“Come over tonight and I’ll make you feel like a real man.”
That did it. Livid, Seth marched to the open doorway at the back room. With hands clenched at his sides, he wrestled with his fury. How dare Joey put moves on Chris? He had some balls.
But what he witnessed wiped away his anger and replaced it with shock.
Chris had his back against the wall, while Joey had his hands braced on either side of Chris’s face, and their lips were pressed together.
“What the actual fuck?” Seth bellowed.
Joey’s head spun to look at Seth, and Chris pushed him away.
“Seth—”
“Don’t say anything,” Seth warned, holding out his arms to stop him, too pissed to hear excuses.
Chris froze in place, and Joey stepped back, not making eye contact with Seth.
Seth stormed back into the shop. “Make sure you lock up,” he called to Chris before he left out the front door, glad that Chris had his own set of keys so he wouldn’t have to wait for the two lovers to leave.
“Seth, wait!” Chris pled as he ran out the door.
Seth barely held back the tears as he climbed into his car and drove out of the parking lot without so much as a glance behind. But the tears were already flowing as he reached the road.
10
Seth was miserable. He’d cried his eyes out the night he’d caught Chris and Joey kissing, and every night since. That made eighteen days in a row. At least he was consistent, he thought. Because he certainly wasn’t in anything else he did. He’d called in for two days—and he absolutely never did that—which had Karlee thinking he was dying.
He’d lost his appetite and his mood had turned surly, which had the staff walking on egg shells.
Chris had called and texted over and over those first few days, but after Seth ignored him, the phone went silent. He noticed that Chris steered clear of the shop, too. At least while Seth was working.
“I don’t understand why you won’t just talk to him,” Karlee demanded as she followed him into the storeroom.
His head was throbbing and he did not want to have this conversation with her again. “Please drop it. I’m not going to talk to him. You know how I feel about cheaters.”
Karlee huffed out a breath and put her hand on her swollen belly. “Chris isn’t Jack, and you know it.”
Seth’s jaw dropped. “How can you bring up Jack now?”
Karlee rolled her eyes. “Because you’re punishing Chris for what Jack put you through in high school.Not every man cheats.”
Jack. God, he hadn’t thought of him in ages. His first love. Well, first real crush, anyway. He’d beencrazy about him. Until Seth found him backstage at their spring play rehearsal with another boy. Mark. He shook himself. He didn’t want to think about that. It had taken him a long time to get over Jack and he wasn’t going to do that again.
It was better to just have a clean break. No questions. No discussing it. Chris wanted another man. Not him. He got the message. Although he still wanted to beat the shit out of Joey. But in Seth’s view, if Chris didn’t want the kiss, he would have told Joey “no.” And Seth had not heard Chris say “no.” Not once.
“You’re an idiot,” Karlee concluded. “Chris is devastated. He talked with me.”
“I know, but I also told you I don’t believe him. He never told me that he and Joey had a past either.”
“So?”
Seth sighed. “Don’t you get it? If he kept that a secret, then what else didn’t he tell me?”
Karlee flung her hands in the air. “I give up.”
“Thank you.”
“I have a doctor’s appointment at three. Cody should be here around four, but I’m hoping I’m back before that.”
Seth looked at her, concerned. “You just went to the doctor last week. Is this the OBGYN again?”
“Yes. I called this morning because I’ve been having pains that don’t feel normal. I’m sure I’m overreacting, but they said it was better to be safe, so they fit me in this afternoon.”
Pain? Karlee wasn’t one to overreact, so if she was having pain, then there was probably something going on. “I hope it’s nothing. Call me if you need anything, okay?”
“Of course. Now on another note, you need to check the other space. Jo—I mean, the crew—painted it last night. It’s beautiful.”
“I’ll check it when I have a minute. I promise.”
“Oh, the lawyer is having the papers couriered over tomorrow for you to review. Then we go sign at his office as soon as we can.”
He still couldn’t believe he was going to own a stake in the shop. They’d ordered a lot of supplies forthe new space and he’d loved seeing Karlee’s happiness. Seth hoped that had taken some of the stress off her shoulders. She was getting closer to delivery and was starting to panic about life after the baby.