CHAPTER 23
Joanie
After the battle haze faded, I felt bad for not helping Chase drag Bear out to his truck. I agreed with Chase that the battle was stupid, especially when it was getting people shot with darts. It was hard not to get sucked in once Mayor Stevens started talking, though.
I looked at the pie in my hands and frowned at it. It was a peace offering and nothing else. It wasn’t about the diner, it was about the dart. That was all. I frowned at it some more. I couldn’t decide if the pie was too much. I could just apologize. Or I could ignore the whole situation. Chase and I had gotten into bigger arguments over the past year. I didn’t need to apologize at all.
Except I knew I did. I didn’t like feeling like I’d wronged Chase or Bear, so I had to apologize. I talked myself in the same circle a dozen times by the time I reached their front door. I knocked before I could talk myself out of it and then waited for someone to answer. I hadn’t been able to muster up the courage to face them for hours so it was already dark. I could see Chase’s truck in the driveway so I knew he was still there.
Mabelle opened the door with another magnificent hairdo and a wide smile on her face. “Joanie! What a great surprise!”
I blushed under her gaze. “Um, yeah. I wanted to drop a pie off and…”
She grabbed my shoulders and pulled me inside. “And what? Tell me everything while I walk you to the guys.”
I glanced back at the door she’d shut and cleared my throat. “I wanted to stop by and apologize for not helping when Bear got shot by the tranquilizer dart.”
She let out a deep, belly laugh and instantly had tears leaking from her eyes. “I know I shouldn’t laugh but he was like a drunk baby coming in here. I just love this town and I want to meet the woman who shot him.”
“Coco doesn’t normally shoot people…and to be fair, she wasn’t aiming at Bear. He just walked in at the wrong time.”
“Stop. If I’m still laughing when I walk you in, he’ll know I’m laughing at him. He’s grumpier than ever right now.” Mabelle pulled herself together and fanned her face. “I love that big idiot and I’d never want him to actually get hurt, but Chase said a senile old lady blew a dart out of a straw at him. I’ve never heard of anything so wild.”
“Don’t let Coco know Chase called her senile or he’ll be next.” I shuddered. “She’d probably have to break out a bigger dart for that one.”
Chase walked out of the lounge with his arms crossed. “I figure you’ll be the one to tell Coco, just to watch me suffer.”
I took a deep breath and told myself not to react. I was there to apologize, not fight. “I brought pie.”
He frowned. “Did you poison it?”
“Oh, my god. Take the damn pie or don’t! I don’t care.” I shoved it at him and turned to leave but he caught my arm.
“Of course, I’m taking the pie.” He handed it off to Mabelle and winked at her. “She’s so touchy, isn’t she?”
Mabelle shook her head. “Keep me out of this.”
Chase pulled me into a room which looked like a man cave but more. There were big leather couches and multiple TVs on the walls. I could see a bar in one corner and behind it, wall-to-wall windows which looked out at the mountains. Stretched out on one of the couches was Bear. He was too long for it so his feet hung off the end. On a couch next to him was Smith, looking just as amused as I’d expect him to look.
“Look who came to visit, Bear.” Chase stopped tugging me but I walked the rest of the way to Bear anyway.
Bear looked up at me and narrowed his eyes. “I blame you for this.”
I scoffed. “What the hell did I do?”
“Right now, being a woman is enough.” He slowly sat up and groaned. “I feel like I’m coming off a three-day bender. Jesus.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and cocked a hip. “I didn’t do it. I made sure to check on you. I thought you were dead with the way you went down.”
“Ask to see the scrapes on his ass.” Smith pressed his knuckles to his mouth to hold back a laugh.
I lifted an eyebrow. “Um… Why do you have scrapes on your ass?”
“Because, Joanie, when your best friend drags you away from the scene of a crime and your pants get pulled down in the process, the concrete makes minced meat out of your skin! So, yeah, I’ve got a scraped-up ass.” Bear held his head and groaned. “I should sue. Or I should shoot that woman with a dart of my own.”
I pressed a hand to my mouth and turned away. I was not going to laugh. It didn’t seem like Bear needed any extra aggravation, but the fact his pants had been pulled down while Chase dragged him, made me want to cackle.
“Are you laughing at me right now?”
I shook my head but didn’t look back at him. Tears welled in my eyes from holding my laugh in and just when I thought I could look back at Bear, I snorted like a freaking pig. After that, it was over. I laughed so hard my sides hurt and I cried. Still, I held up my hand to Bear and tried to apologize. “Sorry! Not laughing…at you!”
Smith broke, too, laughing just as loud as me. From outside the room, Mabelle could be heard laughing, too. The only two not amused were the ass skinner and the ass skinned.
Mabelle came in with her arms loaded with plates. Everything was jostling as she laughed and she hurriedly passed out plates with the pie on them. She handed me my piece last and led me to the seat next to Bear. “Sit. The girls passed out early tonight so you four can have all the privacy you need.”
I grunted when she pushed me down on the couch. The fork rattled on my plate and I barely caught it before it fell into the floor. “We don’t need privacy.”
Bear growled. “We definitely don’t need privacy.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re acting like I’m the one who shot you. I wasn’t even in the same room.”
Mabelle put her hands on her hips. “Be nice to Joanie. She brought you pie.”
Chase waited until she left the room to speak up. “She thinks you’re a sweet young lady. We know better.”
I scooped a big bite of pie into my mouth and pointed at Chase with my fork. “I came to apologize. I baked this pie. You could at least pretend to not be a jerk for a few minutes.”
“I have asphalt burn on my ass, Joanie.” Bear picked up the pie with his hand and shoved half of it into his mouth. His face softened immediately and he relaxed into the couch. “Okay. I forgive you.”
“That’s good because I didn’t do anything to you.”
Smith moaned. “Shit, this pie is good.”
“It’s a new recipe. I haven’t sold it at the diner yet.” I looked up at Chase, waiting to see what he thought.
He chewed slowly and then his lips turned down. My stomach sank. I didn’t care what he wanted for the diner, but I cared that he liked my pie. I couldn’t keep looking so I turned away and saw Bear staring at me.
“Chase, tell her that you like the fucking pie already.” Bear reached over and grabbed my pie. “It’s good, Princess.”
“Don’t call me Princess.” I glanced back at Chase. “I don’t care. You don’t have to like it.”
He put his plate down and moved to stand right in front of me. Gripping my chin, he lifted my face to his. “You do care. And I do like it. It’s delicious. I can only think of one thing I’ve had in my mouth lately that’s been better.”
His husky voice left no room to mistake what he meant. I could feel my face turning red and tried to lower my face to hide it, but he was right there, refusing to let me hide.
“When he’s right, he’s right.” Smith sighed and the sound was full of longing. “Why don’t I walk you home, Joanie?”
Chase ran his thumb over my lips. “Don’t think so. I think I’ll walk Joanie home.”
I finally pushed his hand away and rubbed my cheeks to hide the blush. “I can walk myself home.”
Bear made an unhappy sound. “I can’t walk you home right now because my legs are still like jello, but I’d be willing to let you walk me up to my room.”
“Following the conversation, does that mean you’re asking me for a blow job?” I grinned as I watched him think it through.
“I think so. I wasn’t trying to, but if you’re feeling generous…” Bear shrugged. “Who am I to stand in the way of your generosity?”
I stood up and shook my head. “You couldn’t get me away from you fast enough last time, Bear. That doesn’t exactly beg for a redo. Anyway, I only came to drop off the pie. I’m going home alone. This is weird, though. Someone should care that I’ve been with all three of you. Talking about it so openly makes me feel like we’re leaning into cult territory.”
“I didn’t—”
I cut Bear off. “You did. It was like you were horrified by me as soon as you came. Not that I’m holding onto that or anything, but on that note, I’m leaving.”
“We’re not a cult.” Smith shrugged. “I just figured I’d clear the air on that one. We can’t even agree on the thermostat, much less anything else.”
“I wasn’t horrified by you, Joanie. I—” Bear growled as I cut him off again.
“Not listening! Goodbye!” I hurried out of the room before one of them decided to follow me and proved I was weak when it came to them.