ONE
ETHAN
I take a long drag of my cigarette, holding it longer than usual, till my lungs ache for me to let go. My eyes skim over the rows and rows of tombstones. The names on most of them have become barely visible because of being worn down and dirty. What a shitty place to bury someone.
“It’s disrespectful to smoke in front of the dead.”
I slowly turn to face mykind ofniece. She’s fourteen and an annoying, know it all brat. “Yeah? They tell you that?”
Her nose scrunches like it’s a stupid question. “They can’t talk.”
My eyebrows raise. “Then why are you speaking for them?”
“I’m going to tell my dad you’re smoking.” She jilts her chin as if to be more threatening.
I smirk, leaning closer to her. “While you’re there, tell your dad he’s the biggest fucking twat I know.”
Her eyes grow wide, and then she turns around and runs inside.
I sigh, settling closer against the wall, and look back over the cemetery. My mind is empty, my heart numb as I go through the motions of smoking the tobacco I can’t even taste. It’s been the longest day and it’s not even noon. I never knew a funeral that started at seven a.m. would be an all day event, but here I am. Stuck with people I fucking hate, burying a woman I wished dead no less than a week ago.
“You know your monster-in-law is going to come give you an earful now.”
My lips curl into the first genuine smile as I face my best friend. “I doubt she will. She knows the only person who would hold me back now is six feet under.”
Trent shakes his head and reaches for a smoke himself, settling on the opposite wall of me. The balcony is small, only able to fit a single table and a couple of chairs. “I don’t know how you stayed married to that family so long.”
I tear my attention away and bring it back to the bleak stones, the small flicker of anger lighting up inside me. Because the truth is I don’t know how I stayed married either. How I’m nearly thirty and just realizing how deeply unhappy I am. And like the deceptive bitch she’s always been, Lyndsey makes me a widower before I change it for myself.
Clearing my throat and pushing those thoughts away, I turn back to Trent. “How long you in town?”
“As long as you need me, buddy.”
I swallow the sneer that almost comes out. I’ve always hated when Trent says that word.Buddy.It almost seems like a private joke, a mockery of our friendship. He uses it solemnly, and now isn’t the time to get into that argument.
“I’m good. I don’t want to interfere with your life,” I say with a shrug.
Trent frowns, watching me with concerned, blue eyes. “Your wife just died. The same woman you’ve been with since we were seventeen.”
My fist clenches, hating the reminder of how long I wasted on this cunt. Blowing out a breath, I drop the butt on the ground and smash it into the dirty concrete. Trent looks at me with disapproval and pointedly glances at the trash can with an ashtray on the top.
“Where you staying?”
His eyebrows knit together. “The same hotel as always. You know Lyn?—”
I smirk and he shakes his head.
“Cancel your reservation and stay with me, yeah?” I tell him.
“You sure? It was always yours and Lyndsey’s house. I don’t want to disrespect her wishes.”
A laugh lurks in my throat; then I realize he might have more than one concern. “You traveling alone? Or am I gonna have an extra guest?”
“Nah, just me,” Trent answers, amused. He pushes his shaggy, brown hair away from his face.
“What happened to that one dude? Greg or something?”
He laughs louder, shaking his head, and his hair falls back into place. “Nah, he was just some fun.”
