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 G.o.dd.a.m.ned 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."
s.h.i.t, 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 s.h.i.t 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 Sat.u.r.day."
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 s.h.i.t 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 s.h.i.t what I want for Garrett," Tanner stated, and I felt that in not good ways, seeing as it wasn"t a ringing endors.e.m.e.nt 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 a.s.sumption.
Very much so.
"I am not Garrett and you sure as f.u.c.k 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 f.u.c.k he"d be happy with a woman who"d spew the s.h.i.t you just spewed to a good woman anytime, but sure as f.u.c.k 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 f.u.c.kin" around and doin" not one thing to get back your man. Advice? Wake up. You d.i.c.ked 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 s.h.i.t 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 endors.e.m.e.nt 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 v.a.g.i.n.a. I saw the look on her face. I knew that as fact.
s.h.i.t.
I quit grinning.
"Heard about it. Reckon I don"t know s.h.i.t 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 f.u.c.k.
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 grat.i.tude 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 p.i.s.sed you"re not gettin" what you want and you shove him, repeatedly, he"s not gonna do d.i.c.k 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 s.h.i.t"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 s.h.i.t-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."