honest torment that was at war inside his friend.

  “The day Chloe died, I was relieved. She was in the ground and you weren’t. I don’t know what kind of person that makes me, but it’s true. I hated that bitch.” Gage’s jaw clenched on the word bitch. “She and my mother were cut from the same cloth, and I didn’t want that for you. You were my best friend…my brother. And you know Owen wasn’t the only one—there were so many others in high school and after.”

  With his mouth feeling like a desert, Max reached over and grabbed the pitcher, pouring himself and Gage each a pint of beer. He gulped down the cold liquid while trying to keep his focus on Gage’s words and not allowing himself to travel back into the past.

  “She was like a slow poison, dripping gradually into your system. She dismantled your life piece by piece, starting with your family, moving on to your friends, and ending with every shred of confidence and self-worth you possessed.” Gage ran his fingers through his midnight hair, and Max could tell he was trying to tread lightly. “Owen was your friend, but he was eighteen, man. Come on. Yes, it was a dick move to sleep with your girl. He made a mistake, but she made horrible, selfish life choices the entire time you were together. She was taking you down, and you let her. We had dreams, Max. Do you even remember them? We were supposed to take over the Gage Garage and the Winston Track, and you let go of everything for her. You let her abuse you until there was nothing left of you but a shell, and that was before she even died.”

  For the first time in his life, Max felt every minute of his thirty-seven years. He closed his eyes and let out a huge sigh. Prying open his eyelids, his voice sounded defeated when he spoke. “Gage…I loved her. I thought I was making her happy. I wasn’t enough for her. And I promised myself long ago that I would never make that mistake again. Come on man, you saw Janie tonight, she seemed fine. Maybe I should just let her go…”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Gage’s raised voice brought a wide-eyed stare from the waitress, who was not so discreetly trying to eavesdrop from the bar. “So, let me get this straight. You’ll fight till the death for Chloe, who took until there was nothing left of you to give. But you’ll let a woman who has asked for nothing but your love and your trust just walk away?” He took a long pull from his beer before unfolding himself from the booth and glaring down at Max. “Wow, I was wrong. I guess we did bury you both that day. The drinks are on you…I’ve got nothing left to say.”

  Max watched as Gage walked through the bar and out into the night.

  He wasn’t sure how much longer he sat there, but by the time he left there were two empty pitchers and four shot glasses cluttering his table. Gage’s words looped in his mind as the past twenty years crashed into him like waves breaking on the shore before a storm. They had been a team, he and Gage, and they had planned to take on the world. He smiled at the memory that seemed like multiple lifetimes ago. His friend was right: Max had once been so strong and so determined. But where Gage had it wrong was that Chloe couldn’t have taken what Max didn’t allow. He kept going back to her because he thought she was the love of this life. Now, in that moment, all those years later, he felt the proverbial light bulb flash on. After being with Janie and feeling how natural their relationship felt, how comfortable they were around each other, he realized that it was his fear of failure that kept him going back to Chloe, not some great love. He let his great love walk away from him...again.

  “No more,” he said out loud, tossing enough cash on the table to cover the check and a very nice tip for Roni. I’m done running away, and if she wants someone else, fine, but she at least needs to know how I really feel about her.

  He could feel the alcohol sloshing in his stomach on the cab ride back to his house. He made it to his bathroom just in time to be reacquainted with the whisky and beer and then got into his bed. I’ve hurt a lot of people, he thought as his eyes began to close. Tomorrow is gonna be a long day.

  “How does that feel?” Janie gently pressed a cold pack to Owen’s bruised jaw. With sad eyes, she watched as he placed his large hand over her smaller one and slowly removed it from his face. They sat on the sofa in the family room of his small house on Union Street.

  “Janie, we need to talk.” She knew the direction this conversation was heading. “It was Max, wasn’t it?”

  “What was Max?”

  “When we first started talking, you said
that you were falling for someone, but you were the only one falling. It was Max you were falling for, wasn’t it?” The kindness in his voice told her that he was genuinely interested in her answer.

  “Yeah, Owen, it was. Why are you asking?” She tried to keep her tone even, but her curiosity was piqued.

  “Because I saw the way you looked at him tonight. And from the moment he approached the table to the very second we walked away, there was something in your eyes…something different.” Janie tried to interrupt him, but he pressed on. “Something that isn’t there when you look at me.”

  She almost denied it; she wanted to. It would have been so much easier to fall in love with Owen, but that isn’t how her heart worked.

  “I’m really sorry, Owen. I was going to tell you tonight when you offered me a penny for my thoughts…I wouldn’t have even taken your money,” she smiled shyly.

  “I know this isn’t my business, but I would still like to consider you my friend. And as a friend, I’m telling you to try to go easy on him. I don’t know what went down after high school because I left town, but I can tell you that Chloe was as evil as they came when I knew her. I can only imagine how much worse it got as they got older.”

  Janie squeezed his hand. “Owen, you are an amazing man, and of course, we will still be friends. But Max can’t be an option for me. I don’t doubt that Chloe was as bad as you say she was. I feel bad for him, I do. But he never let me into that part of his life. He never even gave me a chance. I can’t deal with that kind of relationship anymore. I won’t.”

  “I understand. You are a pretty special woman, Janie Silver.” He walked her to the door, and they hugged goodnight.

  Is This A Bribe?

  The sunlight streamed into Max’s room and woke him from the best sleep he could remember having in more than ten years. It was a sound, dreamless slumber that left him feeling well rested and surprisingly refreshed. The previous night still felt surreal. After he finally came to terms with the fact that he was in love with Janie, he found her with another man, he received a verbal ass-kicking from Gage, and then proceeded to watch his beer go down the hatch and then back up for a good portion of the night. Yet, he still felt clearer that he had in ages, like the cobwebs were finally knocked out of his skull.

  He felt alive. He felt free. He felt like an asshole, and he knew he had some major apologizing to do to several of the important people in his life. If he was to ever get Janie to forgive him for the hell he had put her through for the past several weeks—okay, the past seven months, really—he had to do something. And he knew he couldn’t do it alone. He needed a hand, and he knew exactly who to beg for help.

  Excitement swirled through him. He just needed the right kind of bribery. But first, there was someone he needed to call.

  Palming his phone off the nightstand, he lay in bed and dialed the number that was almost as familiar as his own.

  “Did you finally pull you head out of your ass?” the gravelly voice asked.

  “How many apologies does one person get before you cut him out for life?” Max answered.

  “You’ll never know, my brother…you’ll never know.” The sound of Gage’s laugh instantly eased the tension Max didn’t realize he was feeling. Putting his arm behind his head, he stared out his window, focusing on the cloudless sky and the trees in the throes of autumn foliage.

  “You’re sounding lazy, Max. Get out of bed. You have a shitload of groveling to do today.” Gruff laughter filled the phone just before the dead air hit.

  “I know, honey, I know. Yes, he is a fucker.” Lyla stretched out on the couch with her phone tucked between her shoulder and her ear, listening to Janie rant and swing from one mood to the next.

  “I mean, seriously, now he loves me? You know he said he loved me, right?” Sarcastic Janie was one of Lyla’s favorites.

  “Yes, Jane. I was there. I heard the whole thing.”

  “He didn’t love me last week. He only said it because Owen was there. Why not just pee on my leg for Christ’s sake?”

  “Jane, he did love you last week. And speaking of Nice Owen, did you give him the friends speech or not? Because you certainly looked a little more than friendly last night.”

  Janie winced at Lyla’s tone. She knew she had poured on the sweet when Max showed up swinging from his vine like Tarzan but she couldn’t help it. “Oh, Ly, I felt so bad.”

  Uh oh, Lyla thought reaching for her coffee, here comes Sad Janie again.

  “I didn’t even have to tell him. Pretty much as soon as we got back to his house he asked me about my feelings for Max. He said he could see the love in my eyes or some shit like that.”

  “Janie, warn me before you say things like that!” Lyla gasped. “I almost shot hot coffee out of my nose, and that would have hurt.” Lyla heard a small laugh peal out of her phone. She had to admit, Janie was kind of entertaining when she was in mood-swing mode.

  “I just can’t believe that son of a bitch decides he finally wants me, and I’m supposed to what? Jump for joy?” Which is exactly what her traitorous heart did when Max showed up, professing his love to her. Well, not to her; he told Owen. “Hmph! He couldn’t even tell me he was married? Honestly, Ly, who does that?”

  “Jane, my doorbell is ringing,” Lyla said as the bell rang for the second time. “And I’m expecting a delivery. Sorry. Please drive carefully and come by after work. We can talk about it more over pizza and cocktails.”

  Disconnecting the call, Lyla opened her door to a very sorry-looking Max DeLucca. Grinning, she backed away from her door, leaving it open, and headed down the hallway to her kitchen.

  Max looked into her house from the doorway but didn’t make a move to enter. Was this a set-up? He had heard about the things Lyla Dalton was capable of when angry, and he knew that she had to be pretty fucking pissed at him right about now. Were their hookers waiting to pounce on him? Had she hired thugs to beat him down? Was she going to poison him? He expected nothing less from Lyla, and he deserved nothing more. He had a lot of apologizing to do just to get him within earshot of Janie, and then the real work would start.

  “Max, you gonna stand out there all day? Get your pathetic ass in here and shut the door.” Lyla’s smirk turned into a mega-watt smile.

  What was so funny? He cautiously entered the house, closing the door with his booted foot and presented her with a large, golden box tied with a brown bow. Her brow curved curiously as her hands greedily accepted the gift.

  “Is this a bribe?”

  Max grimaced and shrugged his broad shoulders. “It’s more like a ‘thank you’ in advance?” She immediately opened the lid, lifted a raspberry truffle out of its sleeve and took a bite. Her eyes slid closed as she savored the divine flavor of crushed raspberries and dark chocolate melting on her tongue.

  “Yes, Max, I’ll help you.” She opened her eyes as she swallowed the little piece of heaven. “But my assistance has nothing to do with your bribe, err...thank you. I knew you would come to me eventually.” Her smile was knowing. “And I promised myself that when you finally woke up, I would be here to help you clean up the clusterfuck you got yourself into.” With his shoulders slumped in resignation, she continued. “Before you think I am doing this just for Janie, know that I am doing it for you, too. I can feel your pain. You’ve been wearing it like a second skin since the day we met, and the closer you and Janie have gotten, the more bruised it’s become. And Janie is the answer…your answer.”

  Leaning over the counter, Lyla gripped her hands over his forearms and brought her face as close to his as her height would allow. “But you need to think good and hard about what you want…because if you ever hurt her again, the way you have been recently…well, let’s just say, you’ll think poor Dick had it easy. We clear?”

  Max silently nodded his agreement.

  “Words, Max, I need words.” Lyla grinned again.

  “We are very clear, Lyla…very, very clear.”

  Happy with the amount of fea
r and gratitude she sensed exuding off of Max, she handed him a mug of coffee and walked out of the kitchen.

  As he followed her into the family room, a wave of excitement coursed through his system. If she was willing to help him he may have a chance of getting Janie to hear him out. That’s all he wanted: just a chance to make things right.

  “You haven’t touched your coffee,” she said, nodding to the mug she’d placed on the table in front of him.

  “Ly, no offense,” he scoffed sheepishly, “but I’m not sure I want to drink anything you’re offering me right now.”

  “Don’t be a dumbass. I already told you I want to see you and Janie together. Why would I kill you?” Leaning on the heel of her hand, she tapped her index finger against the side of her brow thoughtfully. “Besides, you’re a big guy—how would I get rid of your body?”

  Max’s jaw dropped, and Lyla broke out in hysterics. “I am just fucking with you…Jesus, Max, what do you think of me?”

  “I think you’re the scariest five-foot-one-inch woman I have ever met.” He snorted, and then awareness clicked in. “Wait…you said you want me and Janie together. What about Owen? Isn’t she with him?” That last part came through gritted teeth and a clenched jaw.

  “Relax, Max. You’re gonna crack a tooth. There isn’t really anything going on between Janie and Nice O. But don’t tell her I told you that.”

  “Nice O?” Max’s perplexed face would have made Lyla laugh if she didn’t know how much he was hurting over his past. Clearly Max didn’t put that particular adjective in front of Owen’s name.

  “Never mind that. So, tell me your plan to win my girl back…and it best be good because she is really upset and equally pissed and has every right to be.”

  Max figured it was best to start his story from the beginning. So he did. And as he talked about his past and shared his heartache, he could see a multitude of emotions play over Lyla’s face. He could see her relating to certain parts of his story while aching at others. When he spoke of his parents’ love and support, he swore her eyes began to water, but she quickly went to the kitchen for more coffee, and when she returned her eyes were clear and dry. When he told her about Gage’s unwavering friendship, he watched a small smile pull at her lips, and he wondered if she was thinking about her relationship with Janie or if her thoughts had also gone to Gage.