Chapter 21 #2
He winces and glances off to the side, into the dark parking lot that’s generally littered with beer cans from tailgaters who broke the rules and came out here to pre-game. He waggles his head side to side, seeming unsure.
“I don’t know. I got a lot going on.” His gaze snaps back to me, and there’s a flash of something behind his eyes. More jealousy, perhaps.
“Yeah. Okay. Raincheck, then,” I say, holding out my fist.
He drops his gaze to my hand and bites the inside of his cheek as he nods, huffing out a short breathy laugh.
“Sure. Raincheck.” He drops his fist on mine, and his eyes never quite make it back to my face as he utters, “Congratulations, though. For real. I mean it.”
He heads out to the parking lot, toward the black SUV he bragged about buying for himself when we first got here.
I think about shouting after him, assuring him his time is coming soon, but something about his posture urges me to let him go. He’s got some shit he’s working through I think, and doesn’t need my chaos busting through it.
Lindsey and Renleigh are waiting at my truck when I get to it, and I open the passenger side for them to slide into the front seat.
I love that Renleigh sits in the middle, close to me, but I don’t like how still and quiet she is.
I appreciate Roddy and the team wanting to celebrate me, but right now, all I want to do is drop Lindsey off at home and take Renleigh somewhere far away, where we can be alone and I can get her to believe me that she and I are more than a fling.
That my opportunity doesn’t have to mean the end for us.
I know that’s where her head is. I can feel it.
It’s clear I’m not going to get the opportunity to talk it out with Renleigh anytime soon.
The moment we pull into the lot at Earl’s, the three of us are swept into the roaring bar crowd for a toast. The band playing on the corner stage fills the space with a freight train of sound, chugging out classic Johnny Cash songs with a healthy dose of rock behind them.
It’s a great vibe, and normally, I’d be all over this kind of music.
But right now, I wish they would go on break.
“To Hunter!” Adler says, holding up his mug as he shoves one in my hand. I shake it off, but he keeps forcing it at me. I take a small sip with him to keep him happy before discarding my pint on the nearby table.
“Aww, don’t be a pussy, Hunt. I know you can drink! I saw you the night we all got here. You were keeping up with me.”
Adler slings an arm around me and shares stories about our first night in town, when it was just me, him, and Brooks at the local inn before we got our rentals squared away.
We partied hard, sure, but it’s not the kind of thing I do every day, and I know Brooks doesn’t.
Adler, however? Adler might have a problem.
“Maybe I should just . . .” Renleigh says as she hugs my free arm and nods toward the exit.
My brow furrows and I shift away from Adler, hunching to bring my eyeline to hers.
“We won’t stay long. I promise. Please stay,” I say, lifting her chin with the tip of my finger. My eyes drop to her mouth and her lips twitch into a timid smile.
“Yeah, okay. For a little bit. But then . . .”
I kiss her softly and cup her face.
“Then we go home, and we talk. All night if we have to.”
She nods, and I can still sense the reservations wreaking havoc in her mind, but she’s still open to listening.
My parents finally make it to Earl’s in time for the team’s second toast, and I’m careful to keep myself far away from Adler so I can be ready to take Renleigh and her sister home the second a good opportunity arises.
My parents, however, are more than happy to toast their son.
They’re staying at the inn down the street, so no driving necessary for them.
And if anyone in this room deserves to drink up Roddy’s kind gesture, it’s them. My mom, especially.
“Hey, one round. What do you say?” Jayden hands me a pool cue, then nods toward the back of the bar, where the billiards and darts are.
Adler is holding a stick alongside a few of the other guys, along with a crisp hundred bucks.
I don’t need his money, but I want it. Mostly because I’d like to knock him down a peg. He can be . . . a lot.
“Sure. But just one,” I say, taking the stick from Jayden and turning to encourage Renleigh to join me.
“We can go after this. Yeah?” I offer.
She nods and glances behind her, searching for her sister.
“I’ll be right there. Lindsey got a call and stepped outside.”
I follow her gaze and spot Lindsey holding one hand over her ear and pressing the phone to the other as she pushes through the exit.
I nod.
“Okay. But you’re my good luck charm, so don’t take long,” I tease.
She gives me a lopsided smirk.
“I don’t want to be your lucky pair of socks,” she replies, I think referencing my superstitious habits—aka Sloane.
“You are not a pair of socks, Renleigh Blackwood. You are my non-negotiable.” I back away slowly, leaving her with a sure grin that, for the first time tonight, seems to etch one on her own face.
“You rack,” Adler says, thrusting the triangle at me when I step up to the pool table.
I hold his gaze, and I can tell he’s already beyond buzzed. I have a feeling he played that way, and I’m starting to think he does that quite often.
“Yeah, okay,” I say, keeping my eyes on him as I round the table. I plunk the rack down and sort the balls inside, setting up the game.
Adler chalks the end of his cue, dropping his attention to the table, biting the tip of his tongue as he bends down and lines up his shot to break. He sends the balls spinning around the table with a clatter, and I scan every pocket, pleased when he doesn’t sink a single ball.
I round the table, eyeing the best strategy to get this table cleared and be on my way. As I bend over one of the corner pockets, though, a slender hand lands on my shoulder.
“Hunter,” Lindsey says.
I spin to face her, relieved it’s not a stranger, but a little disappointed it isn’t her sister stepping up behind me. My eyes dart over her head at that thought, in time to see Renleigh rushing out the exit, and my gaze drops back to Lindsey’s worried-looking face.
“Mom called. Dad fell. He probably broke his leg. We gotta . . .” She’s breathless with panic as she points over her shoulder with her thumb.
“Yeah. Absolutely. I’ll be right there,” I say, dropping the pool stick on the table behind me, flicking a few of the balls when I do.
“Hey, what the hell?” Adler slurs. I hold up a palm, cutting him off and giving my attention to Lindsey as she pushes up on her toes and cups her mouth to talk to me over the band.
“Ren’s got the Jeep parked here from earlier, so we’re going to take off. But come to the house after you’re done here. I’ll tell Ren to text you updates.” She backs away as I nod.
“I’ll be right behind you,” I say. I have zero intention of leaving them to handle this alone. I might not be able to do much, but if there’s something I can do to lift their dad or run errands so they can stay where their needed, then that’s what I’m going to do.
“Okay,” Lindsey says with a nod before turning and sprinting out the door in her sister’s wake.
I pull three twenties from my wallet and toss them on the table, keeping most of my promise for the bet.
“Sorry, dude. We’ll have to have a rematch sometime. I gotta go,” I say.
Adler grabs the cash off the table, bunching it in his fist as he laughs.
“Dude, what the fuck? Are you seriously running off on the biggest night of your life because of some chick? Didn’t I let another woman into your room in Nashville for you? I mean hell, dude. This one’s just our fucking bartender.”
Less than a second passes before I lunge at Adler and send a fist into his face. He spins and braces his fall on the table, his nose bleeding into his hand as he stumbles back a few steps and calls me a motherfucker.
“Hey, no. We aren’t doing this,” Roddy says seconds later, his hand on my chest. He points a finger at Adler as he pushes me back toward the bar.
“You need to sober up. Then, you need to apologize. Clean yourself up, you worthless piece of shit.” Roddy’s vitriol feels personal, but my heart is racing so fast with my own fury right now that I don’t have time to dig into it.
“Come on. You need ice,” Roddy says, dragging me to the bar where Daisy is already waiting with a bag full.
“I was never this bad,” Roddy says to her. She chuckles, and there’s a fondness to her expression as she gives him a crooked smile.
“You were so much worse,” she says, reaching for my left hand. At least I was smart enough to swing with my glove hand.
I flinch as Daisy presses the ice to my knuckles. She pulls it back, then dabs my skin with the cold compress a few times until my skin adjust to it. My knuckles are bruised for sure, but I don’t think anything’s broken. I wouldn’t tell a soul if it were.
“Now, why are you starting fights in my bar, hon?” She bats long lashes at me as her smirk settles in. I’m sure she’s seen lots of swings thrown at Earl’s, and I sense Roddy’s thrown his fair share of them.
“Adler opened his big mouth and said some shit about Renleigh,” Roddy says for me.
I purse my lips and nod.
“Pretty much,” I confirm.
“Ah. Well, then . . .” She pulls the ice back again and blows on my tender knuckles before flitting her gaze over my shoulder. “That was a good reason. I think the real doctor is here now, so I’m gonna let her take over.”
I twist to make room for my mom to step in beside me. She holds the ice bag to the back of my hand as she shakes her head with silent laughter.
“Haven’t done this since you were nine, when you pegged that kid with a fastball on purpose and he stormed the mound. Pretty sure you knew enough to punch with your left hand then, too.” My mom’s gaze lifts to mine as she gives me a wry grin.
I shrug.
“I might be a rock head sometimes, but I’m not stupid.”
“To be determined,” my dad adds as he steps in behind me.
I endure the ice—and the well-deserved ridicule—for a few more minutes, but my pulse won’t slow until I know everything is all right for Renleigh and her dad.
I hand the ice pack back to Daisy when she stops in to check on me, then kiss my parents and let them know Renleigh had a small family emergency.
I catch their shared look, which I’m sure is some silent parent language about their son falling for a girl, and they’d be right.
Thankfully, though, they let me go without grilling me for details on the emergency and the girl, which is good, because right now, I’m not sure I have answers on any of it.
And the unknowns scare me more than I thought they would.