He left her to it.
That didn"t mean he wasn"t hitting J&J"s later that night for a drink.
He pulled his phone out on that thought, doing it smiling.
He took the call still smiling.
"Yo, Rocky," he greeted his sister.
"So, let me see," she said in his ear. "Sw.a.n.k"s Thursday night. A freaking Bulldogs game on Friday. Frank"s four hours ago."
He tossed his keys on the bar and started to shrug out of his jacket. "Apparently, "burg"s buzzing."
""Buzzing" is not the word for it. They haven"t had anything this juicy since..." she trailed off, probably trying to think about when they"d had something that juicy.
But he already knew. "Since you and Tanner sorted your s.h.i.t."
"Well, really, since Dusty got shot by that kid, but that isn"t the good kind of juicy that this is," she replied, but her voice turned hesitant when she asked, "It is, isn"t it, Merry? You and Cher, it"s the good kind of juicy, right?"
"I like her, honey," he shared. "Like her, her kid is great. So yeah, it"s the good kind of juicy."
She was silent a moment before she said, "I"m glad." More hesitant when she asked, "Mia?"
"Mia"s done."
Even though he gave her that firm, he knew she was chewing on it because she was silent again.
She broke it, saying, "I think that"s good. Cher...she"s a fighter. Mia...not so much."
She got it.
Rocky got it better than anybody.
"Yeah," he agreed.
"So, you bringing her over to meet your niece, say, tomorrow?"
He nearly burst out laughing. "She already knows Cecelia...and you. But I get you. Though, what I get, still gotta tell you that we had our first date two days ago, Raquel."
She amended her question.
"So, you bringing her over to meet your niece next weekend, but you"re getting your a.s.s over here tomorrow before CeeCee forgets what her uncle looks like?"
She wanted him to come and spend time with her daughter.
She wanted more for him to come and spend time with his sister so she could see for herself that he was edging toward happy.
He grinned. "I"ll come "round. Catch a game. Remind that baby girl I exist."
"That"d be good."
"And I"ll talk to Cher. We"ve jumped in with both feet. Maybe it"d be good we take some time to get used to the waters we"re in for a while before we hit more rapids."
"I hear that."
And again, she got it. She and Tanner had hit so much white water, it was a wonder they weren"t crushed against the rocks.
They weren"t and Garrett was pleased as all h.e.l.l they"d finally hit smooth.
"Have a feeling you"ll be meeting her and Ethan in a different way soon, though," he told her.
"That"d make me happy."
What would make his sister happy was knowing her brother was happy.
And he was happy. Cher putting on that dress for him. Cher giving him all she gave in the variety of ways she gave it the last two days. Seeing all she made in her son-funny like her, a smarta.s.s in a good way like her, a sc.r.a.pper who doesn"t take s.h.i.t just like Cherie, and loyal, so f.u.c.king loyal, it was beautiful.
Yeah.
Garrett was happy.
He just hoped he had it in him this time not to turn it to s.h.i.t.
"Right, seein" as I got plans tomorrow to spend time with my niece, I"m gonna spend some time with my girl while she"s at work," he started. "Lettin" you go so I can get at least fifteen minutes of some football in so I don"t start gettin" the shakes before I get behind the wheel of a vehicle."
"Best let you do that," she muttered.
"Rocky?" he called.
"Yeah, Merry?"
"Love my little sister," he said.
That got him silence again before she gave it back. "And love my big brother. See you tomorrow, Merry."
"See you then, honey."
They disconnected.
He"d thrown his phone on the bar and was heading toward his couch when a loud banging came at the door.
He hadn"t been home for ten minutes, but he knew from the insistent sound, not to mention the "burg buzzing, who was standing outside on the landing.
He didn"t want to head that way, but he did because it had to happen eventually. He reckoned he might as well get that ball rolling now.
He checked the peephole and saw he was right because outside was a woman who was p.i.s.sed for what Garrett considered no reason, which made him p.i.s.sed, even though he knew he should keep a lock on it.
He didn"t.
He opened the door.
"What? Do you have cameras on me?" he asked, knowing that was not the way to lead, but he was angry Mia was not getting his message and he was not a big fan of her banging on his door.
He wasn"t surprised when she shoved in, taking two strides into the room before turning on him.
She threw out her hands, face full of rage. "Are you serious with this s.h.i.t, Merry?"
He closed the door, using that time to pull himself together, and turned to her. "We gotta talk."
"Yeah." She took those two steps back to him and shoved his chest with one hand, doing it hard enough, his shoulder rocked back. "We f.u.c.king do."
He wasn"t big on her shoving him either.
"Take a breath," he demanded, forcing his voice to quiet just as he was forcing himself to remain calm and not lose it.
"I don"t need to take a breath. I cannot believe you"re humiliating me this way," she snapped.
They weren"t going to do this.
Not now, not ever if it came out angry.
"This is not the time or the place," he stated. "Like I said, we gotta talk. But it"s not happenin" now when you"re p.i.s.sed and I"m not feelin" like bein" pushed into a bad mood."
"Well, f.u.c.k that," she bit out, shoving him again, this time with both hands so his whole torso swung back.
He took a step to the side and warned, "Watch your hands, Mia. I don"t want them on me again."
She tipped her head to the side. "You don"t? Oh. I would guess you don"t, considering you got the good stuff direct from a professional all weekend."
He took a deliberate step away from her before he purposefully locked his body.
After he did this, he dragged in a breath that was supposed to be deep and calming, but it came in shallow and did not one thing to ease the fury he felt building.
"Watch your mouth," he whispered.
"f.u.c.k you," she shot back. "Sw.a.n.k"s was bad enough. Sw.a.n.k"s. That woman and you at f.u.c.king Sw.a.n.k"s. But a football game? You took her to a f.u.c.king football game? In the "burg? For everyone to see?"
"You need to leave. Now," he returned. "I calm down, you calm down, we"ll talk."
"About what?" she asked. "How you"re testing me? How many tests do I have to pa.s.s, Merry? I mean, you s.h.i.t all over our marriage. You s.h.i.t all over our future. Then you s.h.i.t all over me for years. And now you"re dating the town s.l.u.t, rubbing that in my face when-"
He advanced, she retreated, and neither stopped doing it until he had her pinned against the living room wall.
He didn"t touch her and kept his distance, but she felt him. He knew she knew she"d pushed too far. He knew this because she pressed against the wall and didn"t move.
"You ever f.u.c.kin" talk to my face or I even hear you spewed s.h.i.t like that about Cher again, Mia, so help me G.o.d, the over we"re already over will be history. You won"t even be a memory, good or bad. I"ll erase you so completely, I see your f.u.c.kin" face, you"ll think I have no clue who you are."
"Merry," she breathed, eyes big, his name coming out pained.
"I wanted to sit down and talk about this, but you"re here and you"re like you are, which means I"m not big on seein" you ever again, so this is happenin" now," he declared.
Then he gave it to her.
"I f.u.c.ked up. I f.u.c.ked us up. You"re right. I s.h.i.t all over our marriage. I did that and I own that. It sucks I hurt you because...once, I loved you. Once, you meant everything to me. But I was f.u.c.ked in the head. I f.u.c.ked us up because I was terrified of what it would do to you if somethin" happened to me and you lost me. I"ve felt that loss and know it"s an empty that never gets filled and I didn"t want that for you. I should have talked that out with you. I should have worked that out with you. I didn"t. And that was my f.u.c.kup."
"I-".
He didn"t even let her get started.
"I"ve had a chance to think and as s.h.i.t as that was, me doin" that to you, and as s.h.i.t as it was, me continuing to f.u.c.k you even after I made us over, you didn"t have it in you to deal. You don"t have it in you to deal. You lost me in a way you could"ve gotten me back. You knew it, f.u.c.kin" everyone knew it, but you didn"t do it. So I f.u.c.ked up. You f.u.c.ked up. We"re even and we"re movin" on."
"But I want us-"
"I don"t give a f.u.c.k what you want, Mia. I made this plain. I wanted us to sort our s.h.i.t so we could move on without it f.u.c.kin" up the memory of what we had. I told you we were over. I start somethin" important with a woman who means a good f.u.c.kin" deal to me and you come to my home, shovin" me and gettin" in my face, sayin" jacked s.h.i.t about that woman. So now that memory is gonna stay f.u.c.ked. And not because I made it that way." He lifted a hand and jabbed a finger toward her face. "You did."
He stepped back and to the side but kept his eyes locked to her.
"Now get the f.u.c.k outta my house and do not ever come back. We are done, Mia."
She didn"t move an inch, not even her gaze from his.
"I love you," she whispered.
The last five years, he"d lived for her to say those words.
Now they meant nothing.
He shook his head.
She had no clue.
"Love is facing head on somethin" that threatens it and not bending, sure as f.u.c.k not breaking, when that thing leans on you to let go. You don"t have that. In your way, I know you loved me. My way of lovin" you was just as f.u.c.ked up. We screwed that up so badly, there"s no goin" back. At this point, the best we got is not jackin" our s.h.i.t again with someone else. I got every intention of not makin" that same mistake twice with what I"m starting with a good woman who means somethin" to me. I"m p.i.s.sed as h.e.l.l at you right now, but I hope you find you got it in you to do the same with your man. The one thing I"m certain about is that there"s nothin" left between you and me."
"I refuse to believe you mean that," she replied earnestly.
He stared at her.
Yeah, she had no clue.
And at that point, he had no options, so he put his hands on his hips as he looked to the floor.
"Merry," she called.
He lifted his head. "Get out."
"But...Merry-"
He leaned her way and clipped, "Get...the f.u.c.k...out."