Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Tristan
I took in my surroundings as I lifted my pint and drank the icy cold lager, watching the Tap Room steadily fill with the after-work crowd. I wasn’t sure there was ever a time when business was slow for Hope Valley’s bar of choice. Even in the middle of the week.
As much as I liked the atmosphere of the place, I would have much rather been at home, answering the million and one questions Levi would have undoubtedly had and listening to him tell me about his day. To hear him tell it, he had an incredibly active and interesting life for a second grader. Probably had a more interesting life than most adults I knew.
But when Rhodes called earlier and asked if I wanted to meet for a beer, I’d forced myself to say yes, coming straight here from the station instead of heading home. It had only been a few days since Levi and Merritt moved in, and despite the step forward we’d taken together that first night, I could see that Merritt was still trying to find her footing in this new life she’d been thrust into.
I couldn’t blame her. It hadn’t even been a week. But if you asked me, she was taking it so much better than most people would have, which was a testament to how strong she was. So I decided to try and help ease the transition a little more by giving her some space. I didn’t want to constantly be underfoot. I understood she and Levi needed their time together without me hovering in the background.
“Earth to Tris. Christ, man. You still with us?”
I blinked back into the present and took in the faces of my friends sitting around our table. Rhodes, Hardin, and Raylan were all watching me with different levels of curiosity and humor. “You say something?” I asked Hardin, since he’d been the one to speak and pull me out of my head.
He chuckled into the rocks glass as he brought it to his lips and sipped his whiskey. “You zoned out there for about two minutes. The lights were on, but no one was home.”
I threw back the rest of my beer. I had a feeling I was going to need more than one this evening. “Sorry about that.”
Rhodes watched me from across the table, a shit-eating grin stretched across his face. “I’m willin’ to bet my next paycheck he was spaced out, thinkin’ about a certain woman.”
I lifted my hand, shooting him the bird. I’d already known my future brother-in-law could be a pain in the ass at times, but since he found his forever with Blythe, he’d become downright insufferable. A happy Rhodes and a meddling, nosey, gossiping dickhead.
“It’s nothing like that. I was just playing over my day in my head.”
He snorted with laughter. “Did you forget I was there the first time you ever laid eyes on the woman? We were in the middle of a crisis, and you still managed to look like you’d gotten shot in the ass with Cupid’s arrow.”
That earned a round of laughter from the rest of the guys at our table.
My glare carried the promise of a future ass-kicking if he didn’t stop giving me shit. “I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about,” I lied as heat crept up the back of my neck.
His brother Raylan joined in on the ribbing. “I don’t know. Word on the street is you had her moved under your roof less than an hour after she hit town.” He took a pull from his beer bottle. “Sounds sprung to me.”
These assholes were right, at least partially. Not that I’d ever admit it to them. There was attraction there, had been since that very first moment. But whatever I was feeling went deeper than that. That protective instinct had settled right at the surface since Merritt got back into town, poised and ready to spring the instant anything threatened her. And as I got to know Levi better, that feeling also extended to him. It was like some basal, primal thing inside of me viewed them as mine to protect.
I let out a harsh exhale, ignoring the way my ribs were constricting around my lungs. “It’s not like that. She needed help. She’s been dealt a shit hand for way too long. I saw an opportunity to help her get on her feet, and I took it.” It was the simplest explanation I could think to give them without having to dig deeper into everything else she made me feel.
“Besides, after all she’s gone through, I’m sure the last thing on Merritt’s mind is a relationship of any kind.” I tried to tell myself those words didn’t come out sounding as grumpy as they did in my head, but based on my friends’ faces, I knew they had. “Jesus. I came here to have a couple beers and relax. Can we talk about somethin’ else already?” I grumbled like a grumpy old man.
Just then, Lennix Paulson popped up, balancing a large round tray weighted down with drinks on one hand like the seasoned pro she was. Like her mother, Rory, this bar was in her blood, so when Rory finally retired from it, she’d handed it down to her daughter, just as her parents had done with her. Lennix’s older brother, Zach, another one of my close friends, ran the family ranch, while Lennix kept the Tap Room afloat.
“Another round, fellas,” she chirped, a bright smile curving up her painted red lips. She glided around the table, depositing glasses in front of each of us, having managed to get every one of our drinks correct without having to ask.
“You’re a saint, Len,” I grunted, grabbing my much-needed beer and sucking back a hearty gulp.
Her smile turned sassy as she shot me a wink. “What can I say? I live to serve,” she teased. “You boys holler if you need anything,” she said before tucking the tray under her arm and sauntering away.
Raylan shifted beside me, and I didn’t miss the way his eyes trailed Lennix’s every step as she moved farther away, winding through the crowd. The way he watched her piqued my curiosity, and my gaze bounced back and forth between them. I didn’t miss the way the muscle in Raylan’s jaw strained when he spotted a man reaching for Lennix’s arm to catch her attention. Or how his grip on his beer bottle tightened to the point it was a wonder it didn’t shatter as she smiled up in a way that had the dude eating out of the palm of her hand.
And apparently I wasn’t the only one who’d noticed.
Hardin let out a low whistle, his eyes widening. “Might want to watch yourself there, Ray. Zach catches you lookin’ at his baby sister like that, he’s liable to gouge your eyeballs out with a rusty spoon.”
“Shut the hell up,” Raylan groused, making the three of us laugh at his sudden surliness. “I’m not lookin’ at her like anything. I just noticed the way that asshole grabbed her arm.” His nostrils flared. “Who the fuck is that guy, anyway? He shouldn’t be grabbin’ on her like that.”
I turned back in Lennix’s direction. She was still smiling, and laughing now, as she reached out to caress the man’s forearm. “I don’t know, man. In my professional opinion, it looks like two people flirting with each other.”
He shot me a killing scowl. “Yeah, well, he’s too goddamn old for her. I mean, look at him.”
Rhodes choked on his laughter. “He looks about your age, little brother. What’s that difference? About twelve years?”
“Eleven,” he answered quickly, like that number had been sitting in his head for some time now. He seemed to realize he was still staring, looking for all the world like a man about to commit homicide, and shook himself out of his stupor. “Or somethin’. I’m not sure.”
“Sure you aren’t,” Hardin snickered.
“Screw you, man. I’m not interested in her that way. She’s like my little sister.”
Hardin hooked a brow up, his expression reading, whatever you say, you dirty, dirty liar . But he was smart enough not to vocalize it, because something told me Ray wouldn’t hesitate to take a swing at him just then. But in Raylan’s defense, as much as I loved Hardin, sometimes his face looked exceptionally punchable.
Lennix’s laugh carried over the din of bar noise, and all four of us looked over as she and the guy she was talking with pulled out their phones and started exchanging numbers.
Raylan’s face suddenly grew red, and I began to worry I was going to have to lock my friend down to keep him from doing something epically stupid.
Ah hell . The man had it bad. And given that he was one of Zach’s best friends, and had himself a bit of a reputation as a lover of the ladies, this could go bad very quickly.
He drained the last of his beer, slammed the bottle on the table, and pushed to his feet. Grabbing his wallet from his back pocket, he pulled out a few bills and tossed them onto the table. “I’m callin’ it a night. See you assholes later.”
With that, he took off toward the door.
Watching that situation play out was either going to be entertaining as hell or catastrophic. Hard to tell which way it would lean just yet. But I had a feeling it would go down in town lore—much like Hayes and Temperance’s relationship had years ago—before it was all said and done.
“Shit,” Rhodes grumbled into his drink. “I’m gonna have to kill Zach before he kills my little brother, aren’t I?”
Hardin and I burst into laughter.
We hung around the bar for a while longer, listening intently as Harding regaled us with the most entertaining cases he’d had over the past couple weeks. As only one of two veterinarians in and around Hope Valley, Hardin was responsible for all kinds of animals, large and small. On any given day, he could spend his morning dealing with a tricky cow birth, then head back into the office to treat a sick bearded dragon.
Hardin threw back the last of his whiskey and knocked his knuckles against the table. “Well, guys, it’s been a blast, but I’m outta here.”
“You got the girls this week?” Rhodes asked, speaking of Hardin’s two daughters. He and his wife had gone through a nasty divorce late last year, and one of the main battles was over custody. She’d tried her hardest to screw him when it came to visitation, but in the end, he ended up with shared, now he gets his girls every other week.
“Nah, that’s next week. I have an early morning appointment at a horse ranch over in Grapevine.” He started moving backward, a grin tugging the corners of his mouth upward. “These were on you, right?” he said to Rhodes, pointing at his empty glass on the table.
Rhodes shook his head good-naturedly. “You really are an ass, man.”
Hardin clapped him on the shoulder on his way past. “And you’re a good friend. Catch you guys later.”
A quick glance at my watch showed that two hours had passed. That was a decent amount of space, wasn’t it?
Rhodes’s chuckle pulled my attention to him. “Just go, man. It’s obvious you’re itchin’ to get home. I got Blythe and the kids to get to anyway.”
He didn’t have to tell me twice. I threw down some money to cover my tab, shot him a quick “good night” and headed for the door.
Maybe if I drove fast enough, I could get home in time to hear all about Levi’s day before he had to go to bed.