The Bluff (Calamity Montana)

“YOU LOOK ready to fall asleep in that chair.” Jane collected the empties from our last round of drinks. And by round, two waters for Hux and me, plus a beer for Chase.

“I am.” I yawned. “No offense, but I’m ready to get the hell out of your bar.”

She smiled, the leathery skin of her cheeks forming lines around her mouth and eyes. “Honey, even I want to get the hell out of my bar. Any chance you can round those two up?”

“I’ll do my best.”

In the past hour, I’d watched as she’d wiped down the tops of every table, except ours, and cleaned the bar itself. Then she’d washed glasses and taken out the trash.

Hux had gotten the hint that it was well past time for us to go, but he seemed to be dragging the evening out, like he didn’t want to go home with our uninvited house guest.

The three of us had been the only patrons here for going on two hours. There’d been a crowd for dinner—the cheeseburger special had drawn in some locals who, like us, hadn’t wanted to cook. But now it was pitch black outside and well past midnight.

I yawned again and looked up to see Hux at the pool table, watching me.

“We’re almost done,” he mouthed.

I nodded, my eyelids heavy.

Maybe I’d learn how to play pool so I wouldn’t be consigned to watching when Hux’s friends from prison decided to stop by Calamity for a Monday night on the town.

Hux and Chase had spent most of the evening reminiscing about old times. The stiff tension had slowly bled from my husband’s shoulders as the night had gone on, but it hadn’t disappeared entirely.

Maybe because Chase was a serious douche bag.

I’d learned that Chase had been in prison with Hux, the two of them cellmates. Chase had been rather forthcoming about his crime—aggravated burglary. He’d broken into an auto-parts store intent on stealing some parts to resell. Unbeknownst to him, a janitor had been in the building, and instead of going home and rethinking his nefarious plan, Chase had clocked the janitor over the head with a flashlight and gone about his merry theft.

He’d laughed and joked during the entire retelling of his story.

Silly me, I hadn’t found it funny. Hux hadn’t either.

But Chase had kept on chuckling, talking like it was fate that he’d been arrested and sent to prison where he’d then befriended Hux.

After their respective paroles, Chase had come to Calamity to visit Hux a few times over the years. From what I could glean, Chase was a wanderer. Either by choice or circumstance, the guy didn’t have a permanent address or a bed of his own—unless you counted the bed of his own truck.

For Hux’s sake, I wanted to like Chase. My husband had so few friends, and since Katie and I hadn’t found our groove yet, liking Chase would have been a welcome change. Though, Hux didn’t seem to enjoy Chase’s company either. It was more like he tolerated it.

He nodded along at Chase’s stories. He gave more of those tight smiles. Maybe something had happened in prison and Hux felt obligated to host his friend.

Whatever the reason we were here at the bar, that creepy vibe I’d had from the beginning hadn’t disappeared. It had only gotten worse.

Call it paranoia, but I knew what it was to be watched.

And Chase was watching.

My neck prickled, and sure enough, when I glanced again at the pool table where Hux and Chase had been playing for hours, it wasn’t my husband’s eyes waiting. It was Chase.

He grinned, like he was glad that I’d caught him staring.

A shudder rolled down my spine and I hugged my arms around my middle.

It’s not the same. I’d been telling myself all night. It was not the same.

Chase was not a stalker. Tomorrow morning, I wouldn’t wake up to pictures of me in the mailbox. He was not out to hurt me or my friend. This was just a strange man who happened to be friends with Hux. Maybe his social skills were rusty from prison and time spent living out of a vehicle.

When we’d run into Kerrigan last week, Hux had mentioned that the reason he hadn’t been introduced to her was because they didn’t run in the same circles. Was this his circle? People like Chase?

Because if so, we were finding him a new circle.

The clack of the cue ball hitting the eight ball echoed in the empty room, as did the plunk of Hux sinking the last shot.

Thank God. Game over. Time to get the hell out of here. Before Chase could put two more quarters into the pool table, I stood and pulled on my coat.

“That was fun,” I lied. “But Jane wants to close so we’d better head home.”

“One more game,” Chase protested.

Hux hung up his pool cue, then came to the table to grab his coat. “I’m getting tired too.”

“Come on. Don’t be that guy, Hux.”

“What guy?”

“The guy who does whatever his wife tells him to do.”

Hux’s nostrils flared. “Let’s go.”

“You used to be more fun,” Chase muttered, tossing his pool cue on the green felt.

Super douche. I fought an eye roll.

Hux took my hand, lacing our fingers together. Then he waved at Jane and led us to the parking lot.

“You remember Matt?” Chase asked as we climbed into the truck. “Big guy. Three cells down from ours.”

“Uh . . . not really,” Hux muttered.

“Sure you do. Anyway, he got sent back,” Chase said, then proceeded to tell us all about how Matt was such a fuckup.

It wasn’t his first story about a former prison acquaintance. Chase had been throwing names into the conversation all night, asking Hux if he remembered Jim or Greg or Bob. He was metaphorically peeing on Hux’s leg, marking his territory, so I’d know that I was new here.

You knew Hux first. Got it.

If Chase wasn’t talking about old prison buddies, he was asking about Katie. It was unfortunate that Hux had intervened before Chase could crash on her couch instead. Why hadn’t he just let Chase leave? Why stop him?

The second we were alone, I was asking Hux all the questions I’d been sitting on tonight.

Chase had hinted at making his stop in Calamity two nights. Which meant tomorrow I was going to plan a sleepover at Lucy’s place because there was no way I could survive another evening like this.

I didn’t need reminders that Hux had been in prison, and a shut the fuck up, Chase was on the tip of my tongue. Not that I was ashamed of Hux. No, what I hated was the fact that every time Chase brought up prison, Hux would tense. He’d withdraw deeper. He didn’t need or want the reminders either.

“Well, I’m beat,” I said the second we walked inside our house. “I’m going to bed.”

“Same.” Hux slapped Chase on the shoulder. “You need anything?”

“All good. I’ll grab my bag and make myself at home.”

“See you in the morning.” Hux placed his hand on the small of my back and led me up the stairs.

“Ugh,” I said when he closed the door to our bedroom behind us. “Okay, what’s the deal with that guy?”

Hux walked to the edge of the bed, slumping to the edge. “He was my cellmate.”

“Yeah. I got that.”

“There were some fights in prison. He always had my back. When we got out, he kept in touch. Would come visit sometimes.”

“When you lived with Katie? Is that how he knows her?”

Hux nodded. “He rubs her the wrong way. She doesn’t like him much.”

“In that, Katie and I are in agreement.”

“I didn’t want him going over there. Bothering her. Figured if we could just put up with him for a night, it would be easier on everyone.”

Katie. It would be easier on Katie. Meanwhile, his wife had to suffer.

“Why did we have to stay at the bar so long?” I yawned.

“Did you really want to sit around here and make small talk?”

“Fair point,” I mumbled. “You can’t let him stay here. Tonight has to be it. He’s . . . annoying.”

Hux rubbed a hand over his jaw. “One night. Then he’s gone. I finally got Savannah. Last thing I need is April getting wind that someone I knew in prison is hanging around.”

“Another good point.” Would it be rude to evict him tonight? Yes. Damn.

“It’ll be fine.” Hux stood, working free the buttons on his flannel shirt. “Knowing Chase, he’ll get restless and be gone from Calamity tomorrow morning.”

“I hope so,” I said, going to the bathroom to get ready for bed. I was asleep seconds after my head hit the pillow.

So when I heard a clang in the middle of the night, I sat up gasping for air and searching the darkened room, listening for another noise. Other than Hux’s breathing, it was silent. He was sprawled on his stomach beside me, totally dead to the world.

I twisted toward the alarm clock’s green glow. Ugh. Three forty-seven. I needed at least five hours of sleep to be functional. Snuggling into my pillow, I squeezed my eyes shut and willed myself back to sleep. But thoughts of Savannah drifted into my head. Would she like living here? How had she taken the news? Had Julian and April even told her yet?

After thirty minutes, I knew sleep was pointless. No matter how tired I was, my mind was awake and there’d be no shutting it off. So I slipped out of bed and tiptoed into the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash the makeup off I hadn’t bothered to last night. Then I pulled on my red satin kimono robe, one Lucy had gifted me two Christmases ago, and tied its sash around my waist.

I was halfway downstairs when I remembered we had a guest. Shit. Cinching my robe tighter, I padded as quietly as possible, hoping Chase was as sound a sleeper as Hux because I really needed some coffee. Then I’d disappear into the office upstairs and hide until everyone was awake.

But my hopes were thwarted. The couch only held a rumpled blanket. Clothes were piled on the floor beside the coffee table.

“Morning.” Chase’s voice startled me as he rounded the corner of the kitchen. He was wearing a pair of black briefs and nothing else. He’d probably caused the noise that had woken me up.

“Hi.” This is awkward. I kept my gaze glued anywhere but on his almost-naked body. “I’m just going to get a cup of coffee. Then I’ll get out of your way.”

“No worries.” He nodded, keeping his gaze glued to me.

Chase stood between the island and the fridge, his large body filling the space, so I walked all the way around to get to the coffee machine. I plucked a mug from the cupboard and set it in place as the water percolated. Never in the history of the world had a cup of coffee filled so slowly.

Brew, damn it.

Chase walked closer, coming to the space at my side. He leaned against the counter, crossing his massive arms over his chest.

I shifted, sidestepping away.

He came closer again.

Another sidestep for me.

An advance from him.

What the hell? This was bullshit. Absolute bullshit. This was my house and he was a guest. Was this some sort of intimidation tactic?

Fuck this guy. I met his gaze and raised my chin. “Would you mind getting out of my bubble?”

He sniffed the air. “You smell nice.”

The arrow on my mental creep-o-meter jumped from mild to extreme. “I’m really not yours to smell.” Not a sentence I’d ever thought I’d have to say. “Please. Step back.”

He uncrossed his arms and made a move like he was going to leave, but then a hand shot out and wrapped around my forearm, dragging me closer.

The motherfucker put his nose to my hair.

“Don’t touch me.” I tried to wrench my arm from his grip, but he held it so tight there’d be a bruise.

“I saw you looking at me all night.”

Uh, what? This guy was delusional. “Let me go.”

“I saw you this weekend too. Shopping at the store. You and Hux going up and down the aisles together. Couldn’t hardly believe it. Was happy for him, that he found a good woman. But then you were eye fucking me last night and now he’s gotta know you’re just another whore. I know all about what his ex did to him. Won’t let you do it too.”

My heart dropped. No. No, not this again. Panic from the past came rushing back. Fears I’d tried so hard to beat surged to life.

Chase had been watching us.

He’d been watching me.

I couldn’t fill my lungs. The strength left my arms and my mind blanked as he leaned in again. It was the scent of his morning breath that snapped me out of my panic. But even as I tried to get free, his grip only tightened.

“Get the fuck away from her.” A roar filled the room, and in a flash, Chase was out of my space. Hux had ripped him away and with a shove, Chase’s hip slammed into the counter. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“She wants me, man.” Chase held up his hands. “Last night, she kept staring at me. Then she sneaks down here this morning to make a play. You gotta know. I’m just looking out. I always got your back.”

“What?”

“I’m telling you, she wants me.”

Oh, God. My stomach churned. “No. Never.”

“Get out.” Hux’s arms flew into Chase’s chest, shoving him out of the kitchen. One shove, then two, and Chase tripped over his own feet, nearly falling but he caught himself at the last minute. Before he could stand firm, Hux shoved him again.

“Hux. Come on,” Chase pleaded. “We’re friends.”

“Get. Out. No one touches my wife.” He kept pushing until Chase’s back rammed into the wall beside the front door. Chase had the bulk on Hux, but Hux had height, speed and fury.

Hux threw the door open and without the slightest second of hesitation, pushed Chase outside.

The door’s slam rattled the house.

Hux strode to the couch, scooping up Chase’s duffel bag and clothes from the floor. I stayed on my feet long enough to watch as he whipped the door open and threw Chase’s belongings into the cold.

But then my knees gave out and I was sinking to the floor, curling into a ball. The same ball I’d been in for hours the day the stalker had fired a gun into my home in Nashville.

There was shouting in the background. There was another slam of the door. But I stayed tight in my ball, fearing that when I looked up I wouldn’t be in Hux’s kitchen. My kitchen. I’d be back in Nashville with broken glass scattered over the floor. Or I’d be back in the farmhouse, knowing that my life and my friend’s life were about to end.

“Ev.” Hux’s hand came to my shoulder, but I didn’t loosen the grip on my knees. “Babe, look at me.”

I couldn’t look at him. Didn’t he know that?

“He was watching us,” I whispered.

“What?”

“He was watching us.”

A tremor raced through my bones, threatening to break me apart. My throat was closing. My head spinning.

I wanted to cry and scream and disappear. But before I could decide which mental breakdown I was going to have, Hux scooped me into his arms and carried me upstairs.

It was with the gentlest touch he laid me in bed. I stayed curled into my ball, my chin tucked into my knees, as I melted into the mattress. Then Hux was there, his arms wrapping around me as he cocooned his large body around mine.

“He was watching us,” I whispered again.

“You’re safe, Ev.” He buried his nose in my hair. “I got you.”

Maybe today.

But what happened when this charade was over? He had his daughter. Eventually the ruse would end.

And I’d be back at the window, being the one who watched others. Because there was no one to watch out for me.

Not really.

Not even my husband.