by Adele Niles
I gave her the dirtiest look I could muster with the light hurting my eyes.
She grinned. “When you feel alive again, you should unpack your room. I can find a reason to be out of the house tonight, if you want.”
I stared at her a moment longer, then sighed. “No, I don’t want to kick you out of your house.”
“You’re not kicking me out if I’m leaving to find a guy, right?”
“All right, but seriously, only if it’s something you want to do.”
“It is. And no telling I’ll be successful.”
I bet she would—she was a catch. “If you come home early, no worries,” I said. “Just give us a little space, and for the love of god, don’t listen in!”
She laughed. “No promises, but I’ll do my best.”
I picked up one of the throw pillows on the couch and threw it at her.
She dodged it, laughing harder. “I’ll make you some toast and bacon. It’ll help, promise.”
I shook my head as I leaned back on the couch, curling up in the fetal position again. “That sounds really good. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome, Bailey.” She blew me a kiss.
Chapter Nine
Garrett
Zoe locked the front door and flicked the sign to Closed.
We were done, and I was too eager to get out of here.
We all set to cleaning our stations for the night, sanitizing where necessary, and organizing our inks.
Maybe I was going a little faster than normal, but I had a date. This was my first real date since I’d moved to Richland.
Bradley looked up, noticing my speed. He raised his eyebrows. “You that excited to go drinking tonight?”
Right. I’d thought about the happy hour earlier, and then it had just left my mind. It was hard to think of anything but Bailey, and how excited I was to see her tonight.
“Uh, actually, I have other plans. I’m skipping happy hour tonight.”
Ryker and Bradley looked at each other.
Ryker grinned. “Oh yeah? Who is she?”
Shit.
I couldn’t tell him the truth.
“Uh, just an old friend. From California. She happened to be traveling out here, so she wanted to meet up.”
“An old friend, huh?” Ryker leaned against his half-wall, looking across the aisle at me. “Is she hot?”
“Why do you care? You’ve got Sydney.”
“I can ask,” he said. “You got pictures? Is she cute? I bet she’s blond and drives a Jeep.”
“You just described, like, half the girls in California.”
“So?”
“So, just, quit asking.” I shrugged.
He cocked his head. “You’re sensitive about it.”
“I’m not sensitive about shit, Ryker. She’s just a friend.”
Ryker shrugged. “Must be an important friend if you’re canceling our plans to meet with her.”
“I have friends outside of you guys.”
“Girl friends?”
“Yeah.”
“Bullshit.”
I rolled my eyes. “Guys and girls can be friends without having sex.”
Except that I was definitely meeting with a girl who I planned on having sex with.
That I’d already had sex with.
That was his ex.
Ryker opened his mouth to say something else, but Bradley cut him off. “Ryker, lay off. Let him be excited about seeing a friend.”
Ryker shrugged and went back to his station.
Bradley looked at me and smiled. “Have a good time with your friend. But you better be at happy hour next week.”
“You got it.” I smiled at him. “Thanks, boss.”
“No worries. Get out of here. Just come in a little early and finish cleaning then.”
I grinned and grabbed my stuff to head out.
* * * * *
I showered and changed into a nice outfit—dark-wash jeans and a black button-down with cool graphics over a t-shirt. I checked myself in the mirror one last time.
I thought I looked pretty cool.
I just hoped Bailey thought so, too.
I heard my phone chime in the living room and went to grab it. It was a text from her.
Hey! Getting ready for tonight. What time are we meeting up?
I texted her back. I’m almost ready, so whenever you’re good. There’s a nice Italian place on the south side of down. Medici’s? It’s pretty good.
See you there in half an hour?
Sounds perfect. See you there.
I smiled. This was gonna be a good night.
* * * * *
I got to the restaurant a little early and went inside. The bar was pretty quiet, so I grabbed a seat and ordered two glasses of wine. Not the highest-quality, but mid-range. Still nice.
Not anything cheap.
I didn’t want her to think I was cheap. I didn’t want her to think I was flaunting anything, either; I didn’t have a lot of money, but I wanted to treat her right.
I hadn’t liked a girl this much in a long time.
I took a sip of my wine, watching the clock on my phone.
I didn’t even hear her when she came in until she spoke.
“Hey, you.”
I turned to greet her.
She looked incredible.
She’d dressed up for the date. She wore a form-fitting black dress with a low neckline. The fabric clung to her just right, highlighting her soft curves. She’d curled her hair and put on just the right amount of makeup. A silver necklace hung around her neck, a single pearl dangling from it.
My mouth went dry. “Hey. Wow. You look…wow.”
I picked up the untouched glass of wine and offered it to her.
“Thank you,” she said, and took the glass. She took a sip.
When she lowered the glass, there was a lipstick mark on the rim.
I smiled.
She probably had no idea, but I thought that was insanely hot.
It was going to be hard to keep myself under control during dinner, but I had to try.
A hostess took us to our table, a nice little booth with a candle glowing in a frosted glass jar. I sat across from Bailey, gazing at her.
How had Ryker let this one go?
I hated that I kept thinking about that—him with her, him dating her and then leaving her.
I wondered if he’d cheated on her.
It seemed like the kind of thing he would have done.
I couldn’t keep dwelling on that. This bullshit jealousy would only ruin what we had going. Which wasn’t much yet, but it was still something. And it had the possibility of turning into more, as long as I didn’t get in our own way.
Bailey looked at me and smiled. “How was work today?”
“Oh, fine. I spent a few hours working on this guy’s back piece. It’s coming out great. Kind of a jungle animal theme. We’re doing color now. The lion has this really badass crown that I’m getting to do some cool stuff on. Really making it look metallic.”
Bailey listened, her eyebrows raised. “That sounds neat.”
“I’m pretty proud of it. I’ll show you some pictures when it’s done, if you like.”
“I’d love to see.” She took another sip of her wine before talking again. “I’m really excited to start work on Monday. I’ve missed being around animals.”
“Have you always wanted to work with animals?”
She’d certainly dated one.
Shit, I had to stop thinking like this.
I liked her. I wanted her to like me. Ryker didn’t matter anymore.
I wanted to treat this gorgeous woman right and see her smile like that forever.
She answered me, thankfully pulling me away from my thoughts. “Yeah, I’ve always loved animals. I grew up on a farm a little ways outside of town, so I’m used to being around livestock. And we always had dogs and cats.”
“Which one do you like better?”
“What?”
I smiled. “Are
you a dog person or a cat person?”
Bailey laughed and shook her head. “I feel like there’s a wrong answer here.”
“No wrong answers. I’m just asking.”
She sighed. “Cats are lower-maintenance. But you can take a dog hiking and camping.”
“You can take a cat hiking and camping, too, if you train it to walk on a harness.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I follow one on Instagram. Her owners take her out all the time. On kayaks and hikes and stuff.”
She tilted her head. “So you’re a cat person.”
“Nah.” I chuckled. “I like them both about the same. I’ve had both as pets.”
“Do you have any pets now?”
“No. I was gonna get one soon, maybe. Thinking about adopting a little cat for now. Well, not little. Older.”
“Good for you. Older cats don’t usually get a lot of love.”
I smiled.
It felt good to know she liked answers like that. And they were all genuine, too; I wasn’t about to lie to impress a girl.
I took a long sip of my wine. Our waiter came and we ordered our dinner before falling back into easy, natural conversation. Bailey was smart, and she was fun and funny. She told me some stories about her travels, which sounded incredible, and even pulled her phone out of her bag to show me some photos.
I’d always known that the Grand Canyon was gorgeous, but her pictures were even more breathtaking.
Maybe I just liked them more because they were from her.
I looked up at her, sighing. The last time I’d had it this bad for a girl was before I’d moved to Richland. There had been a couple dates here and there, but I’d really wanted to settle into a new life before I got into a relationship.
But now I was feeling pretty settled, and I was pretty sure I wanted to be with her.
But there was still one thing in my way.
I hesitated, looking down at the table between us. “Bailey, can I ask you a question?”
This was risky, but I needed to know. I needed to find out a little more about her past.
I needed to know how likely it was that Ryker would kick my ass when he found out.
Because he was a tough guy, and I’d seen him in a fight. I’d fought alongside him.
I wouldn’t stand a chance if he went after me.
And I wasn’t sure how much Bradley and the other guys bought into the ‘guy code’ shit about not dating each other’s exes. I needed a little bit of information so I could protect myself in case they tried to fire me, tried to force me out of the friend group.
I didn’t have any other friends in Richland, and I really didn’t want to lose the good relationships I’d built at No Regrets. That place was my second home.
But God, I wanted her.
Bailey blinked. Maybe she could sense the sudden shift in my mood. “Uh…yeah. Anything you want.”
“You and Ryker…”
Her shoulders dropped. She lowered her head, sighing wearily.
Like she’d been anticipating it.
“I—I don’t want to talk about it much,” I said quickly. “It’s just that he talked about you all the time. Until he got with his new girl.”
“He has a new girl?”
“Yeah. Sydney. They seem pretty happy.”
“That’s good.”
“Yeah, it is. I’m happy for him. I’m happy I don’t have to hear about him screwing around all the time now. I swear, he’s hooked up with every single girl in Richland, and half of Malone, too.”
Bailey laughed. “Sounds about right.”
I nodded. “Yeah, well, I was gonna ask how it ended between the two of you. I have to be honest, I’m a little afraid he’s gonna throw me through the shop’s front window when he finds out about us. We’re not usually on the best of terms.”
Bailey bit her lip. Slowly, she nodded. “Okay. I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”
Chapter Ten
Bailey
Of course he wanted to know about me and Ryker.
It was normal to want to know a little about your potential partner’s exes. I was a little curious about Garrett’s past experiences, and it was fair for him to ask about mine, too.
That didn’t mean I wanted to talk about it.
But I liked him. And he worked with my ex, so he needed to know a little about our past.
He needed to know how serious everything had been, and how ugly the breakup had gotten.
I sighed, reaching for my wine glass and taking a long sip. I could feel Garrett watching me, waiting for me to start my story.
Where to start was the problem.
I sighed heavily and started at the beginning, in high school. How Garrett had been the hot upperclassman and I was a freshman who wanted to be cool. But he’d really cared for me. He was sweet then, and patient. He didn’t put any pressure on me for sex, which was better than a lot of guys back then.
Garrett looked almost confused when I said that. “Really? Because all he talked about before Sydney was how he was hooking up with different girls.”
I laughed. “He’s always wanted to be the big dog, you know? I mean, a lot of his hookups might not have even happened.”
“I guess that’s true.” Garrett shrugged. “I guess he could’ve just made it up. Guy talk and all that.”
“Right?” I laughed. “Anyway, so he got accepted to college and moved away. We made it work long-distance. It was pretty good, but I missed him. A lot. And I got clingy and dramatic and it reached the point where Ryker quit law school to come back and be with me.”
Garrett let out a low whistle.
I laughed bitterly.
I’d really messed it up.
I’d messed him up.
“I mean, he wasn’t happy there, anyway. He didn’t like being in law school. He was too much of a free spirit for that. Artistic. You know. He’s a really great artist.”
Garrett nodded. “Yeah, he is. He’s got a lot of talent and he’s worked hard to get where he is.”
I smiled. “He is. So, yeah. He dropped out of school, and keep in mind, this was five years ago. I was nineteen and stupid. He got home and I told him it was too late. I skipped town and didn’t look back.”
“Wait, really?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I’ll be the first one to admit that it was a shitty move. Like I said, I just didn’t know any better. I was nineteen and had a lot of emotions and I didn’t know how to process them.”
Garrett nodded. “Nineteen is hard.”
“It is. And it’s hard to be with someone when they’re in a much different place, you know? And we were in different places in every way. Mental, emotional. Physical, since we were doing a long-distance relationship.”
“It sounds like it was difficult,” he said in a soft voice.
That was an understatement.
“It was. It was hard on both of us, and I handled it in about the worst way possible. Everyone kept texting me, telling me what a wreck he was after I left. But I kept telling myself I didn’t care.”
“But you did?”
“Absolutely. Ryker was my first love. He broke my heart, and I guess, I broke his too. We have history, as much as I hate it.”
He made a face.
“I said first,” I said, smiling. “Not only.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” I chuckled and took a sip of wine. My glass was almost empty, and after this talk, I definitely wanted another. “I left and started traveling. I went all around the country. Fooled around with a lot of guys. Dated a guy pretty exclusively for a while, out in New Mexico. But even at the time, I knew it wouldn’t last. He wasn’t the one. He was my rebound.”
Garrett raised his eyebrows at that. “You have an idea of who ‘the one’ might be?”
I smiled.
Of course he would ask a question like that.
I leaned back in my chair.
“Hmm. Well, he’s stro
ng. Tall. I like a guy at least six feet tall.”
“Okay.”
I could see it in his eyes—he was mentally checking off boxes.
I kept going. “I like blue eyes. I like guys that dress nice. Artists. I love guys who are creative. But also, you know, guys who are down to go outside and do stuff like camp and hike.”
He nodded again. “Okay, yeah.”
I wanted to laugh. I watched him lean forward, eyes bright. He was hanging on every word I said.
It was adorable.
“And he’s gotta have some drive. I want a guy that’s ambitious, you know? Not lazy. And most of all, romantic.”
“Romantic, huh? Define your idea of romantic.”
I looked around the restaurant. “Well, this is pretty good.”
Garrett grinned.
I smiled back.
A lot of that was just guesswork, but he looked pretty pleased with my description.
I hoped it was all right.
Because I had a really good feeling about Garrett.
* * * * *
He kissed me again as we went into my bedroom.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. I wanted him. I wanted him to hold me and kiss me, and I wanted him to hold me down in the bed and make me forget my own name.
I pulled him toward the bed, kicking my heels off as we went. Garrett shrugged off his jacket, then wrapped one arm around me. He tugged down my zipper. My dress opened and slipped down my shoulders.
I moaned quietly, pulling him closer to me.
“Garrett,” I murmured.
He pulled my dress down, and as it hit the floor, I stepped out of it.
His hands moved to my hips, squeezing gently.
I slipped my hands under his shirt, feeling along his muscles.
His abs were insane.
I wanted to run my tongue all over them, feel him move under me.
But something was on my mind.
As good as this felt, I owed it to Ryker to at least tell him I was back in town, suggest that maybe there was another guy in the picture.
I needed to know that he was happy. Because even though I’d been the one to fuck up our relationship, I still cared about him.
A part of me still loved him, even.
But I wasn’t in love with him. We weren’t together, and that was for the best; from what Garrett had to say, Ryker was with a new girl who made him really happy.