Chapter 26 #2
“That’s one legitimate miss!” Kai announces gleefully. “Two more and you’re done, my friend.”
“I fucking got this,” Tanner growls, but the words slur together into something closer to
“I fuggin godthis.”
Round sixteen. Another wild throw, another miss. This one actually bounces off the wall and clatters to the floor, nearly hitting a woman walking by. She yelps and shoots us a dirty look.
“Sorry about that!” I call out, charming as ever. “Drinks are on him.”
Tanner doesn’t even register the exchange. He’s too busy staring at the dartboard with the intense focus of a man trying to will the universe to cooperate.
It doesn’t.
I purposely miss my own throw, evening us up at two misses each. “See? Now it’s fair.”
“Stop fucking doing that,” Tanner snaps. “Stop pretending you’re better than me.”
“I’m not pretending anything. I am better than you. At this, at riding, at everything that matters.” I step closer, lowering my voice so only he can hear. “And I’m especially better for June.”
Something dark flashes across his face, and for a second, I think he might take a swing at me. Instead, he just grabs another glass, throws it back, and misses the dartboard entirely.
The dart sails past the target, past the wall, and embeds itself in some poor bastard’s forearm.
The man screams.
Tanner takes one step forward, his eyes rolling back in his head, and pitches face-first onto the floor. He’s snoring before he hits the ground.
Chaos erupts. The stabbed man is clutching his arm and shouting profanities. Tanner’s friends are scrambling to revive their fallen champion. The restaurant staff is rushing over with first aid supplies and apologetic expressions.
Kai is on his feet, grabbing my hand and thrusting it into the air like I just won a championship bout. “We have a victor! The loser is unconscious! Carter remains undefeated!”
“Slowly,” I manage, my stomach lurching. “Do that slowly.”
“You did fucking amazing.” Kai’s grin is manic, triumphant. “Absolutely crushed him. Did you see his face when he went down? I wish I’d gotten video.”
I’m pretty sure someone did get video, but I’m too busy concentrating on not vomiting to comment on it.
Tanner’s friends have managed to roll him onto his back, where he continues snoring peacefully, completely oblivious to the havoc he’s caused. The dart victim is being attended to by staff, still furious, gesturing wildly at the unconscious deputy while his companions try to calm him down.
“Our cue to exit,” Kai decides, wrapping an arm around my shoulders to steady me. “We came, we conquered, we created chaos. Mission accomplished.”
We slip out the back door as voices behind us rise in argument and accusation. The cool night air hits my face, and I take deep gulping breaths, trying to settle my spinning head.
“That was incredible.” Kai is practically bouncing as we walk, high on victory and secondhand adrenaline. “The look on his face. The way he just collapsed. I’m going to remember this for the rest of my life.”
“Glad you enjoyed the show.” I lean against him more heavily, the ground feeling slightly unreliable beneath my feet. “Take me home. I need to go snuggle June.”
“The book club should be wrapping up soon. She’ll be back.”
“Good. She always makes things better.” The words come out mushier than intended, affection bleeding through the alcohol haze. “Everything’s better when she’s around. Her smell. Her laugh. The way she looks at us.”
“Yeah.” Kai’s voice softens. “Yeah, she does.”
We walk in companionable silence down the sidewalk to Kai’s car, the sounds of the BBQ joint fading behind us. Stars are scattered across the Montana sky, impossibly bright, and the air smells clean and fresh.
Kai squeezes my shoulder. “You’re a good man, Carter. Underneath all the pretty-boy bullshit.”
“Thanks. I think.”
“You’re welcome.” He pauses. “Also, you should probably vomit before you get into my car. Better out than in.”
He’s not wrong. I detour behind a convenient dumpster and lose everything I’ve consumed over the past several hours. It’s not dignified, but it’s effective. When I emerge, wiping my mouth on the back of my hand, I feel marginally more human.
“Better?” Kai asks.
“Getting there.” I take one careful breath through my nose and immediately regret it. The alley smells like stale beer, garbage juice, and bad decisions. My decisions. I wipe my mouth again, even though it doesn’t help, and try to stand with some dignity.
Kai checks his phone as the screen lights up his face for a second, and then his mouth twitches.
“What?” I squint at him. My eyes feel gritty. Everything feels gross.
He scans it, then makes a strangled sound that turns into a hollering laugh.
“Oh, what is it?” I rasp.
Kai holds the phone up so I can see that it’s a message from Seth.
Where are you guys? Do you know what those women made me discuss at the book club? Do you have any idea the things I’ve heard tonight?
Then another message pops up.
I’ve learned things. Horrifying things.
My laugh bursts out of me, and it makes my stomach clench in warning. “Jesus. He’s going to need therapy.”
Kai wipes his eyes. “He’s going to need holy water.
” He shakes his head, still grinning. “I’ve heard romance book clubs get wicked.
Apparently the men in those books do the most unhinged stuff—stalking, breaking in, growling about ‘mine’—and readers eat it up.
” He snorts. “Half of it sounds illegal, and the other half sounds exhausting. Who has time to do all that?” He pauses, then shrugs, grin turning sly.
“Although… if she’s into it and it makes her happy, I can see the merit. I’m just saying.”
I try to laugh again, and my body immediately threatens mutiny. I clap a hand over my mouth and gag once, hard.
Kai’s grin turns vicious. “Oh, you are absolutely going to be sick again.”
“Do not speak it into existence,” I warn, voice hoarse.
Kai starts walking, still laughing, and hooks an arm around my back to steer me toward the car. “Come on, let’s get you home before you end up making friends with another dumpster.”
I stumble after him, boots scraping, head spinning in slow circles. “If Seth’s traumatized, tell him I’m sorry I wasn’t there to suffer with him.”
Kai types as we walk, thumbs flying. “I’m telling him you’re currently praying for forgiveness behind a dumpster.”
“That is not what I’m doing.”
Kai looks at me. “You literally just did.”
The cold air hits my face when we step out of the alley and into the open lot. His car sits under a streetlight, and it might be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
Kai hits the unlock button. The lights flash.
I take two steps toward it, confident for half a second, and then my stomach rolls again, mean and sudden.
I freeze.
Kai stops and watches me with the calm of a man who has seen this movie before. “You okay?”
I swallow hard. “Yep.”
He raises his brows. “That’s a lie.”
I point at the Mustang. “Just get me in the car.”
Kai opens the passenger door, then pauses, phone buzzing once more. He glances down and starts laughing all over again.
“What now?” I wheeze.
Kai reads, then looks up at me, eyes bright with evil. “Seth says if he has to hear one more woman explain why monsters are the superior choice, he’s driving into the woods and living off-grid.”
I bark out a laugh and immediately gag. “Son of a—” I clamp a hand over my mouth and bend at the waist.
Kai pats my back, still laughing. “You laugh, you lose, Carter.”
I glare at him, eyes watering, and manage one last thought before I ruin another patch of pavement.
If I survive tonight, I’m never drinking again.
Which is exactly the kind of lie a man tells right before he throws up.