Release Me – By Vi Summers #2
Despite our friendship not being like that, I gave him a flirty little smile. “You’re out of practice, Banksy.”
“Guess I’d better up my game, then, eh? I have weeks to make up for.” He shifted a little closer and lowered his gravelly voice. “And I’m thoroughly out of practice.”
“Dude!” Scout exclaimed, shoving him again. “Stop flirting with her; it’s weird as fuck!”
His outburst had me and Banks laughing until Wendy made a loud announcement.
“The first round is on the house!” she declared. “What can I get you all to drink?”
“Shots!” Fields yelled, receiving a cheer from his brothers, niece, and nephew.
Laurel Gatlin weighed in. “I’m not sure that’s a wise start to the night, guys.”
I hurried back to behind the bar and braced as the family approached en masse.
Scout slung an arm around his mom’s shoulder. “Aww, c’mon, Ma. Just do one with us, or a round of flip cup, then we’ll leave you alone. Don’t make me sic Banks on you, you know he’ll hound you all night.”
She tutted through her laughter, then lightly backhanded his chest. “Oh, all right. Let’s do it before your grandparents arrive.” Laurel turned her attention to Wendy. “One round of flip cup please, Wends.”
My boss laughed while I grabbed a stack of plastic cups.
“Any kind of drink in particular?” Wendy asked.
Reed spoke up. “Not something that’s gonna put Mom on her ass. I’m off duty tonight.” He held up his palms as if to imply his mom getting fucked up wasn’t his problem.
Laurel laughed and sassed her son. “I can handle a drink or two, thank you very much.”
“Uh huh,” he teased.
I snickered and shook my head. “How about a round of White Gummy Bears?”
Laurel’s eyes sparkled. “What’s in those, Mercedes?”
“Raspberry vodka, peach schnapps, sweet and sour, and lemon-lime soda. They’re suuuuper yummy.”
“Sounds like a pussy drink,” Fields laughed, receiving a clap on the back of his head from his father.
Fields, the youngest of the six brothers, was serving in the army and was in town for a good time, not a long time.
Laurel ignored the commotion among the men and smiled widely at me. “That sounds delicious, hon. Let’s do those.”
I grinned while plucking bottles from the shelf behind me. “Good choice. And I can make virgin ones for Holly and Sawyer if you’d like?” I asked Dusty.
The eldest son and brother set his elbows on the bar. “Thanks, Mercedes. Can’t have our sober drivers becoming the ones we need to cart home.” He snickered while his young adult children, Holly and Sawyer, rolled their eyes.
Scout shoved Dusty aside to stand directly in front of me, mimicking his brother’s stance with his elbows on the bar top.
His wide grin and perfect teeth had me ducking my head to hide a smile.
“So, Merce, tell me, what’s new?”
“Not much. You know, living the dream,” I lied.
He clicked his tongue and agreed. “Can’t ask for more than that.”
“Mmhmm.”
His next question came from left field and made my blood freeze. “Did you ever hear from Beckett?”
I jolted so hard that the bottle in my hands dropped to the counter and spilled. “Fuck,” I hissed, hurrying to right the liquor bottle, then wipe the spill.
With my heart still hammering hard, my eyes lifted to find Scout’s. “Why do you ask?”
His dark-brown gaze flicked between mine. “We kept in touch over the years, and he regrets how he left things with you.”
I sniffed to rid the sting of threatening tears at the back of my nose. “I haven’t heard a thing since he broke it off.”
Scout’s tattooed hand reached across the bar and found mine. “I’m sorry, Merce. I thought he’d try to fix things with you.”
“He made it abundantly clear that he wasn’t interested, so I moved on.”
A shudder of revulsion ran through me, belying my words. Landon had been one bad experience after another.
Scout let the conversation end, then twisted when Banks yelled, “Hey everyone, line up from oldest—Dad, that’s you, just sayin’—to youngest. Every second person go to that end of the bar with Mom!”
Russell frowned. “Banksy?—”
“Let’s do it!” Laurel cut in, making everyone cheer again.
She took her position at the opposite end of the bar, heading up team two, and called Isabella, Banks, Reed, and Holly down to join her. Russell, Dusty, Leif, Scout, Fields, and Sawyer lined up at the other end.
Wendy took up her position between the two teams at my side behind the bar.
She pointed to Laurel’s team. “One of you needs to go twice to make it even.”
Banks raised his hand. “Me!”
Reed gave him a shove. “Nah, fuck off, bro. You’re not meant to be drinking at all. I’ll do the second, Wends.”
I looked up and down the long family line as I shook the ice and liquor mix in a shaker. The Gatlins may be the town’s founding family, but I’d never met such an amazing group of people in my entire life. It made me wish I had siblings. Growing up, Scout had been the closest I’d had to a brother.
After I poured the drinks, me and Wendy set them on the bar top, then she clapped her hands to call order.
“Race starts with Russell and Laurel and ends with Sawyer and Reed since Reed’s going twice.
Rules: one drinker per team at a time. Once you’ve finished your drink, place the empty cup on the edge of the bar and flick it until it lands upside down.
Once it settles upside down, the next person can go. Everyone ready?”
Banks sent me a cheeky wink and grinned as he moved his cup directly in front of him. “Ready, Wends.”
I smiled and giggled quietly to myself. It was so fucking good to see him back to his normal, charismatic self.
After the confronting diagnosis and not knowing if a heart donor would be found in time—if at all—Banks getting his second chance was a blessing I’d count every time he grinned.
If that blessing hadn’t happened, the Gatlins’ wouldn’t be standing here today, about to kick off their double celebration with a drinking race.
Mercedes
We reached capacity by ten p.m., and that was when my night turned to shit.
I was in the midst of making another round of cocktails for a group of girls when a suppressive weight bore down on me out of nowhere.
I instinctively knew without looking that the man I’d been avoiding for the last three months had picked this night to confront me, knowing I was cornered with nowhere to run.
My eyes lifted from the cocktails to find Landon standing before me. Thank God for the bar top being a barrier between us. Still, he was close enough to send a shudder down my spine.
His forced smile emphasized the ice in his glacial eyes. “I’ve missed you,” he stated without a greeting.
“That’s nice,” I snapped, not paying him any more attention. As far as I was concerned, those five seconds were more than wasted on him.
“I’m ready to try again,” he added.
I swapped positions with Amy, now covering her end of the bar. As I reached up to pull a fresh beer for Fields, Landon’s fingers wrapped around my wrist and bit hard.
“Didn’t you hear me, Mercedes? I said we’re going to try again. I’ve worked through my shit, and I’ve changed.”
I tugged, but his grip tightened. “Let me go,” I hissed through my teeth, flicking my attention quickly to Fields, who looked about to intervene.
“You don’t get a choice, Mercedes,” Landon spat. “Your games end tonight, and you’ll come home with me.”
My body heated with anger. “How many times do I need to tell you to fuck off before you understand? I’m never going back to you. You literally knocked out my teeth the last time I gave you a second chance. I’m not stupid enough to fall for your lies again,” I hissed.
Landon seemed to have zero situational awareness, and he took it a step further by roughly pulling me toward him, sending my free hand slamming onto the bar counter as I lurched forward.
“I’ll do more than knock out a few teeth if you don’t fucking wise up?—”
The fury burning in Fields’s eyes intensified a thousand times over, and he moved without warning.
Within a blink, he had his arm around Landon’s neck and was squeezing the ever-loving fuck out of him.
Landon’s fingers released my wrist and urgently scrambled at Fields’s arm, desperately trying to loosen the barring hold the youngest Gatlin brother had on him.
Fields didn’t let up until Landon’s eyes rolled back and his body sagged to the floor. Fields’s eyes then met mine. “He grabbed you with his left hand, right?”
Shaken, I nodded wordlessly and rubbed at my smarting wrist.
He moved around Landon’s still body and started stomping.
“Oh my God! Fields, what are you doing?” I exclaimed.
Reed, noticing the commotion, rushed over and manhandled his younger brother away from Landon. Fields shook out of his hold and held up his hands to convey he was done.
His emotionless gaze then met mine. “I broke his fingers, so he won’t be touching you again—any time soon, at least.”
I nodded and pressed a trembling hand to my lips. I didn’t know whether to be appalled or thankful.
Either way, Scout and Reed quickly dispersed the scene and dragged Landon from the pub by his wrists, then Reed appeared in front of me a minute later.
He couldn’t help but revert into police mode. “Did he assault you again?”
I grimaced and rubbed my wrist against my torso to try to remove the lingering sting. “Yeah. Minorly.”
His expression darkened. “Come by the station in the morning and file a report. I’m fucking sick of that asshole doing whatever the fuck he wants.”
My body tremored with a delayed surge of adrenaline. “O-okay.”
Despite trying my best to not let Landon get to me, I burst into tears. I’d been walking on eggshells for the last three months and it had worn me down. My confidence was at an all-time low when I used to be so self-assured I could have ruled the world.
I turned my back while fighting to pull myself together, focusing on inhaling long and slow. Strong arms wrapped around my shoulders and pulled me against a solid chest.
“It’s okay, Merce,” Scout whispered into my ear. “We’ve got your back.”