Chapter 21
brEAKING: LOCAL BARTENDER CLASHES WITH NFL STAR’S FAMILY Witnesses report zero survivors
Alaia
“Hey, Julian,” I greet the other bartender. “You ready for tonight?”
He waggles his eyebrows. “Ready to watch women in seashell bras sing and dance? Hell yeah.”
I snort. Julian’s all talk and no play. He’s devoted to his girlfriend, who’s currently in Europe for a semester abroad. I hope she’s as faithful to Julian as he is to her.
“I’ll be happy when Mermaid Karaoke season is over.”
I say this every summer. This summer is different. I don’t want the summer to end. The end of the summer means the end of my relationship with Tanner.
My stomach dips. I blow out a breath to ease the empty feeling.
Tanner leaving isn’t the end of the world. I’ve pitched Coach Knox’s story to a few magazines. Several were interested. My career is finally going to take off. And then I can write an article about the offensive line of the Seals and save the Gazette.
All thanks to Tanner. He didn’t have to arrange an interview with his offensive coach. But he did because there’s more to the wide receiver than he presents to the world.
Which is why I’m developing feelings for him. Developing feelings? Snort. I’m falling for him. Plain and simple.
Which is terrifying and dangerous, but I can’t seem to help myself. He’s drawing me in, and I’m helpless to stop him.
The other night at bowling was such fun. I tricked him about how the Sirens & Strikes event works. He didn’t care that he ended up losing. He wasn’t upset with me for being sneaky. He was fun.
He’s different from other men. He might even be the ‘one’.
The door bangs open. Good. A distraction from my thoughts about Tanner and how I want him to be a permanent fixture in my life, despite knowing he doesn’t do relationships.
I frown at the group of five adults walking into the bar. “I’m sorry. We’re not open yet.”
The man in the front purses his lips. “We’re not here to drink.”
“Do you need directions? Where are you staying? The Mermaid Hotel or Hideaway Haven Resort?”
“Neither of those.”
“You rented an apartment? Give me the address. I can direct you. Smuggler’s Hideaway isn’t big. It seems confusing because many of the roads in the countryside don’t have names, but I’ll get you where you need to go.”
“I don’t have an address.”
“Not a problem. I know most of the people who rent property out on the island. I can contact them for you.”
“You’re not listening to me.”
“I can hear you just fine.”
“No.” He grits his teeth. “You’re not listening to me.”
Someone’s grumpy. He reminds me of Brock.
Except Brock is a big guy. This man is tall, but he’s lean and impeccably dressed.
He appears out of place on the island, but I try not to judge.
Everyone needs an escape from their real life every once in a while.
Smuggler’s Hideaway is an excellent place to escape to.
“How can I help you?”
The woman behind him tugs on his suit jacket. “Dad, it’s her. I recognize her from her pictures.”
The man studies me for a moment. “You’re Alaia Jackson?”
Jackson? Anyone who uses my given name and not my press name – Alaia Grant – is not here to offer me a job.
“I’m Alaia Jackson. How can I help you?”
“You can stop dating my son.”
I rear back. This is Tanner’s dad? No wonder Tanner doesn’t get along with him. They’re the polar opposites of each other. Tanner’s a goofball who smiles all the time. His father appears to have forgotten smiling is an option.
“I don’t believe it’s any of your business who Tanner dates.” There. I didn’t get mad. I didn’t yell. I was perfectly reasonable.
Tanner’s dad fists his hands at his side. “It is when you’re ruining his future.”
Ruining his future? Tanner and I will be history in a little over a month. But his dad doesn’t know the relationship is fake.
“How am I ruining his future?” I’m a journalist. I can’t help but be curious.
“Once his football career,” his nose wrinkles, “is over. He can return to his calling.”
“Kinesiology?”
“No. Medical school and then a surgical residency.”
“Tanner doesn’t want to go to medical school.”
“It doesn’t matter,” the woman next to Tanner’s dad says. I assume it’s his mom. “He will study medicine and become a surgeon.”
“It’s what we all did,” one the men standing behind Tanner’s dad says.
“Hold on. Maybe we should all introduce ourselves.” I point to myself. “As you know, I’m Alaia Jackson.” I hold out my hand. “You must be Mr. Long.”
Tanner’s dad ignores my hand. “It’s Dr. Long. And I don’t shake hands.”
“None of us do,” the woman next to his dad says. “And we’re all Dr. Long.”
My brow wrinkles. “How do people keep you apart? Are you numbered? Dr. Long, one through five?”
“You are not amusing,” Tanner’s dad says.
I shrug. “Most people think I am.”
“I am not most people. I’m a neurosurgeon.” He says the word ‘neurosurgeon’ as if it means he’s a god.
I’m not impressed. Correction. I’m slightly impressed. Anyone who can make it through medical school and then internships and residency or whatever it is you need to complete to become a neurosurgeon has my respect.
But it doesn’t give him the right to walk into my bar and act like a smuggler whose loot has been stolen by a pirate.
I fist my hands on my hips. “Tell me what you came here to say.”
“I’ve already said it. You’re ruining Tanner’s future. You need to end this relationship now before anyone gets hurt.”
Before anyone gets hurt? I’m definitely going to get hurt when my relationship with Tanner ends. Because it’s no longer fake to me. It hasn’t been for a while. I’ve been afraid to admit it. Afraid of how Tanner will steamroll me if he knows my feelings are involved.
But even he admitted I didn’t need him to defend myself. Huh. Maybe Tanner is the one man who won’t try to manipulate me. And maybe I should think about this at a time when his family isn’t confronting me.
“Tanner’s an adult. You don’t get to decide what he does. What career he follows. Who he’s involved with. None of it is your business unless he decides it is.”
Dr. Long – the dad one – scowls. “Wrong.”
I hold up my hands. “I’m not a neurosurgeon or anything, but I’m pretty sure I’m correct.”
“He’s a Long. He will become a doctor,” his mom says.
“Whether he wants to or not?”
“It doesn’t matter what he wants. It’s his obligation to us, his family.”
I widen my eyes. “Tanner has an obligation to become a doctor because he’s a part of your family? Am I understanding this correctly?”
“I know it’s confusing for a simple bartender, but things work differently in our family,” Tanner’s dad says.
I ignore the jab at my profession. I won’t be a bartender forever. I have dreams. And a family that supports me. My family would never force me to become something I don’t want to be.
Tanner deserves what I have. He doesn’t deserve his family arriving at Bootlegger dressed as if they’re ready to do legal battle. They should love him, support him. But they don’t.
I’m done. I’ve tried to be nice. I’ve tried to point out the errors of their ways. But there’s no reasoning with these people.
“Get out.”
“Excuse me,” Tanner’s dad says.
I point to the door. “I said, get out. Do you need help?”
I begin herding them toward the door. They don’t resist. I figured they wouldn’t, considering how they’re afraid of shaking hands.
I open the door and motion them outside. “I’d say thanks for stopping by. But I’m not a liar.”
“Well, I never.”
I follow them onto the sidewalk. I don’t trust them not to try and sneak back inside. But once we’re outside, I notice a man barreling toward us. Uh oh. Tanner is not happy.
He scowls as he reaches us. “I guess you’ve met my family. My parents – Theodore and Beatrix. And my siblings – Montgomery, Sebastian, and Margaret.”
“How did you ever end up with the normal name of Tanner?”
His mom purses her lips. “His name is Augustus.”
A muscle ticks in his jaw. “My middle name is Tanner.”
“Your parents are leaving.”
Theodore gets a gleam in his eye. “She’s kicking us out.”
His mom continues. “Can you believe it? We came here to meet your girlfriend and she was rude to us.”
“Yep, I was rude.” There’s no denying it. “After they told me I’m ruining your future and I should break up with you.”
Beatrix huffs. “We said no such thing.”
I lift an eyebrow. “Really? You’re lying to your son now?” I scowl. “You’re not fit to be a parent.”
“How dare you!”
I lean close to get in Beatrix’s face. Unlike Tanner and his father and brothers, she’s short. I tower over her. “I dare because I know how a real family acts. How a real family supports each other. How a real family has each other’s backs.”
“You don’t understand what it’s like to be a Long,” Margaret says.
“And, frankly, I don’t want to.” I motion to the luxury car parked in front of the bar. I assume it’s theirs. “You can go now.”
Theodore opens and closes his mouth a few times before finally spinning on his heel and marching to the car. Told you it was theirs. His wife and three of his children follow him. I watch as they drive out of Smuggler’s Rest.
Once they’re out of sight, I turn to Tanner. A muscle in his jaw is pulsing. His hands are fisted at his side. And his cheeks are dark red.
Shit. He’s mad. Is he mad at me?
Should I not have interfered? Should I have contacted him the second his family showed up?
I acted like a real girlfriend. Not a pretend one. Which is what I am.
But it’s not how I feel. Too bad Tanner apparently feels differently. Well, shit on a smuggler. Is our relationship over before it can begin?