I tried to work after. I really did. Staying longer at the store than I intended, moving things around that didn’t need fixing, answering emails twice just to make sure nothing slipped through.
But none of it stuck. My mind kept circling back to the same place, the same conversation, the same look in his eyes when he said it.
Coward.
By evening, I gave up. I left work and drove to a bar I rarely went to. I had heard about the place—it offered privacy, the kind where no one asked questions as long as you kept ordering.
The lighting was dim when I stepped in. I slid onto a stool and asked the bartender for something strong.
I took the first shot. Then another. And another. It didn’t help with the noise in my head. If anything, it made everything louder.
Ryan hadn’t denied it. He hadn’t
