CH 5 - #lastdance
Rhys
Songs: “You Proof” by Morgan Wallen and
“In Case You Didn’t Know” by Brett Young
“HERE COMES TROUBLE,” Jackson said, peering over my shoulder.
I did a double take when I turned around to see who he was talking about. It was Macie, Rachel…and Riley. They had just walked into Cheers and Beers.
I looked back at my brother and held up my glass of whiskey. “I’m going to need something stronger than this. Think they got anything back there that’ll help me drown out my memories of Riley?” I asked, nodding behind the bar.
“I don’t think anyone has anything that’s Riley-proof.”
I turned my attention to the trio of girls again. They were walking toward my brother and me.
“Good evening, pretty thangs ,” he said when they’d nearly reached us.
They all smiled, and I waved at them.
“Having fun, husband?” Rachel asked Jackson.
“I will now that you’re here.”
“You know it!”
After giving each other a quick kiss, Jackson asked Rachel, Macie, and Riley if they wanted a glass of wine. All three did. Sauvignon blanc. Once my brother gave the bartender their order, Rachel excused herself to use the restroom. She took Riley with her.
“Rhys, are you okay?” Macie asked, putting her hand on my chest. “You have a deer-in-the-headlight look going on.”
“I wasn’t expecting to see Riley again, but I’m okay.”
“She, Rachel, and I weren’t ready to call it a night after seeing Ms. Lenora and decided to come here. When did you guys get here?”
“About thirty minutes ago.”
“Are you going stay for a while?”
“I am,” Jackson interjected. “What about you, brother?”
“Yeah, I’ll stay.”
“Take a deep breath, man. You and Riley are doing a new kind of dance now.”
“That’s one way to put it.”
“She’s struggling with all this just like you are,” Macie said.
“She seems to be doing fine.”
“FYI, she’s still in love with you. But for the life of me, I can’t get her to admit to it.”
I shook my head. “She’s not in love with me. I know she still cares about me. I care about her, too, and always will. I want the best for her.”
“The best thing for her is you, Rhys.”
“We’ve got to stop talking about this. Riley is getting married in three months.”
“To an arrogant ass.”
“She’s right,” Jackson added. “I never said anything to you about my impression of Riley’s fiancé after I met him that one time at the Martin’s. I didn’t think you’d want to hear about it.”
“I don’t. There’s nothing that I can do about who Riley has chosen to marry. The guy can’t be all that bad, though. Otherwise, Riley wouldn’t be with him.”
“And here she and Rachel come,” Macie said, glancing behind me. “Change the subject.”
They rejoined us as the bartender set their and Macie’s glasses of wine on the bar.
“I’ve got it, Jackson,” I said, reaching into my pocket for my wallet.
“Thanks, brother.”
“Yes, thank you, Rhys,” Macie and Rachel added.
Then Riley thanked me, too. Her voice was so soft, and I’d always loved the sound of it.
After I stepped back around Jackson, Macie held up her glass of wine. “Cheers! This is like old times, all of us hanging out.”
We took turns clinking our glasses together. Riley touched mine last. As she took a sip of wine, I took a sip of whiskey and watched her eyes shift back and forth between mine. Then I had to look away. I was being pulled to her again and remembering things I didn’t need to remember. Things such as the taste of Riley’s pillowy pink lips and the feel of the soft curves on her body.
I continued standing next to Jackson, listening to his ongoing conversation with the girls. He, Rachel, and Macie kept asking me random questions and I knew why. They were trying to get Riley and me to engage with each other more, but I couldn’t emotionally afford it.
I heard someone start laughing loudly and looked to my right to see Trisha standing a few feet away. I had no idea that she was here. Regardless, things were about to get ugly.
“Enjoying my l-leffftovers?” she slurred, stepping closer and staring at Riley with daggers in her beady brown eyes. Then she glanced at me.
“Hi, Trisha,” Riley said, grinning. “Rhys isn’t your leftovers. You’re his. Remember, he dumped you after he found out that you lied about being pregnant. Shame on you for trying to trap him into marrying you.”
Trisha scoffed. “You don’t know the whole story.”
“Yes, I do. And I really know your story. We all do around here. You’re the same ol’ Trisha that you’ve always been. You’re a joke, so take your trashy self elsewhere.”
“Fuck you, Riley! You’ve always thought you were better than everyone else.”
“I’ve never thought that, except about you. I know I’m better than you. You’re just a wanna-be and that’s all you’ll ever be.”
Trisha stepped toward Riley, and I moved in front of her, stopping her from getting any closer. “Leave. You’re drunk and talking out of your ass,” I said.
“But you like my ass, Rhys.”
She turned it toward me and shook it. Then Macie shoved her with her foot, sending her straight to the floor with a thud.
“You camel-toed cunt! What’s next? Flashing your saggy tits at everybody like you’ve done before? You best get your skank-ass out of here before I kick it like in high school!” Macie yelled as Jackson and I pulled her back by her arms.
Trisha placed her hand over her open mouth and turned on instant fake tears. As usual, she was playing the victim when she was the one who’d stirred the shit bucket to begin with. She just didn’t like Macie dumping it on her head or Riley calling her out.
The crowd around us started clapping, and then Trisha’s friends, Cassandra and Michelle, walked up. They rushed over to her when they saw her sprawled on the floor.
“What the hell happened?” Cassandra asked her, wrapping her arm around her shoulders.
She sniffled and pointed at Macie, Riley, and me. “They happened. I just came over to say hello, and they were so rude to me. Then Macie kicked me to the floor.”
“You didn’t say hello. You stirred things up and got put in your place,” I said, feeling the pulse in my head. “You’re not a victim, Trisha. You’re just good at acting like one.”
“You’re such an asshole, Rhys!” Cassandra snapped as she and Michelle helped Trisha get back on her feet.
“You three need to leave. If you don’t, it will only get worse for you.”
Michelle scoffed. “You don’t tell us what to do.”
“It’s either Chief Lawrence or me. Take your pick.”
“Him being your cousin sure is convenient.”
My reply was to stare down Michelle. Then she and Cassandra started leading Trisha toward the exit, causing the crowd to clap their hands again. Once the biggest mistake of my life and her drunk cohorts were out of the building, Jackson and I let Macie go. She was still fuming like we all were.
“You stay put,” I told her.
“I will.”
I nodded once and stepped over to Riley. “I apologize about all of this.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong, Rhys. You’ve always done everything right.”
I took a moment to absorb her words. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Are you okay?”
“As long as you are.”
We were still looking at each other when Jackson suggested we all take a shot of tequila.
“What do you think? I asked Riley.
“I think it’s appropriate, considering this day.”
“So do I.”
After biting the limes, licking some salt off the rims of the shot glasses, and throwing back the clear liquid, my brother, Rachel, Macie, Riley, and I let out a hearty laugh. Then an ongoing conversation about the upcoming high school football season followed, elevating our moods even more.
I noticed Riley kept glancing at me and I had a good idea why. Like me, she was reminiscing about when she was a varsity cheerleader, and I was the varsity quarterback. Seeing her on the sideline in her black and gold cheer uniform always made me smile and never failed to spur me to continue leading my team.
Other local folks joined in on the conversation about the football season, making it even livelier. In this town, everyone was a fan and supported all Cypress Hills sports teams.
The D.J. began playing “In Case You Didn’t Know” by Brett Young, catching me off guard. Timing , I thought, keeping my eyes on Jackson to distract myself. But curiosity got the best of me, so I looked at Riley, standing between her sister and Macie beside the bar. I wanted to see if hearing this song affected her as it had me. The knowing look in her eyes and the gentle smile she gave me told me that it had.
Four weeks after we started dating, I played this song for her on my cellphone one night while we sat on the tailgate of my truck, parked next to the lake’s shore. When the song ended, I dedicated it to Riley and told her I loved her for the first time. She started crying and said she loved me, too.
“Rhys, come dance with me,” Rachel said, pulling my attention away from her sister.
I nodded and began leading her to the dance floor. We hadn’t gone far when I heard Jackson ask Riley to dance. Now, the four of us were walking toward the center of Cheers and Beers. When we reached it, my brother and I began two-stepping with the beautiful Martin sisters.
“We all know what this song means to you and Riley,” Rachel told me.
“Yeah…”
“You have tears in your eyes, brother-in-law.”
“Can’t help it. I’m still in love with my high school sweetheart.”
“She is with you, too, but won’t admit it.”
“Macie told me the same thing, but it isn’t true. Hell, Riley is going to be a missus in three months.” I looked over at her and Jackson gliding across the sawdust-covered floor and sighed.
“Rhys, it’s okay if you want to dance with my sister.”
I focused back on Rachel. “I can’t do that.”
“Yes, you can. I think you should.”
“It’s not right.”
“But it is right this one time. I can tell that you and Riley both need it to happen. For closure.”
Suddenly, she and Jackson were next to Rachel and me. Then my brother cut in and took off dancing with his wife, leaving Riley and me standing in front of each other, unsure what to do next.
Who was I kidding? I knew what I wanted to do. So, right or wrong, I held my hand out for Riley’s, hoping she wouldn’t leave me standing here, looking like a fool.
“Will you dance with me?” I asked.
She slowly stepped forward and placed her hand in mine. Then, as always, we began two-stepping in perfect rhythm.
While our song continued playing, we didn’t say a word. We just gazed at each other. The dreamy look in Riley’s eyes made me want to close the few inches of space between us so I could feel her against me. I wouldn’t dare to do that, though. I was already pushing things here.
Then Riley unexpectedly took up that space and melted into me.
The front of her body was pressing against mine, her head was resting on my shoulder, and her warm breath was caressing the skin on my neck. I’d never felt as high as I did now.
Riley’s hand was still in mine while my other was on the small of her back, leading her in this dance. A moment later, I looked down at her. She turned her head, bringing her lips so close to mine that it made my mouth water.
We stayed in that position when we shouldn’t have—just like Riley shouldn’t have outlined my mouth with her fingertip or run it along my jawline, or like I shouldn’t have wrapped my arm around her waist and held her tight like she was mine again.
But I did, and she let me.
The same was true of letting her touch me how she used to.
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and nuzzled her nose into the crook of my neck, making the heat in my body rise even higher. All this happening between us was confusing and jacking with my head and heart, yet I couldn’t let go of Riley. Then I felt the wetness on my shirt and stopped our dance.
“Hey,” I said.
Riley raised her head off my shoulder and looked up at me. Tears were falling from her eyes and her bottom lip was quivering.
“I shouldn’t have asked you to dance. I knew better,” I continued, feeling so much regret. “It’s just that I wanted to feel you in my arms one last time before you married somebody else.”
“That’s what I wanted, too, Rhys.”
“So why are you crying?”
“You don’t want to know.”
She pulled away from me and hurried off the dance floor. Jackson and Rachel were straight ahead of her, and she grabbed her sister’s arm, pulling her with her toward Macie, standing next to the bar. When they reached her, Macie pointed at the exit. Then, my first and only love left Cheers and Beers with her sister and best friend.