Текст книги "Hold On"

Автор книги: Kristen Ashley

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Текущая страница: 19 (всего у книги 35 страниц)

“Yeah,” he agreed.

She held his hand and hers tightened as the humor slid from her.

“Sucks, baby,” she whispered. “Wish it didn’t go down like that for you.”

He did too.

But at least it was done.

He just had to hope his message finally leaked in so Mia would stop her shit.

Then again, he was going to look for a new place (another reason to hope his TV was there when he got back; he didn’t need that outlay lightening his down payment). Eventually, he’d move and she wouldn’t be able to find him.

Or he’d have her ass arrested for harassment.

One way or another, the message would get across.

He looked into Cher’s warm brown eyes as they looked into his, assessing to see if he was okay.

To show her he was, he asked, “My good girl find time for just her and me?”

Those eyes went soft and her fingers stayed firm around his when she replied, “Batten down the hatches, Merry. Had a chat with Mom. Family dinner is set for Thursday with your ass in a seat at her table.”

“Terrific,” he muttered, and she smiled.

“But I got Saturday off and Ethan has a sleepover at a friend’s, so I’m all yours.”

“I’m on call.”

“Fuck,” she whispered.

“On call doesn’t mean on a desk,” he told her. “Just means I might have to leave, but it also means I can come back.”

Her eyes brightened. “That works, honey.”

It did. It was his life. And if he didn’t jack it up, it could be hers. So it was good she could work with it.

“Now, you gonna let that whisky sit forever, or are you gonna rinse away the shit and get loose with me while I’m workin’?” she asked.

He gave her his answer by letting her go, grabbing his glass, and taking another sip.

She approved by smiling.

“Gotta make sure things are covered,” she told him. “But I’ll be back.”

“I’ll be here.”

She liked that. He knew because she didn’t hide it.

And he liked all that.

Yeah, they were working and doing it in a way he knew deep into his gut that wouldn’t quit.

Unless he jacked it up.

“Go easy,” she advised as he let her hand go. “That shit only costs ten bucks a go, but a pissed off ex-wife left at your pad, you might be dealin’ with more than a boosted TV.”

“Way to kill a calm, baby,” he muttered but did it grinning.

“Just bein’ real, makin’ sure you don’t get blindsided,” she returned and leaned back in. “But, just sayin’, the bitch trashes your place, you can catch your shows at mine. The spirit of Jerry Garcia likes company.”

That was when Garrett busted out laughing.

Which was when Cher knew it was safe to leave.

She did, making drinks, filling Dee’s tray.

But she came back. Jack also came over to chat. And Dee stopped by to shoot the shit.

When they were gone and sometimes when they were there, he had Cher.

A night at J&J’s with his woman who worked there.

No other place he’d rather be.

Chapter Fourteen

Fucking Happy

Cher

Mom wants to know if there’s something you don’t eat.

It was Sunday, late morning, and Merry had a day planned at his sister’s house to commune with family and play with his niece.

I had a day planned watching football with my kid before having to go to work, both of us eating ourselves sick, our every-Sunday plans when football was on.

I was at the stove frying sausage.

It was almost done when I got a text back.

Onions.

Gotcha.

And tofu.

I grinned.

Knew that without you telling me. Red-blooded. No way you eat sissy excuse for meat, I told him.

Damn straight, he replied.

I looked back to my sausage.

I ate tofu.

But, then again, I ate anything.

I drained the sausage, mixed it with the other shit, and poured it into the wonton wrappers to put in the oven to bake.

Then I texted my mom so she’d know not to serve onions or tofu for dinner on Thursday.

* * * * *

Ravens lost. You owe me 20.

That came from Merry later that afternoon and I read it with a grin.

As I was reading it, another came in.

Bears are gonna lose. Another 20. I’ll take it in trade.

I felt my grin turn naughty.

Bears aren’t gonna go down, I told him.

They are, then you are, he told me.

That gave me a shiver.

I nearly bobbled my phone when Ethan asked, “You textin’ Merry?”

I looked to him lounged in the bucket seat. “Yeah.”

“Tell him Browns lost. He owes me ten bucks.”

I stared at my son.

Then I looked to my phone and texted Merry.

Ethan says Browns lost. You owe him ten bucks.

I sent that, then immediately typed more.

You betting with my kid?

Within seconds, I got back, Babe, he’s the commissioner of the fifth grade fantasy league.

That was when I stared at my phone.

I had no idea my son ran a fantasy football league.

How could that even be?

I didn’t look at my kid.

I kept my eyes to my phone while I made a big decision.

Ethan and I had our things, just Ethan and me. Mom and Ethan had their things, just Mom and Ethan.

And Ethan had shared something with Merry that he hadn’t shared with me.

I had no idea if running a fantasy football league at age ten (almost eleven) was good or bad. I just knew, unlike any other man I’d let into my life, Merry had a moral compass. If he thought it was bad, he’d say something and not the way he’d just said it.

So the big decision I made was that I was going to let my son and my man have their things, just Ethan and Merry.

Well good, I texted and sent. Then, I’d hoped he’d be an engineer, but Vegas bookie is just as sweet.

To that I got, Stop making me laugh when I can’t kiss you.

Which made me grin again.

“Yeesh,” my boy muttered, disgusted. “Merry’s not even here and you’re all gooey.”

That didn’t make my grin die.

Not even slightly.

Though it did make me throw one of my many awesome, mismatched Janis Joplin pillows at him.

Ethan caught it and threw it back.

* * * * *

On Monday morning, after I’d dropped Ethan at school and hit the bank to deposit my tips (and the stupid one hundred dollar check that Trent and Peggy sent me, putting that in Ethan’s new account), I heard the text sound from my purse in the seat next to me as I was driving home.

I decided driving home safely was priority one, considering my life no longer sucked and I wanted to live it fully, so I left my phone in my bag (something I always did, considering, even when my life sucked, my kid was awesome, so being safe was always priority one).

But once I was in my driveway, I dug it out and was throwing open my door, looping my purse over my arm, and reading it at the same time.

It was from Merry.

Ethan get to school okay?

Not having him for years and falling in love with him more and more every time I saw him or even thought of him, I never would have thought, if the impossible happened and I got him, there would be farther to fall.

I was dead wrong.

I was moving my thumb over the phone as I hopped out of my car, nowhere near done with my text, when I started to shift out of the door to close it and ran into something.

I jerked in a turn and stared at my dickhead neighbor who was right there, in my space.

Okay, apparently, even when most of your life stops sucking, some of that suckage remained.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey,” I replied, forcing myself not to look around to see if I could find Ryker watching.

“Sorry, baby.” He moved back half a step. “Thought you saw me.”

I got out of the way of my door, slammed it, and put space between us as I beat back a lip curl at him calling me “baby.”

I also did all this as I answered, “I was texting.”

“Yeah,” he said, taking a step toward me, and I held my ground even though I didn’t want to. “Listen, know you got a kid but thought you might wanna find someone to look after him and go grab a beer sometime.”

I looked to his house.

I saw the beat-up Chevy truck I knew he drove.

I did not see the run-down Ford Fiesta his woman drove.

Not good news.

I looked back at him. “It’s cool you askin’, but just to say, I got a kid and I also got a man.”

His face changed and it was not a happy change.

“Black Excursion?” he asked.

He’d been watching me.

Now I was the one who was not happy (or less happy, considering I wasn’t happy at all he was in my space).

“Yeah,” I told him.

He moved closer to me.

Shit.

“Dude’s not your style, darlin’,” he said in what I expected was his come-on voice.

It did nothing for me for more reasons than the fact the asshole didn’t even know my name, so he couldn’t know what my style was.

Unless he made assumptions about me.

Which pissed me off.

However, I could not engage.

And that sucked.

“’Fraid you’re wrong,” I replied, stepping away.

“That guy’s too clean-cut,” he declared, taking another step toward me. “You seem like a woman who likes to have fun, let it all hang out.” His gaze dipped to my tits. “And you can feel free to do that with me, baby.”

He was right. I was that kind of woman, and I was good doing that with Merry because my dickhead neighbor read Merry wrong—Merry was also that kind of man.

“Think we can have good times, you and me,” he stated, looking into my eyes again and taking yet another step toward me.

“Think my man wouldn’t be too happy about that,” I returned an understatement. “But you gotta know, I am happy with my guy, so no offense to you and your offer, but I’m good where I’m at.”

“You sure you wouldn’t wanna take a shot at better?” he pushed.

Him? Better?

He’d been watching but had he actually seen Merry?

“Got a good thing,” I said softly, hoping to get through and get this asshole away from me. “Been waitin’ for it a long time. It’s good for me. It’s good for my kid. No way I’m gonna fuck that up. You with me?”

Not that I’d even consider it with him.

Then again, I wouldn’t consider it with anybody…but Merry.

He studied me.

I let him.

When I was about to quit letting him, thankfully, he nodded.

“I’m with you, babe. I hear that. But I’m two doors down, you know? Shit happens with that dude, he doesn’t look after you, there’s always a cold one waitin’ for you just down the street.”

I had a feeling he didn’t know what looking after a woman meant.

And I was never going to find out.

“Thanks, that’s sweet,” I lied.

He smiled.

He had good teeth, but I knew that was all that was good about him.

“You ever need anyone to look after your boy, I’m around a lot.” He kept smiling. “And I like kids.”

And that was never going to happen.

“That’s sweet too,” I lied again.

“Just so you know, in case shit goes south, I can be all kinds of sweet.”

How was he not getting the hint?

“Noted,” I murmured.

He kept smiling. “Later, babe.”

“Right. Later.”

He did a slow turn, doing it watching me.

I did a quick turn and hoofed it to my house.

Once I got inside, I finished my text to Merry and hit send.

Ethan’s all good and you’re all kinds of sweet.

And that was no lie.

The second after I sent that, I went to my Contacts and found what I needed.

I put my phone to my ear and got Ryker’s voicemail.

I waited for the beep and shared, “My dickhead neighbor just asked me out. He took no for an answer, but that didn’t stop him from pushin’ it and bein’ chatty. Since it’s flyin’ through the ’burg, you gotta know Merry and me sorted things out. If you don’t want Merry breathin’ down your neck on this, or wadin’ in and committing felonies when the badass is unleashed, you need to do whatever it is you’re doin’ and you need to do it quick. My neighbor is watchin’, that watchin’ he’s doin’ is watchin’ me, and if Merry cottons on to that, all holy hell is gonna break loose.”

I got a beep to tell me I got a text before I finished my message, so when I was done, I went right there to see the text from Merry.

Late lunch. You and me. Frank’s. You good for 2:00?

I had early shifts that week.

But I’d go to the moon at any time he wanted to have lunch with Merry.

In other words, I was good with anything.

You’re on, I told him.

Text me with your order sometime between then and now. I’ll call it in before we go so you’ll get out in time.

He thought of everything.

Thanks, baby.

Anything, brown eyes.

I drew in a deep breath.

Yeah.

Fuck yeah.

I had a good thing.

* * * * *

Sit tight. Be smart. And don’t jack shit up.

That text was not from Merry.

That text was a poorly timed incoming from Ryker while I was sitting across from Merry at Frank’s with a breaded tenderloin sandwich in front of me.

Get a move on, but now, shut up. I’m with Merry, I returned.

“Who’s that?” Merry asked, lifting his Reuben and the inevitable happening, considering it was a Reuben à la Frank, shoved full of corned beef and sauerkraut, which meant a huge glob of it fell out before Merry even got it to his mouth.

I tossed my phone in my purse and ignored his question.

“You should know this, actually bein’ from the ’burg and all, but you gotta eat a Reuben à la Frank with a fork,” I educated him.

“Women eat sandwiches with forks,” he replied to me. “Men make a mess and don’t give a fuck.”

I couldn’t argue his point, so I didn’t. I took a bite of my sandwich.

I did it hoping Merry wouldn’t press me about who was texting me.

I also did it uncomfortable because I was no relationship expert, but one thing I did know: a surefire way to fuck one up was keeping something important from the other person. In fact, I was pretty sure keeping anything from the other person wasn’t a good thing.

Merry might not need me to share every piece of information about myself.

I just knew if he asked, I should be open to sharing.

Including whoever texted.

Especially if it was about some trouble Ryker was involved in that was happening right on my street.

I’d felt Merry gearing up to go apeshit. That feeling let loose where he actually lost it, that would be a bad thing. So I knew Ryker was not wrong.

I just hoped whatever he was up to, he’d deal with it and do it in a way so Merry never knew I even had an inkling.

And worse, didn’t share.

“It good, babe?” he asked.

I focused on Merry and not my thoughts. I did this chewing and realized he was asking about my sandwich.

“Yeah,” I answered before I asked, “You gonna let me buy lunch?”

“Women argue with their girls about who’s buyin’ lunch,” he stated. “A man takes his woman to lunch, he pays.”

I was glad he seemed to have forgotten about the texts.

But I was still uncomfortable about it.

I lifted my brows. “Is that a badass rule?”

“Nope. One of the commandments,” he returned immediately.

“You sign those in blood?” I asked.

“Yup,” he answered. “Though not ours. The man whose ass we kicked to earn membership in the brotherhood.”

“Sorry I missed the initiation ritual,” I said through a smile before taking another bite.

“It was quite the show, baby.”

I chewed and did it still smiling.

Merry took another bite and lost another quarter of filling.

I swallowed so I could laugh without choking.

I did it thinking, this is how it feels…happy.

Outside many miraculous moments with my son, which were all about lucking out by having a kid as awesome as Ethan, I had no clue.

I had no clue just sitting across from the guy who did it for you at a booth in a diner could make you so…fucking…happy.

But it did because that was what I felt, sitting with Merry, trading smartass back and forth, and eating fantastic sandwiches.

Just that.

And that’s all I felt.

Fucking happy.

* * * * *

“Shit.”

It was Wednesday evening. Darryl was behind the bar with me. He was yanking out the bins full of recyclables in order to clean them out.

When he cursed, I looked to him to see he was bent to his task but his head was tipped back, his eyes were at the front of the bar, and his face was set to displeased.

I looked that way and felt my body get tight.

She’d timed it meticulously. I was a chick so I knew that to be true. Just after six on a weekday, the bar was full of patrons who wanted to get loose after their day by throwing back a drink.

She was there at that moment because she wanted an audience. She wanted people to know she’d thrown down with me. She might even be wanting to save face.

And if she thought Merry was testing her, she wanted that shit to get back to Merry.

As for me, I was pissed she was there. I was pissed she was there with her eyes locked to me and her expression telling me where this was going. I was pissed she was bringing this to my place of work.

But I was also curious.

Not only at what she was going to say but because Tanner Layne was there to witness it. Tanner was sitting at the end of the bar in what looked to be a debrief work huddle with his buddy Devin.

They’d both been in since things with Merry and me started officially (and even when it was unofficial). I knew they both knew what was going on, Tanner probably more than anybody.

But in that time, they hadn’t treated me any differently.

Tanner liked me. We were buds.

That said, I knew Tanner had pushed Merry to get back with Mia. And he was too good of a guy to let me know to my face that he thought Merry was making a mistake with me.

Now, if that was the case or if it wasn’t, if Mia forced something, whatever that was might be unleashed.

“Cheryl.” I heard snapped, and I stopped thinking all this and focused on Mia, who’d positioned herself at the bar where there were two vacant seats.

As I did this, I noted I wasn’t the only one focused on Mia at the bar. The entire place was almost silent because everyone was focused on Mia at the bar.

“Cher.”

That was growled angrily from behind me.

I twisted my neck and looked up to see Darryl right at my back.

“I’m good, Darryl,” I told him.

Just his eyes shifted down to me.

“And I’m good standin’ right here, makin’ sure you’re good,” he returned.

Seriously, Darryl was all right.

“Fine,” Mia bit out, and I turned my attention back to her. “Cher.”

I moved closer to her at the bar and decided to start out by playing dumb.

“You need a drink, Mia?”

“No, I don’t need a goddamned drink,” she spat. “I need you to leave my man alone.”

I sighed.

Definitely making a statement she wanted to get back to Merry.

“And I need you to know I’ll fight for him if you make me,” she went on.

“Listen, babe, I’m at work. Can we not do this here?” I requested, then added, “Or, say, at all?”

“You need to understand the way things are.”

That meant no.

I still could not engage (even if I wanted to).

“Okay, I understand,” I told her. “Now, do you want a drink?”

At that, she seemed confused, probably because she was expecting a different response from me.

“Woman, this is a bar,” Darryl entered the conversation when she hesitated one-point-five seconds. “You’re in here, you drink. You don’t drink, you’re not in here.”

“No offense,” Mia said to him. “But I’m not talking to you.”

“Don’t care if you are or if you aren’t,” Darryl returned. “Fact remains, you’re here, you drink.”

“I have a few things to say to Cher,” Mia retorted.

“You said ’em,” Darryl shot back. “Now order a drink or gonna hafta ask you to leave.”

Mia decided she was done with Darryl and looked to me. “Everyone knows he’s mine. The whole town knows. They don’t want the likes of you for him. They want him for me.”

Shit, now she was making me mad.

“The likes of me?” I asked, though I shouldn’t have. I was keeping it together. I didn’t need to give her the ammunition to make me lose it.

She looked me up and down. “You know what you are.”

Yeah, she was making me mad.

With effort, I beat it back and nodded. “I know what I am. I know Merry likes what I am. And I really don’t give a shit what everyone knows or wants for Merry. Merry wants me and that’s good enough for me.”

“Merry doesn’t know what he wants,” she fired back.

Christ, she was annoying.

“He doesn’t?” I asked sarcastically. “Weird. He seemed pretty sure Thursday night. And Friday morning. And Saturday.”

As I meant to do, I got in there. I knew it when her admittedly pretty face twisted and she didn’t look so pretty.

“I’m sure he did,” she hissed. “What you forget is you weren’t the first he was sure he wanted, though I bet with all your on-the-job experience, you gave it good.”

That wasn’t annoying.

That was infuriating.

I moved closer to the bar. Darryl moved closer to my back.

But in the back and forth, we’d missed the fact that another player had hit our scene.

“Before more shit comes outta your mouth you’re gonna regret, Mia, you need to end this and go.”

I looked to the left to see Tanner standing there.

“This doesn’t have anything to do with you, Tanner,” Mia replied, but she wasn’t done. Sliding a catty glance at me, she turned back to Tanner. “Though, I’ll say I’m surprised it seems you don’t want better for Merry.”

“Doesn’t mean shit what I want for Garrett,” Tanner stated, and I felt that in not good ways, seeing as it wasn’t a ringing endorsement or a throwdown for me. “What does is what Garrett wants for Garrett,” he went on.

“And Raquel didn’t want you for seventeen years, but you both knew better,” she returned.

I watched Tanner’s mouth get tight and I thought that was him conceding the point.

I was incorrect in this assumption.

Very much so.

“I am not Garrett and you sure as fuck aren’t Rocky,” he bit out. “This is not about that. This is somethin’ totally different. You want it, I’ll give it to you. You’re right. I do want better for Merry. I want my brother to be happy. And I know him. I know no way in fuck he’d be happy with a woman who’d spew the shit you just spewed to a good woman anytime, but sure as fuck not waltzin’ in her place of business to throw down with her in front of everybody.”

“This has to be said,” she returned, lifting her chin even though a hint of uncertainty hit her expression.

Tanner shook his head. “You’re intent to make your statement clear after five years of fuckin’ around and doin’ not one thing to get back your man. Advice? Wake up. You dicked around too long. It’s done. You lost him. And just a heads up on that, Mia, this town is talkin’. And while your women might be fillin’ your head with shit to keep you on a path that is no longer righteous, the rest of the ’burg is glad Garrett finally found a woman who’s got it in her to stick.”

Okay, right.

That was a ringing endorsement and definitely Tanner throwing down for me.

Suddenly, I wasn’t angry.

Suddenly, I grinned.

“He’s mine,” Mia told Tanner, her voice weakening but only in the face of his words. It did not reflect her resolve. I had a vagina. I saw the look on her face. I knew that as fact.

Shit.

I quit grinning.

“Heard about it. Reckon I don’t know shit about it,” Devin stated, also now there, leaning in to the bar over an empty stool, looking at Mia. “But what I heard, seems to me he’s never been yours.”

“I don’t even know you,” Mia said to Devin.

“Well, little miss, I know about you,” Devin replied. “And since you seem to be puttin’ a lotta stock into what everyone thinks, thought I’d share straight from the mouth of a member of the peanut gallery.” After Devin delivered that, he looked to me. “Now, I am here to drink, so I’d be obliged if you’d get me a fresh one. I’m half parched, waitin’ on this ridiculous drama to play out.”

It had lasted less than five minutes.

Then again, Dev could put away some booze.

“I’ll get on that, Dev,” I muttered.

Before I could, more muttering happened and this came from Tony Mancetti, who was sitting on the closest barstool to our drama.

“Need a fresh one too, Cher. And, just addin’ from my seat in the peanut gallery, I’d put money down on you.”

Oh fuck.

More warm and squishy.

I couldn’t help but smile at him. “Well, look at you, Tony. Who knew you could be sweet?”

“Figure you could, seein’ as I tip twenty percent.”

“Oh, right. In case I haven’t shared the gratitude for that, brah, you got it now.”

“I’d be grateful to get another drink,” Tony said.

“I’m first,” Devin declared.

“On it, Dev,” I said.

And I decided to get on it.

But first…

It was a faulty play that didn’t go well for her, but that wasn’t my problem.

She brought it, and since she was there, I had one thing to say.

I looked to Mia to see she was preparing to slink out.

“One thing, Mia,” I called, and she looked to me. “You throw a hissy fit again, go to Merry’s pissed you’re not gettin’ what you want and you shove him, repeatedly, he’s not gonna do dick to you because he’s not that guy.”

We might have been losing folks’ attention since the scene was petering out, but with my words, we got it back.

Though, I had drinks to make and tips to earn, so I wasn’t up for a show and, therefore, quickly finished.

“I find out you cornered a good man like that again, I got no problem shovin’ back.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Are you threatening me?”

I held her gaze direct and my one word had deep meaning. “No.”

She glared at me. Then she glanced around, belligerence etched in her face. I didn’t take my eyes off her, but I suspected she did not get back what she thought she would see, people siding with her after I made my promise.

She got something else after folks learned she’d put her hands on Merry.

I knew it when her face started to get red, she darted another glare at me, and took off.

I didn’t watch. I got on those drinks, feeling Darryl leave my back.

I made Dev’s drink. I got Tony his.

Then Tanner caught my attention by coming close to the bar where the altercation happened and not going back to his seat where Devin had returned.

I looked up at him. “Need another one, Tanner?”

“Need you to call Merry, Cher,” he said quietly, then slightly lifted a hand. “I get you roll with life, darlin’, take your hits and keep on rollin’.” He tipped his head to the door. “But that shit’s gonna hit his phone and fast, it hasn’t already done it. And he’s not gonna be real happy if one of the first calls doesn’t come direct from you.”

My brows shot up. “Relationship advice from shit-hot PI Tanner Layne?”

His lips curled up. “I get it regular, Cher. You want some a’ that for you, listen to a man who’s got it goin’ on.”

He had a point.

And he was totally good with me being with Merry.

I nodded with my lips curling up too and reached to my back pocket to get my phone.

“And I’ll take a fresh one,” Tanner finished.

I got his fresh one, then I got Darryl to take the bar while me and my phone hit the office and I hit go on Merry’s contact.

I barely had my cell to my ear before Merry answered.

“You okay?”

He’d heard.

“Who called?” I asked.

“Lore,” he told me. “Man didn’t hear what went down, just knew Mia showed and threw down.”

Loren Smithfield. Resident player. He was right then playing pool at the same time scanning the joint for ass to tap.

“I’m okay,” I assured.

“Got some things I gotta finish up with Mike, then I’ll be in for a drink.”

I’d take that because we’d been texting since lunch at Frank’s two days before, but I hadn’t seen him.

Though, I didn’t want him to think he had to come in for me.

“I’m really okay, Merry,” I told him.

“I know you are. That’s you. You’re not okay, you find a way to be. That doesn’t mean I’m not pissed as shit my ex is bein’ a stupid bitch and draggin’ you into that. So I’m gonna be in to make sure you’re okay, and I’m gonna be in so I can be with you and not go find her and rip her a new asshole.”

“Best play you got, seein’ as I’m not sure she’d feel a new asshole,” I muttered.

Merry’s next sounded disbelieving. “Lore said Tanner waded in. He didn’t set her straight?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think like her, but I got the impression she’s all in and Tanner mighta delivered a few hits, but she’s feelin’ the need to prove something, so she’s gonna get back up and keep fighting.”

“Fuck,” Merry muttered.

I had no response because I didn’t know what to say. Not only had I never been in a situation like this, it was true, I didn’t think like Mia. I had no idea what she was planning and how those plans would be carried out.

And worse, if they might wear Merry down.

“Somethin’ you should know,” he said in a way that told me it was something I should know, but it was something I didn’t want to know.

“Hit me,” I replied, even though I wasn’t big on taking another hit that evening.

“Drew and Sean had the occasion to be in her development yesterday. Said the for sale sign on her house is down.”

“She sell?” I asked hopefully, knowing that was stupid.

It was always stupid for me to hope.

“Don’t know. Don’t care and don’t wanna give the impression I do.”

That was a good play.

I again said nothing.

“She doesn’t have it in her,” he said quietly.

“Mm-hmm,” I replied.

“Babe, not feelin’ dick about this except supremely pissed she had a go at you and equally pissed my hands are tied. I got no moves except ignoring her ass. Not a man who likes to be cornered, but there’s nothin’ I can do. I confront her, she’ll take that as attention and time I’m givin’ her and read it wrong. There’s no move but wait it out, play it smart, and give her nothing. She doesn’t have it in her to stay the course. She’s gonna give up.”

“Merry, I’m at work,” I reminded him. “Darryl’s back of the bar. He can pull beers and uncap bottles but a mixed drink is a crapshoot. I gotta get back out there.”

“Cherie,” his tone was now soft, “sorry as fuck she did what she did, but I’ll be sorrier, her doin’ that shit puts thoughts in your head that I’m not where I’m at with you, which, it’s important to note, is where I wanna be.”

I drew in breath.

He kept talking.

“I’ll be there in an hour. If you’re down with it, follow you home and hang with you until Ethan goes to bed.”

That’d work for me.

“That’s a deal.”

“Right, lettin’ you go. See you soon.”

“See you soon, Merry.”

I was about to hang up when he called, “Cher?”

“Still here,” I told him.

“Last coupla days, slowed things down,” he stated. “You were right, we hit hyperdrive. But you need to settle into this in a way you believe. And you also got a kid. He’s had you and he’s had all of you for eleven years. He digs me and doesn’t hide it. I like that. But I don’t need to all of a sudden be in your space and in his face every second of the day. Once, I went about winnin’ a woman. Never tackled the feat of winnin’ a family. Need you to know I’m in this with you and it’s a place I wanna be. Same time, need your boy to know that, you got me, he doesn’t lose you. He just gets me too. We take that time to do this smart, which means I give you and Ethan space along the way, I don’t want you to use that space to let shit fuck with your head.”

Winnin’ a family.

God.

Merry.

“All right, baby,” I whispered.

“Don’t wanna sound like a dick but also don’t wanna be assurin’ you constantly about where I’m at.” His voice dipped. “You need to believe in this, Cher.”