6. Melanie
CHAPTER 6
Melanie
Classic rock spilled out into the night as I opened the door of the Timberbeast Tavern. My lips curled in a smile. Some things never changed, and the Timberbeast appeared to be one of them.
I stepped inside and back in time—to college summers spent in my hometown, finally old enough to enter the coveted hangout—when a night in a tavern with sticky floors, ice-cold beer, and a bunch of burly men in flannel had been the best sort of evening.
My smile fell at the memory of Luke, chatting up some cute out-of-towner at the bar. Or maybe even a Tilikum girl—someone we both knew. I’d have pretended not to notice, except to shoot him the occasional glare just for being in the same place as me.
How dare he?
Small-town breakups were complicated.
Fortunately, I was past all that.
I was about to take a seat at the bar when a familiar face caught my eye. Theo Haven sat alone at a small, round table strewn with papers and a clipboard. His hair was slightly shaggy, like he was overdue for a haircut, and he wore a dark T-shirt.
He took a drink of his beer without looking up from whatever he was doing. I remembered him as the jock of the family, always playing sports or watching them. Technically, he was Luke’s stepbrother, although no one ever made that distinction—least of all them.
And I couldn’t explain how or why, but all the Haven brothers looked alike, as if their family culture was more powerful than their genes.
Bypassing the bar, I went over to his table to say hello. “Hi there, stranger.”
His eyes widened slightly as he glanced up. “Well, holy shit. Melanie Andolini.”
“The one and only.”
“I heard you were back in town.”
“Did you?”
He lifted his shoulders in a casual shrug. “Gossip line. You know how it is.”
I’d barely known my neighbors' names in Seattle, let alone anything about their personal lives. Everyone knowing my business—whether or not it was any of theirs—would take some getting used to.
“Of course. Tilikum at its finest.” I touched the empty chair. “Mind if I sit?”
His eyes flicked around the bar for a second. “Sure.”
“I won’t if you’re meeting someone. Do you have a date?”
He barked out a laugh. “No.”
I sat and hung my purse on the back of the chair. “Why is that funny?”
“I don’t date.”
“Ever?”
“No.”
I nodded, mildly impressed. “Good for you. ”
He raised his eyebrows. “Really? Usually, people try to tell me I’m wrong.”
“I mean it. I assume you have your reasons. I don’t date either, and I have reasons of my own. Although, I’ll be shocked if my mother doesn’t play matchmaker sooner rather than later. And knowing her, she’ll manage to talk me into it. But enough about me. How are you?” I pointed at the papers in front of him. “Working?”
“Football camp is coming up soon. There’s a lot of planning.”
“That’s right. You’re a coach, aren’t you?”
The corners of his mouth lifted. “Yeah. It’s a great gig. I teach, too.”
“High schoolers? That’s brave. What do you teach?”
“Math and science.”
“Ew, math,” I said with a slight smile. “Didn’t you play pro football for a while?”
“Until I got injured.”
I winced. “Sorry. Any other painful subjects I could bring up while I’m busy making things awkward?”
The subtle grin didn’t leave his face. “No, I think my career-ending injury is about it.”
“Oh! We could talk about my frustrating divorce. Would that even things out?”
“Don’t worry about it. We’re good.”
Theo’s eyes moved to something—or someone—behind me, and I caught the subtle scent of cologne mixed with a hint of rubber. I had a feeling I knew exactly who it was. A tingle swept across my skin, and my stomach fluttered, but I couldn’t tell if it was from excitement or loathing.
“That’s my seat.” Luke’s voice was flat as he moved to stand next to the table.
I lifted my gaze, batting my eyelashes, and when I spoke, I dropped into an exaggerated Southern accent. “And what a gentleman you are for lettin’ me keep it. ”
“That’s not cute.”
“I daresay I disagree,” I said, keeping the accent and putting a hand to my chest. “I’m cute as a button and sweet as strawberry rhubarb pie.”
“And also delusional.” His tone was controlled, but I knew him. I could hear the undercurrent of ire.
“What? I’m a delight.”
“Can you just use your normal voice? The world isn’t your stage.”
I almost kept the Southern belle act going just to push his buttons, but I let it go and returned to my natural voice. “My friend Shakespeare would disagree.”
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players,” Theo recited.
Luke and I both turned to look at him.
“What?” he asked.
My gaze swung back to Luke’s. Eye contact with him was disconcerting, but I wasn’t about to let that show.
“Why are you even here?” he asked.
“It’s a bar. I came in to get a drink.”
“They’re out. You can go now.”
“Out of drinks?”
He nodded once.
“I doubt Rocco ran out of alcohol.” Did Rocco still own the place? I glanced at the bar, and, sure enough, there he was, the burly lumberjack bartender himself.
“That’s not a thing, dude,” Theo said.
Luke side-eyed his brother.
“I have as much right to be here as you do,” I said.
“But why are you here?”
“I just answered that question.”
“No, not here at the bar. In this town. Why are you in Tilikum? Don’t you live… I don’t know, somewhere that isn’t here?”
“Not anymore. ”
His jaw hitched, and nothing about the hard look he gave me was sexy. Absolutely nothing at all.
I was such a liar. He dripped sex appeal, which only made me angry.
“What do you mean, not anymore?” he asked through clenched teeth.
“I mean, I’m at the Timberbeast because I wanted a drink, and I’m in Tilikum because I live here.”
He stared at me for a few seconds, unblinking, as if he were too shocked to reply.
“Luke?”
“Great. This is fantastic.” He gestured to my seat. “You steal my chair and my town?”
“Your town? I don’t think you own Tilikum.”
“I don’t have to own it to have dibs.”
“Oh boy,” Theo said.
Luke glared at him. “Don’t take her side.”
Theo put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “I’m not getting involved.”
“You can’t call dibs on an entire town.” I leaned back in my seat as if making myself more comfortable. “Or a bar. If I want to sit with Theo and have a drink, I will.”
“I was here first.”
“You didn’t save your seat.”
The fact that this was practically devolving into playground taunts like we were nine probably should have calmed the situation—made us both laugh. From the outside, we undoubtedly sounded ridiculous.
But he’d riled me up, and I wasn’t going to be the one to back down.
He crossed his arms. “Go have a drink with your own brother.”
“Don’t tell me what to do.”
“I’m not. I just want my seat.”
“And I want to catch up with Theo. It’s been a long time. ”
“Oh look, something over there.” Theo shuffled his papers into a pile, grabbed his beer, and stood. “Why don’t you sit here, and I’ll go… anywhere else.”
“Way to make it awkward,” I said to Luke as Theo went to the bar and slid onto a stool.
“Me?” He dropped into the chair Theo had vacated. “You’re the one too stubborn to move.”
“Says the man who just took his brother’s seat.”
“Because you won’t leave.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What is this all about? Are you still mad about the other day?”
“What, when you pulled out into traffic and would have caused an accident if I didn’t have lightning-fast reflexes?”
“No, when you were driving too fast—as usual—and almost hit me.”
“How would you know how fast I drive?”
“I know you.”
It was his turn to narrow his eyes. “No, you don’t.”
“I beg to differ.”
“What could you possibly know about me? You left a long time ago to live your fancy life with your fancy husband. You don’t know the first thing about me or my life. Or this town.”
“Ex-husband.”
“What?”
“He’s my ex-husband.” I held up my hand, palm facing me, to demonstrate my lack of wedding ring.
A flicker of emotion crossed his features, but despite my claim to still know him, I couldn’t read it. Was it anger? Satisfaction? Triumph? It irritated me that I didn’t know.
“Is that why you’re back?” he asked.
“Yes, and that obviously bothers you.”
“It doesn’t bother me.”
My lips turned up. “You’re such a liar. You just called dibs on the entire town.”
“It is my town. ”
“And you don’t want me in it?”
Glancing away, he blew out a breath. His crossed arms accentuated his broad shoulders and toned biceps.
Not that I noticed.
Fine, yes, I did.
“I’m not that much of a jerk.”
I choked back a laugh.
His tongue slid across his teeth. He’d always done that when he was mad. It was frustratingly sexy.
He uncrossed his arms, but despite his attempt to look nonchalant, tension snapped between us. “You aren’t getting under my skin, Mel. It’s not gonna happen.”
“What makes you think I’m trying to get under your skin?”
“I know you.”
My mouth dropped open. “Are you kidding me? I don’t know you because I left with my fancy husband. But you have the audacity to claim you know the first thing about my life?”
“No, I don’t.” His voice started to rise. “I don’t know anything about your life. How could I? I haven’t seen you in years. Which is fucking weird, because your family lives here and this town is so damn small, we trip over each other when we walk out the door. But whatever, people move on, that’s fine.”
I opened my mouth to reply, but he pointed a finger at my face and kept talking.
“But I do know you . And I know how much you love to get in my head and mess with me.”
“No, I don’t.”
He stood so fast his chair almost tipped backward. “Yes, you do. You waltz into my town, full of sass, and suddenly, I’m arguing with you over a seat in the bar. But it’s not happening. Not this time, Melanie. Not this time. ”
He backed up a step, then turned and stalked out the door.
I blinked a few times. And people said I was dramatic.
Our little… we’ll call it an incident… had garnered the attention of the other Timberbeast patrons. Most of them turned back to their drinks once the door closed behind Luke. Rocco eyed me from behind the bar, but he didn’t say a word.
Theo tapped his stack of papers on the bar and clipped them into his clipboard. He tucked it under his arm and followed Luke outside.
Seething with frustration, I glared across the room at absolutely nothing. Who did he think he was? I didn’t mess with his head. If anything, he messed with mine. And sass? Okay, that was fair, I had an attitude. But he brought it out in me like no one else did. I hadn’t stolen his chair, and I certainly wasn’t trying to get under his skin.
But what made me really mad was how easily he was getting under mine.