CHAPTER 4
Riggs
“Neil did what now?” Delilah asked as she sat next to me on the couch. Delilah was a friend from high school. We’d known each other for years, though she had been a goth cheerleader who hadn’t quite fit in, and I had been the bisexual jock who’d hidden my sexuality from most people until college.
Clay had been the quiet kid, the brilliant one. The one I had crushed on hard when no one was looking. Back then, even though people were coming out in high school—those who had a better sense of self than I had—most kids still hid who they were from their families and from themselves.
Clay and I finding each other for those brief moments spoke volumes. The fact that nobody had even known what had happened between the two of us, including Delilah at the time, was a miracle.
I had never wanted to put Clay in a position where he might regret what had happened. Including last weekend. However, we weren’t talking about Clay. No, Delilah and I were talking about my actual bad decision, not the questionable one.
“He showed up at the bar.”
“Don’t tell me he wants you back,” Delilah grumbled, taking a sip of her martini.
Delilah owned a prominent lesbian club in Denver. I even helped behind the bar every once in a while—just like she did for me at Riggs’ when I needed it. We were each other’s way to take a vacation, though taking one together was nearly unheard of.
I had to go in tonight and work, and Delilah was coming with me.
She wouldn’t have to lift a finger unless she wanted.
Although, given the way she was at my place, once she was behind the bar, she thrived.
She lit up the place nearly every time and ended up going home with a beautiful woman by the end of the evening.
That was Delilah. She was just brilliant in that way.
“He doesn’t want me back. I’m not going to take him back anyway. He was there, and…something was weird about him. I don’t know what it was.”
“Well, just be careful. Neil is an asshole who always gets what he wants. Thankfully, he didn’t get your bar. He didn’t get your money. But you know he’s fuming about that.”
I looked down at my lime and soda and frowned. “I know. It’s not like he can actually take Riggs’ from me.” Alarm shot through me. “Right?”
“Right. He can’t. And if he tries, then we’ll just castrate him.” Delilah smirked.
I rolled my eyes. “Please, don’t. Don’t even say things like that. Because then I’m an accessory to your deeds.”
“Oh, yes, because it’s all about keeping your ass out of jail.”
“You know it.”
She snorted, shaking her head. “Other than your ex acting fucking weird, anything else?”
I shook my head. “Nope. Everything is good.”
Delilah blinked. “Okay, tell me what happened. Because…wow, that was such a lie you just said right then. I can taste it.” She set down her drink and leaned forward.
When she patted my knee, I narrowed my eyes. “Don’t try to hit on me to get answers.”
“I would hit on you so well, you wouldn’t even know it was happening. And I’m not even into guys.”
“Really? You think I’m that easy?” I asked dryly.
“I’m serious. Now, tell me. What happened?”
I might as well lay it all out there since I was bursting at the seams with needing to tell someone. “I slept with Clay. Again.”
Delilah blinked a few times and then leaned back, her hand over her heart.
“I’m glad I wasn’t holding my drink just then because, whoa.
Really? I’d ask how he was, but we know it was great.
You wouldn’t be so befuddled if it weren’t.
And, wow. Are you guys together now? After all this time?
Oh my God, I feel like I need to go dance or something.
This is amazing. All of my high school dreams and giddiness are coming through.
It’s like an episode of Dawson’s Creek. Tell me what’s going on with Pacey.
Are Pacey and Dawson finally getting together?
Oh, no, it’s Pacey and Jack, isn’t it? We don’t like Dawson.
Oh, I don’t know. This is so exciting.” She started clapping her hands together and bounced.
I did my best not to laugh. “Dawson’s Creek is the show you went with, not anything more recent?”
“It was the only thing that came to mind. That or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. So are we going with the Spike and Angel thing? Not Xander. Neil can be Xander.”
I laughed outright, knowing her hatred of Xander knew no bounds. Frankly, I was the same way, but I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of saying that.
“Now that you’re through thinking of late ‘90s and early 2000s shows from the WB or CW—whatever it’s called now—know that Clay is a friend. I think. Anyway, it’s just casual. Just the one time. He’s swamped. He has three kids.”
Delilah’s eyes filled with emotion as she nodded, biting her lip. “I remember hearing about all of that, considering most of it happened down in Denver.”
“It was horrible, but he’s doing an excellent job with those kids. The fact that he even had a night off to spend with me is a big thing.”
“Then it’s just casual, and it’s never going to happen again?”
I shrugged, trying not to care too much about what I was feeling.
And totally failing. “It is casual. I’ll see him again when he comes into the bar, but that’s about it.
He rarely comes in. He can’t do more. He needs help, and I don’t know how to do that other than to just be there when he has time.
” I frowned and looked down at my lime and soda again.
“I don’t know how I feel about that, but I don’t know what else to do, either. ”
Delilah reached out and squeezed my hand.
“It’s okay. You’re allowed to feel sad that it might not be the right time.
Clay was a great kid back when I remember him.
And whenever you talk about him, at least when you did before this, you always got that smile on your face.
So, yay. You finally slept with Clay again.
I just hope you’re not too sad that you may not be able to have a repeat performance. ”
“There’s plenty of fish in the sea. As long as they aren’t named Neil, I’m fine.”
She smiled then, and my phone buzzed. I looked down at it, blinking.
“Who is it?” she asked, leaning back on the couch. “What’s got that look on your face?”
“Speak of the devil.”
“Neil?”
“No, the good devil,” I corrected, letting out a hollow laugh before answering. “Hey there, Clay. What’s up?”
“I know this is awkward timing and out of the blue, but do you think you can come and help me take the kids to the emergency room?”
I stood before he’d even finished the sentence. “Give me your address, and I’m right there.”
“I’m sorry about this.”
“It’s fine. I’ve got you. Do you need to call an ambulance?”
Delilah stood next to me, her drink long forgotten, her eyes wide at my words.
“No, we just need to get to the ER so I can get Holden some meds. It’s happened before, and my fucking car won’t start.”
I heard the rumble in his voice as my heart raced. I ran to the front door and slid my feet into my shoes. “Text me the address. I’ll be there as soon as I can. If you need anything else, just let me know. I’ll be right there.”
“Thanks, Riggs. I just…thanks.”
He hung up, and my phone buzzed with the address.
“It doesn’t sound casual,” Delilah stated and then shook herself. “Sorry. That’s not what I meant. Is everything okay? Is it the kids?”
“He says one of them needs meds and has to go to the ER. And his car won’t start. I don’t know, but I’m freaking the fuck out. I’ve got to go.”
“Of course. Go save the day. Protect those kids. Protect your heart. And maybe just let someone love you.”
I looked at her and snorted before leaning in and smacking a hard kiss on her lips. “You’re losing your damn mind.” I closed my eyes. “Fuck. The bar.” I’d completely forgotten my bar, my reason for getting up in the morning, with a single phone call.
Delilah waved me off. “I had two sips of my drink. I’ve got this. I’ve got the keys, and I can close. I can do whatever you need. Get those kids their meds or whatever the hell they need and help Clay. He called you, Riggs. He called you.”
I swallowed hard. “Yeah, he did.”
I left her place at my place, knowing that she would take care of the bar, even as I had to somehow figure out what the hell I was doing.
Clay only lived about five minutes from my house, surprisingly.
How I had never seen him in the neighborhood before was beyond me, but I pulled into a small ranch-style home with blue shutters and a roof that probably needed to be redone.
Considering that he worked for a construction company and was a builder himself, Clay probably knew that, but money didn’t grow on trees—even with the Montgomery discount.
I pulled in behind a large SUV and hoped to hell that everyone would be able to fit in mine.
“Thank you,” Clay said as he came walking forward, a kid hanging over his shoulder, wheezing slightly. Clay had a large car seat in one hand and a manic expression on his face.
An older kid followed with a booster in his hand. And a little girl with a bright pink bag trailed behind, her eyes wide.
I’d never met Clay’s cousins before, and this hadn’t been how I imagined it happening.
“I didn’t even ask if you could fit everybody in your car.” Clay shook his head, the panic wafting off of him.
“It’s okay. I’ve got this.” I moved forward and took the car seat from Clay and the booster from the oldest kid. “Okay, let’s do this quickly so I can figure out how to fit everybody in. We can make it work.”
My SUV had three rows just like Clay’s car, and I was glad that I had bought the larger one for moving things around for the bar versus the little sports car I’d thought I would get after my divorce.
The oldest kid helped me figure out how to set everything up as the littlest one jumped into the car seat and buckled herself in. Clay set up Holden, the middle child, in the booster seat.
“I’m Mariah. Holden’s sick,” the little girl chirped with wide eyes.