Wolfe ran his fingers through his thick wavy black hair and looked over at the large manila envelope in his passenger seat. He had been sitting in his car for over thirty minutes trying to will himself to go into the bar that had just officially become his.

Not that he had wanted the bar. He had never wanted anything to do with the bar or his angry, alcoholic father that had passed away almost a week ago. Wolfe was an only child, but he never expected to get anything. There was no love lost between them, but the old man had left him everything and to his surprise, a letter of apology.

The letter had simply stated that he had been a horrible father and that he took sole responsibility for any and all of Wolfe’s downfalls in life. That he wished he had been a better man himself, but that he was proud of the man Wolfe had become all on his own. It took everything he had not to finally cry in front of the lawyer. Whether from anger or sadness, he couldn’t quite tell. 

He could feel the sweat sliding down his back and knew that his shirt would be stuck to him if he didn’t get out of the hot car soon. Wolfe scratched the four-day beard growth and opened the envelope to let the keys fall into his hand.

~*~

“I’m going to sell it, Mr. Diaz. I don’t want it.”

“Well, let’s not make any hasty decisions here. The bar is very profitable and well maintained—”

“I don’t live here—”

“Agh, but you could. You now own your father’s home as well and again, it’s well maintained. Charlie was very good about that.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want it. Can you find me a buyer or should I look on my own?”

“For the house or the bar?”

“Both.”

“Wolfie, please lis—”

“Mr. Diaz with all due respect please don’t call me Wolfie anymore, I’m twenty-nine years old.”

“I do apologize. Old habits you know? How long will you be here?”

“I’ve got a few weeks, but I don’t know if I’ll stay that long. Mr. Diaz, please find me someone to buy the bar as soon as possible. I’m not as concerned about the house.”

The big balding lawyer nodded his head, “I may know a few people interested. I’ll give them a call. Say, Wolfe, why don’t you come by the house tomorrow night for supper? I’m sure Sara would love to see you and I’ll call Emily.”

Wolfe looked up at the mention of Mr. Diaz’s daughter Emily. Emily had been the love and the bane of his life. She had been wild, romantic, stubborn and just plain mean. It had been ten years since he had seen her last. To this day she was the standard of which he held every other woman to, both in what he liked and expected, and what he hated and would not tolerate.

“That’s okay, Mr. Diaz, I appreciate the offer, but I have a lot of things to do. Thank you though and give my best to your wife.” He stood and picked up the envelope, then extended his hand.

~*~

An hour had passed since he had gotten the keys, and he still wasn’t ready to go inside. With a shake of his head, he took a deep breath and climbed out of the car.

His hands shook as he fumbled with the lock, and then for one brief moment he panicked when the alarm blared. No one had given him the code so as he ran for the alarm panel behind the bar he prayed it was the same as before. 0827, his birthday. The noise stopped at once, and he leaned his head on the beam giving a silent thank you.

The bar was quiet except for the soft sound of the jukebox playing the list his dad had always kept playing on repeat. Moonlight Serenade by Glenn Miller was on now and Wolfe shook his head. He had always thought it was such an odd choice for a bar that predominantly catered to country music. He supposed it was a song that made Charlie feel good or it wouldn’t have been on that playlist.

It was extremely cool and felt good on his sweating body. He stretched and pulled his shirt off his skin, fanning it out as he walked through the bar itself. The chairs were all up and with all the dark wood, despite all the large windows, there were too many shadows around the bar for his liking. So he went back behind the bar and turned on all the lights.

A few of the lights above the pool tables in the back flickered, but stayed on and glowed brightly on the green felt. The lawyer had been right, the place was well maintained. It should sell for a good price.

Wolfe grabbed a beer and walked through the kitchen and gave a harsh laugh into the silence. “My God, for a man that was such a drunken mess on the inside, he knew how to keep things tidy on the outside.” The kitchen was shiny and polished like it had been done last night instead of a week ago.

He went into the office on the other side of the kitchen, looked around and tried to decide where to begin.

A few hours had gone by when he heard a banging on the door. He stood and stretched his stiff body and walked up front. There was an older, bottle blonde haired woman waving at him through the window to the left of the door. He couldn’t stop the smile from forming on his lips.

It was Barbara Lee. She had been here since the place opened back in 1994. He had only been a small child then, but she had been kind to him and very motherly to him whenever he needed one. Which had been more than he liked to admit.

Wolfe was never sure, and never thought about it when he was younger, but he believed that Barbara Lee and Charlie had been together off and on the entire time he had known her.

When he opened the door he was surprised to see not only Barbara Lee but two other employees as well, Big Jim and Rick.

Barbara Lee grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. Her scent, Gardenia perfume, wrapped around him, comforting him as much as her arms. He held her tightly, not realizing how much he had missed her.

“Alright give the rest of us a chance to hug him too,” Big Jim laughed and pulled him in for a hug as soon as he moved away from the now teary-eyed Barbara Lee.

Big Jim was named that for the obvious, Jim was huge and huge Jim didn’t have the same ring to it. Big Jim had always been the bouncer at the bar and worked almost seven nights a week. He stood about 6’5 and weighed roughly four hundred pounds. Most of it was muscle, or it had been, but he was pushing fifty and starting to show signs of getting soft around the middle.

“Boy you’re skinny, there ain’t an ounce of meat on them bones. It’s that city food,” Big Jim said, patting him on the back. He had been gentle, but Wolfe still felt like he had had the wind knocked out of him.

“Yeah, almost as skinny as me,” the wiry, older man said with a grin. He stepped closer to Rick, who hugged him quickly and then stepped back.

Wolfe laughed. “Come on now, I ain’t that skinny. So you’re still cooking huh?”

Rick nodded, still smiling. He looked Wolfe up and down and asked, “Have you eaten?”

Barbara Lee ran her fingers through his hair, fixing the little unruly tufts. “Yeah you look exhausted, can we get you anything?”

He shook his head, suddenly feeling just as exhausted as the look of concern on her face made him feel he looked. “I’m okay,” he mumbled and pulled four chairs down, then grabbed another beer.

“So tell me about y’all. What’s been going on?”

For the next few hours, the four of them sat around the bar talking and catching up. Rick insisted he was hungry so he fired up the grill and fryers to make them hamburgers and fries. Despite Wolfe’s insistence that he wasn’t hungry, the moment he smelled it his stomach clenched and growled loudly.

They were all leaned back in their chairs full and relaxed, and the conversation was dying down when Barbara Lee brought up the two things he had been hoping no one would. This was the first time he had felt semi-normal since she had called him about his father’s heart attack.

“Do you have everything sorted for the funeral? I laid out his suit because I assume you want the reception afterward held here.”

“Yeah, and you don’t have to worry about any of the food. I’ll be cooking the majority of it, but you know how small towns are, it’s an excuse for everyone to break out their famous casserole.”  Rick looked down and picked at his napkin.

Wolfe didn’t speak for a few minutes. He felt a little overwhelmed by everything and very touched that they had thought of the things he hadn’t. “Thank you.”

Big Jim placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Of course, Wolfie, we are family. There is something else I… Well, we were wondering.”

He looked around at all their faces. “What’s that?”

“Are you selling the bar?”

They were all watching him very intently and felt very guilty. How could he tell them, the three people that had been there from day one that he was selling it? He took a deep breath. “Yeah, I think so. The house too.”

The three of them sat up and exchanged looks. “Who’s handling the sale?”

“I asked Mr. Diaz to find someone. Look, I will put in the contract that you three have to stay on in your current positions. I know this is not ideal for anyone and I’m sor—”

“Stop. It’s okay, we knew this was a possibility,” Big Jim said gently.

Everyone stood and began cleaning up, but no one spoke. Once there was nothing to distract themselves with an awkward silence filled the room. It was broken by loud knocking on the window and they all turned towards it.

“Shit,” Wolfe said softly.

“Should we let her in or freeze and pretend we’re not here?” Big Jim asked softly.

“She’s not a T-Rex, her visions not based off movement. I mean she’s looking right at us,” Barbara Lee laughed just as softly.

Emily’s smile faltered a little as she watched them all freeze. She knocked again and pointed towards the door.

“We’ve been spotted and she doesn’t look happy. You should probably get the door before she attacks,” Big Jim said in a horrible Steve Irwin impression.

Wolfe started laughing and Emily’s frown deepened. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

“I better let her in.” He opened the door and she threw herself into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed him tightly.

Emily pulled back and placed her hands on his chest giving him a look as if she was going to cry. “Oh Wolfie, I’m so sorry about Charlie. It was such a shock to all of us,” she pulled back and began fixing his hair unruly air. “My dad said you were back in town,” she started smoothing out the wrinkles on his shirt and made a pouty face. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

He took a deep breath and grabbed her by the wrist to stop her, then stepped back and let her go.

She crossed her arms, looked around the room at everyone and then turned to walk to the bar. Everyone watched as she sashayed her way across the room. She flung her long auburn hair behind her and added just enough sway to her that short flowy skirt flipped up to give peeks of her upper thighs.

Emily pulled the stool out and gracefully sat down, swiveled around and crossed her arms and her legs giving them all a knowing smile.

“Okay well, we’re going to go. We will see you in two days, but if you need me for anything, Wolfe, anything at all…”

“I know and I appreciate it.” He gave Barbara Lee a big hug and then told them all bye and locked the bar behind them.

He laid his forehead on the cool wooden door and closed his eyes. Then with a deep breath, he turned and faced Emily.

She smiled at him and patted the bar top. “Come, sit, have a beer with me.”

“You know where they’re at,” he said and leaned on the beam a few feet away from her, then nodded towards the beer cooler behind the bar.

“Honestly, Wolfie,” she huffed and hopped off the stool. “I’ll get the beer, but come on and sit. I won’t bite.” She gave him a wink, looked him up and down and then went to grab them two beers.

He didn’t move from the beam, but he crossed his arms. “Don’t call me Wolfie.”

She came back around and handed him a beer then instead of sitting on the stool she climbed on the bar and took a long drink of her beer. “Come on, don’t be like this. I’m here because I care. I’ve been worried about you since I heard about Charlie.”

“I’m fine.”

“Clearly.”

“Look, I’m tired and I think you should go.”

“Wolfie—”

“Stop calling me that!”

Emily held her hands up. “Okay, okay.”

“Come on, have one beer with me then I’ll go.”

He felt too tired to fight her. That’s all they did when they were together. It had been that way since they were sixteen. They had a love-hate relationship. When they were on, they hated each other, but when they were off, they were in love.

Wolfe knew they were toxic for each other, but it didn’t stop him from admiring how sexy she was. Her legs were long and tan, and his mind flashed to images of them wrapped around him, her heels pressing into his ass, urging him to move harder.

He felt the first stirrings of his cock and knew that line of thought was a bad one, but he continued to look at her. Her breasts fit perfectly into his hands and appeared to be just as firm as they were the first time he ever touched them.

They were sixteen and laying under the stars in the back of his truck. He had been pointing out all the constellation in an attempt to impress her. Obviously, it hadn’t worked because she told him enough and climbed on his lap. "I have something better for you to look at," she said softly wiggling a little and removed her shirt. Wolfe had been surprised, too surprised to realize she hadn’t worn a bra on their date.

Emily took his hands and placed them on her breasts. “Feel them.” Her hips made tiny circles and his cock grew rock hard in his pants. He had never felt breasts before and gave them a gentle squeeze. Her nipples grew hard under his palm and he liked the way that felt.

He made tiny circles on her nipples rubbing them along his hands. She undid his pants and slid back enough to expose his cock. It jumped at the air and the excitement of the moment. “Wanna feel what you do to me?” she asked softly and without waiting for a reply she moved up and placed her wet lips on either side of his cock and started sliding back and forth grinding on him.

Wolfe snapped his mind back from that moment and cleared his throat; he was hard and knew that was not a good thing to be around Emily.

She gave him a look that clearly said she knew because at that moment she gave him a little grin, uncrossed her legs and placed one foot on a stool. “Wolfie…” she trailed off and pushed the stool out. It caused her legs to spread and her skirt to rise up.

Emily gave him a glimpse of red between her legs. She took a sip of beer and condensation dripped onto her exposed thigh. Wolfe watched as the water slid down between her thighs. It left a glistening trail of moisture down to the shadows made by her skirt. He wondered if it made it to her panties, and he stepped closer.

His hand touched the other bar stool, and she placed her other foot on it. Her legs were completely spread and his dick throbbed when he saw the line from the water ended at her panty line. She had to of moved a little closer to the edge because he now had a full view of sheer red panties. They were so sheer he saw the soft black tuft of hair and he wanted to feel it against him.

“Oh Wolfie, I’ve missed you so much.” Her hand moved over her panties.

“Don’t call me that,” he managed to growl out despite his mouth feeling as dry as a desert.

At some point, he had to have stepped closer because she wrapped her one leg around him and pulled him closer to her.

Their eyes were locked and he felt angry with her for being here and at himself for getting this close.

Her hands cupped his cheeks and she kissed him gently.

“Stop.”

She wrapped her other leg around him and pressed his bulge against her. “No.” She kissed him again.

“We can’t do this.”

Emily kissed him and rocked her hips. “But you know how good it feels to be inside me.” Her fingers were in his hair and she kissed him hard.

His arms went around her pulled her closer and he pressed harder into. He did know how good it felt and at that moment he hated jeans.

Her hand moved between them and rubbed his cock. She began whimpering and pleading with him. “Please Wolfie, I need you inside. I’ve missed your cock so much.”

He had a moment where his mind tried to take over, it screamed for him to stop because she was going to manipulate him again. He stopped and grabbed her wrists. “Stop!”

“Why should I?”

“Because we shouldn’t be doing this.”

“Why not? Are you married?”

“Don’t be stupid; you know I’m not.”

She tried to break free from his grip and got angry that he held on tight. “You know what, fuck you, Wolfie. I don’t need this shit and I don’t need you.”

Her little struggles caused her pussy to rub against his cock and he pushed forward without thinking. “No?”

“No!” she yelled and gasped at the same time, which made it less believable.  “I go fuck anyone I want, including Steve Witchem if I want.”

Wolfe was instantly pissed off. Steve Witchem had been the little dick piece of shit she had cheated on him with. Not just once, but six different times. Twice in their bed.

“You are such a bitch,” he snapped but held onto her hands. “Is that what you want? You want to go fuck him?”

“Maybe. At least he fucks me like a real man,” she taunted him.

“You don’t think I fuck you like a real man?” he growled.

She locked her legs tighter. “No. You’ve probably forgotten how to make a woman cum. Unlike Steve who makes me cum so hard.”

He let go of her wrists, undid his pants and pushed them to the floor. His fingers touched her panties and they were soaking wet. He pulled them to the side and let his cock slide over her wetness and her tuft of hair.

Emily moaned and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Fuck you, Wolfie.”

Wolfe moved his cock between her lips and slammed deep inside her. “No, fuck you, Emily.”

“Ugh..” she cried out and wrapped herself tighter around him.

His hands gripped her ass and he continued to slam into her. He buried his head into the bend of her neck and fucked her hard and fast. Her nails were digging into his shoulders and her legs were no longer wrapped around him because he had more access to her.

He pulled her closer to the end of the bar top so she was almost hanging off. His cock slid in and out, he took his anger and his pain out on her and she let him. She encouraged him to fuck her harder.

Emily was moaning loudly and begging him to make her cum. He could feel her juices splash against him everytime he shoved forward. He was lost in this moment of needing this and hating her for it.

“That’s it, fuck I’m going to cum.” She pressed her nails hard into him, spurring him on. “Oh God, oh God,” she began chanting.

He felt his balls tightening and he knew he wasn’t going to last much longer either. His hips rocked faster, and he held her tighter when he felt her body tense and her pussy gripping his cock.

“Wolfie,” she moaned as she came hard. Her body jerked and each throb around him begged him to cum.

“Shit,” he hissed softly against her neck and he came deep inside her. She wrapped herself around him and held him while the last of his cum filled her.

They stayed that way until their breathing began to slow.

Wolfe pulled his pants up and turned his back on her. He instantly regretted it and knew that she had taunted him on purpose to get her way. She always did.

He heard the stool move and her feet hit the floor, and then felt her hand slide up his back. He stiffened and didn’t turn around.

“I really have been worried about you.”

“I’m fine.”

“Wolfie, look at me.”

“Stop calling me that!” he snapped and turned to face her.

She held her hands up and raised her eyebrows. “Sorry, old habits.”

“Emily, I think you should go. I’m tired and I just want to go to my dad’s house and go to sleep.”

For the first time, she looked truly hurt. “Are you… I mean… Can I get you anything?”

“I’m fine. Just go, okay.”

“Alright.” She grabbed her things from the bar and headed quickly for the door without saying another word and without looking back.

Once the door closed behind her, he ran his fingers through his hair and squatted down. His body and mind felt exhausted and just wanted sleep. He rubbed his face, let out a loud breath and stood up, walked through the bar and turned off all the lights.

He grabbed his bag from the trunk of his car and walked down the dark side street the next block over where his childhood home was. The house was completely dark, and he felt a little nervous to enter it. It had been too long and there were too many memories, but he had nowhere else to go so he went inside.

After a quick shower, he made a bed on the couch. He couldn’t bring himself to go into his father’s room or into his old bedroom. Not tonight, he just wanted sleep.

The next few days were a blur. He began going through all his paperwork and packing up a lot of the personal items he wanted to keep. Wolfe had thanked Charlie over and over again for being so organized. He was amazed that a man that drank himself to death, had been so together in every other aspect of his life.

The funeral had been larger than he had ever expected. There had been so many people that he lost count early on at the mourners and wellwishers that wanted to shake his hands or to his extreme discomfort, hug him.

Barbara Lee had stayed by his side the entire day. She supplied him with food and drinks and even moved him away from crowds when she felt he needed a timeout. He would be forever grateful to her.

Emily had shown up, just as he knew she would, but she stayed away from him after the first greeting she gave him. He knew her parents had forced her to do that because they had her sandwiched between them. It made him feel a bit guilty about the way he had treated, but not enough to apologize.

Around six that evening after most people had left the bar, Barbara Lee and Rick had made him a plate of food and sent him home. They insisted that they would clean the bar.

The plate of food sat open and untouched, on the coffee table surrounded by the seven beers he had chugged down and the bottle of whiskey he was now nursing.

The knock on the door startled him out of his musing on how things had gone horribly wrong with his dad. He supposed things had never been right after his mom had passed away from complications due to his birth.

Wolfe stumbled to the door and opened it wide. His eyes were a little blurry, but he knew who it was. He knew before he opened the door.

“What’d you want?” he slurred at Emily and walked away.

“I wanted to check on you and I’m glad I did. Have you drank all this tonight?”

“Yep.” He flopped down on the couch and took another sip of whiskey.

“Wolfe, you need to eat something.”

“Oh my God, woman stop nagging at me. You think you can come back into my life like nothing happened between us and start telling me what to do?”

She began picking up the empty beer bottles. “That’s not what I’m doing.”

“Well, you can’t!” he drunkenly snapped and shoved the coffee table causing the bottles left on the table to teeter and fall.

“Honestly,” she scoffed at him and picked up the fallen bottles.

“You know why you can’t?”

“No, I don’t.” She stood in the doorway of the kitchen and looked back at him.

He pointed at her and said matter of factly, “Cause you were a cheatn’ slut and broke my heart.”

Emily gasped and tears welled in her eyes. Then she turned her back on him and went into the kitchen. He heard the beer bottles clinking as they fell into the trash can and then silence.

Wolfe suddenly felt like a giant asshole. It was true that she had cheated on him and it was true that she had broken his heart, but it had been ten years ago. He stumbled into the kitchen to find her leaning against the counter with her head down crying.

“Em… I’m sorry. That was rude.”

She straightened her back and waved a hand dismissively at him. “It’s okay. You’ve had a long day. What you need is some water and something for that headache you’re going to have in the morning.”

Emily made him a glass of water and searched the cabinet for aspirins. He shook his head and stumbled back into the living room. “It’s okay, I’m not done drinking yet,” he called back.

He grabbed the bottle and took a long swig, spilling it down the front of his shirt.

“Jesus Christ, Wolfie that’s enough,” Emily snapped and took the bottle from him. “Look at you. What you need is to go to bed, but you should probably shower first.”

“Party pooper,” he laughed at the stern expression on her face.

“You’re such a child.”

He stuck his tongue out at her and said in a childish voice, “Am not.”

Emily started to laugh. “Stop. You think you’re cute.”

“Yea and so do you.”

“Sometimes,” she mumbled. “Come on, let’s get you upstairs and into that shower. You stink.”

She managed to get him upstairs and seated on the toilet, but it took him three minutes of struggling, just to get stuck inside his shirt.

He heard her sigh but was unable to see her because his shirt and arms were blocking his view. She undid the buttons on his shirt and told him to stand up so she could help with his pants.

Wolfe swayed as she yanked on his whiskey-soaked slacks.

“Lift your foot.” She patted his leg and he did as she said.

She pulled it off and patted his other leg. He was naked in front of her and lost his balanced when he raised his other leg. Emily grabbed his hips to keep him from falling into her, but this also left her eye level with his cock.

He steadied himself and looked down at her. “Sorry.”

“Are you going to be alright in there?”

“Yeah I’m good,” he said and swayed again.

Emily sighed and shook her head and then stripped out of her clothes. “No, you’re not.”

He watched as she bent over to turn the water on and adjust the temperature. There was no hiding how hard he was so when she turned around he didn’t bother to try. She looked down and then back up into his eyes.

They were silent for a moment and then she turned and stepped into the shower. She stuck her hand out to him. “Come on, Wolfe. The sooner we get you cleaned the sooner you can go to bed and sleep this off.”

He took her hand and stepped inside. He only wobbled once then steadied himself under the spray with his head down.

His eyes were closed and he jumped a little, startled at the feel of her hands on his back. They were soft and slick, covered in soap. She ran them slowly along his back and up to his shoulders.

Emily’s voice was so soft when she spoke. “Aw, Wolfie you are so tense.” She began gently massaging as she continued to bathe him. Her hands left his body for a second and them felt them at his sides. They slid around him and moved slowly up his chest. He felt her breasts pressing into his back and his cock jerked.

Her hands made small circles and moved down to his thighs. His hips automatically pressed forward as her fingers brushed against his cock.

Emily moved behind him and her hard nipples glided along his back. His breathing had quickened but he didn’t move, not until he felt her fingers wrap around him. His hips bucked forward pushing his cock through her fingers. They wrapped tighter around his base and pulled forward to his tip.

Wolfe placed his palms on the wall in front of him and Emily’s hand swirled the head of his cock and then back down to the base. Her hand moved back up and around his tip and then back down. She moved faster until his hips took over the motion and she only held on. He fucked her hand in a moment that felt frenzied. He needed to cum.

He glided in and out of her hand and she gripped him tighter and tighter. “Fuck, Emily,” he growled and came. Her hand moved slowly now and pumped the last bit of cum from him.

Wolfe turned to her and kissed her deeply, his hands moved along her body. “My turn,” he panted and pressed her back against the wall.

She squealed at the coolness of it, but stopped as his mouth covered hers. He kissed her hard and deep. His emotions were raw and she was offering to ease them so he was going to allow her.

His kiss deepened as his hand moved down her body and cupped her cunny. He dipped his middle finger between her lips and felt how slick she was. He groaned into her mouth and her hips pushed forward to encourage him to go further.

Wolfe slid two fingers inside her and she broke the kiss to cry out. Emily wrapped herself tightly around him and he moved his fingers in and out as his thumb pressed onto her clit. He kissed her again and continued to rock his hand.

Emily’s nails pressed into his back and she rocked with him which made him move faster. She panted and moaned and he could tell she was close.

He kissed down her neck to her chest and paused long enough to nip playfully at her nipple then moved down to his knees.

She lifted one leg onto his shoulder and he let his tongue replace his thumb. Her hips jerked forward pushing her pussy closer to his mouth. His fingers curled inside her, finding that sweet spot and he sucked her clit into his mouth.

Her fingers gripped his hair and her legs quivered. “Fuck, Wolfie.”

His fingers moved faster rubbing over that spot and he sucked harder on her clit. He felt her muscles tighten and she pressed herself harder against him.

“Oh my God!” Emily moaned and her body jerked as she came for him.

He gave her one last lick and looked up. She touched his cheeks and pulled him up to her and kissed him gently.

Once they were dried off he laid in the bed and patted the empty place beside him. She hesitated for only a second then pulled one of his shirts on and climbed in.

She wrapped her arms around him and cried softly. Wolfe hugged her closer to him and suddenly felt the strains and sadness of the last week or so. In that darkness, back in her arms, he allowed himself to think of all the thoughts he had pushed away and allowed himself to cry.

Wolfe woke the next morning to hear Emily’s sharp tones coming from his bathroom. He got up slowly and despite Barbara Lee’s warning his entire life that eavesdroppers never heard anything they want to hear, he listened.

“Steve, honey, listen to me. Honestly, it’s not like that and you know it’s not.” Pause. “My mama—” Pause. “Steven, I will not have you talk to me like that. We aren’t married yet, and if you can’t trust me not to fuck a man I ain’t seen in ten years then maybe we shouldn’t get married!”

He felt his jaw open and anger flooded him. He no longer heard what she said and walked back into his bedroom.

Emily walked into his room and was still wearing one of his t-shirts. She looked sexy as hell and it pissed him off more.

Wolf was on the side of his bed with his feet on the floor and she walked up to him and sat on his lap with her knees on either side of his legs. He felt her soft patch of hair brush against his cock and it started to harden, which made him even angrier. 

Her arms went around him and she kissed him gently. “Good morning, Wolfie. How’s your head?” She moved a little closer pressing her warmth into his hardness and grinned.

His hands gripped her ass and her words echoed into his head, ‘... trust me not to fuck a man…’

She moaned and moved a little so her lips opened on him enough for her to glide up, spreading her juices.

He lifted her and she reached between them and guided him to her opening. Emily slid down him and gasped as he filled her. She moved slowly, neither one speaking.

Wolfe held her ass and helped to move her, encouraging her to ride him. “That’s it, Emily, fuck me.”

Emily paused at his words and the expression on his face, but she found her rhythm and rocked back and forth. 

She moaned louder and Wolfe wrapped his arms around her and moved quickly so he was lying on top of her. Her arms went to wrap around him and he grabbed her wrists, pinning them to the bed. He pulled back and slammed into her.

Wolfe looked down into her wanton face and realized that he felt nothing for her anymore. The only thing left was the anger that even after all this time she couldn’t have just been honest. Emily was never going to change, she would always be selfish and self-indulgent.

Her legs wrapped around him to encouraged him to move. He no longer wanted to look at her so he leaned back and guided her onto all fours. Wolfe grabbed her by the hips and slammed into her, one hard thrust after another.

His fingers gripped her hips hard enough to bruise and he fucked her. He took his anger out on her while she begged for more.

She told him she was going to cum and to fuck her harder. Her ass slammed back into him and he felt her throb around him, making him cum deep inside. 

Emily’s legs and arms gave out causing her to flop on the bed and he laid on top of her, both catching their breath.

Once his heart rate slowed, he asked, “How’s Steve?”

“What?” she gasped and sounded confused.

“How’s your fiance’ Steve. It is Steve Witchem isn’t it?”

“Wolfe—”

“When’s the wedding, Emily?” He felt his cock slip out as she started to move underneath him.

“Get off!”

“When’s the wedding, Emily?” he asked again.

She looked back at him with hurt and anger in her eyes. It was her go-to emotion when she was busted. “Next weekend.”

“What if I had stayed? Would you’d have invited me to the wedding?”

“You wouldn’t have stayed, so fuck you!”

Wolfe looked between them and moved so his softening cock slid along her bottom. “That’s what you wanted right? To fuck me.”

“No. I came here to check on you. I was concerned.”

“And the other night in the bar? You were concerned then too?”

“You wouldn’t have stayed!” she cried again.

“Now you’ll never know.”

“You wouldn’t have—” she yelled, but he cut her off.

“What about the first night at the bar, Emily? You couldn’t have told me then?”

“It was a mistake,” she cried.

He moved off her. “No, you were the mistake.”

She gasped at his words. “Wolf—”

“Get out.”

She left without so much as a glance back at him.

The next few days were busy ones for Wolfe. He packed what he wanted from the house and loaded them into a Pod that he had rented to take them home. Mr. Diaz called him and asked him to meet him at his office on the Friday morning before he was set to go home.

He ignored the several texts and calls from Emily. He even nodded politely at Steve when he ran into him at one of the diners. Wolfe never thought it would be possible, but he actually felt sorry for the man.

Friday morning came and he still had no idea what to do with the house or most of the belongings. He would wait to see what Mr. Diaz had come up with and then call Barbara Lee to see if she wanted anything.

Mr. Diaz met him in the lobby with a big proud look on his face. ‘He’s happy to see me. Emily obviously hadn’t told him about our hook up the other night,’ he thought to himself as he shook the lawyer’s hand. That was one concern down. He had worried since the phone call that she had run home crying to daddy about mean ol Wolfie like she used to. At least that had changed.

“It’s good to see you, Wolfe. How are you? You getting things sorted? I know it can be a bit overwhelming.”

“Yes, sir, I’ve gotten most things taken care of. Is everything alright?”

“Everything’s fine. I have possible buyers for your bar and the house. Why do we go back here and see what we can sort out.”

Wolfe followed the lawyer down the hall and instead of turning left to go to his office he turned right, knocked on the door of the conference room and walked inside.

To Wolfe’s confusion, Barbara Lee, Big Jim, and Rick were all seated at the large table, smiling at him when he walked inside.

“Please, have a seat,” Mr. Diaz pulled a chair out across from them for Wolfe and he took one at the head of the table where all the papers were.

“I see you’re plenty shocked to see us,” Barbara Lee said and reached across the table to pat his hand.

He gave her hand a gentle squeezed and smiled warmly at her. “Yes, ma’am I am.”

Big Jim grinned like the cat that ate the canary. “We want to buy the bar, Wolfe.”

Wolfe looked at all of their faces and leaned back in the chair. He ran his hands over his face and through his hair and looked at them again.

They all four exchanged worried glances then looked back at him. “You’re serious? Y’all want to buy the bar?”

“Well, yeah, it’s our home,” Rick said and shrugged his shoulders.

Mr. Diaz quickly slid over a piece of paper. “Now before you make a decision. Wolfe, they are willing to pay a fair price for the bar.”

Wolfe glanced at the number and it was far more than the asking price. “I can’t accept this.”

“Oh,” Barbara Lee said softly.

“Wolfe I think—”

Wolfe held his hand up to silence the lawyer. “It’s too much. The bar should be y’alls. How about we do this, y’all can have the bar for fifteen dollars and whatever taxes I may have to pay for inheriting it.”

“You can’t do that,” Big Jim and Rick both argued.

“But I can. It’s my bar. Y’all have been the heart and backbone of that place. Dad was damn lucky to have you. Do we have a deal?” 

They exchanged looks and then they all nodded in agreement.

“Excellent,” Mr. Diaz said beaming again. “Now for the sale of the house.” He pulled two pieces of paper out and handed one to Wolfe and one to Barbara Lee. “If you will see here she has made a generous offer on that as well.”

“You?” Wolfe asked looking up at her.

She shrugged. “I love that house, and I was supposed to be moving back in with your daddy when he…” she trailed away and looked out the window.

“Back in?”

The other three men stood and excused themselves to allow them to talk.

“Wolfe, your father and I…” She looked down as a tear slid down her cheek.

“It’s okay.” He reached across the table and took her hand. “I always assumed.”

“I loved him. As you know, he was a hard man, but I did.”

Wolfe didn’t speak.

“He was so damn stubborn and hard-headed, and he made me so mad.” She cried even harder. “I begged him often to call you. To apologize for everything. He had so much guilt, but he couldn’t just say the words, I’m sorry.”

Her hands were shaking underneath his and he gave them a gentle squeeze. His eyes were filled with his own tears and he took a deep breath to settle himself.

Once all transactions were final and Wolfe had said his goodbyes, he went by the bar one last time to collect a few of his dad’s things.

He stood in the middle of the room and looked around at the place he had loved and hated as a kid. It held too many memories. The whole town held too many memories. Wolfe knew at that moment that he made the right choice. He had outgrown this town and was ready to leave.

The bar was silent again except for the song playing softly throughout the bar. Wolfe gave a sharp laugh when he realized what song it was. Moonlight Serenade.

“Goodbye dad,” he said and walked out the door for the last time.