“This is all because of her,” Whitney spit, having not listened to a goddamn word I just said. “That bitch from the coffee shop. Dani.” She said her name like it tasted foul.
“This doesn’t have a fuckin’ thing to do with Danika. Our relationship was dead long before her, and it was all due to you. But now that we’re on the subject, from here on out, you and your bitch friends are gonna keep her name out of your mouths.”
“Or what?” she hissed viciously.
“Or I swear to Christ, Whitney, you won’t have a chance in hell of bracing for the kind of shit that’s gonna rain down on you.”
She rocked back, her eyes going wide, not in fear, but in offense. “You’re threatening me now?”
“I don’t need to threaten you, because it won’t be me doin’ it. What you’ve failed to realize is other than your posse, you have absolutely no one at your back. And again, that’s no one’s fault but your own. She has an entire town. I’m not tellin’ you to stand down because I’m worried anyone would believe the poison that comes out of your mouth. They already know you’re full of shit. I’m doin’ it because you’ve gone out of your way to make her life a misery for long enough.”
“Did you forget? We aren’t married anymore, so I don’t have to listen to a damn thing you say.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Then it’s your funeral.” I leaned in and lowered my voice menacingly as I finished with, “But I will tell you this. You don’t stop fillin’ my boy’s head with your garbage, I’ll see to it you lose him and Macie both. If it takes every penny I have, if I have to bleed myself dry, I’ll get them away from your poison. Now, you wanna take that as a threat, by all means, go ahead. But it would be a mistake to test me on this. I’ve put up with this bullshit for a year, and as of this moment, it’s finished.” I ended on a snarl that made all the color leech from her face.
With that done, I turned on the heel of my boot and moved to my truck, then I climbed in, threw it in reverse, and backed out of the drive without once looking back in her direction.
“All right, guys. Let’s go get pizza.”
Chapter Twenty
Danika
My head felt nice and floaty. My whole body was warm from the inside out. I was seeing two of everyone around me and all of them were blurry, but I didn’t care, because for the first time in a week and a half, I wasn’t sad or depressed. My heart wasn’t aching, mainly because I was too fuzzy to feel pain, and that was fine with me.
I lost track of how long I’d been at The Tap Room with Gypsy, Nona, and Sage, hanging out with Rory when she had a break every now and then behind the bar, but it had been long enough that I was good and drunk.
I grabbed the tequila shot Rory had just put on the bar top in front of me, ignoring her look of concern as I brought the glass to my lips and shot the liquid back, hissing as the fire burned down my throat and ignited in my belly with all the other shots I’d already taken.
“Honey, maybe you should slow down a bit, huh?”
At Nona’s words, I turned and smiled, knowing it probably looked a bit wonky due to being plastered. “But it’s ladies’ night,” I exclaimed, throwing my arms in the air.
“I think we might’ve loosened her up a bit too much,” I heard Sage mumble, but I didn’t bother reacting, because at that very moment Cole Swindell’s “Love You Too Late” started blaring from the jukebox. It was the perfect anthem for everything I was feeling just then.
“Oh my God,” I cried, “I love this song.” I grabbed Gypsy’s hand and started pulling her from her chair. “Come on, let’s dance.”
I dragged her to the center of the dance floor as the music radiated through me. With my arms raised and my hands in the air, I swayed my hips and spun around, tossing my hair and moving to the beat. As the song progressed I got so into it that I sang along to the words without a bit of shame. Gypsy eventually joined in, singing at the top of her lungs with me as we twirled each other, laughing hysterically.
I was out of breath and lightheaded by the time it came to an end, smiling a dopey smile as I grabbed her arm for balance and leaned in to speak into her ear so she could hear me. “I think I need to sit; everything’s starting to spin.”
She guided me back to the bar where I collapsed onto my stool with a giggle as I teetered precariously. “Whoa. You all right?” Sage asked, leaning forward to catch me before I could fall.
“I’m great,” I declared. “In fact, I’m so great, you know what I’m gonna do?” I pitched forward so I could get closer to her, wobbling a little before her hands on my shoulders steadied me.
“What are you gonna do?”
“I’m gonna get a dog!” I announced like it was the best idea of all the ideas anyone in the universe could possibly ever have. “Yeah, I’m gonna get a cute little puppy, and I’m gonna do it all on my own. I don’t need stupid Leo to go with me. I’ll take myself to the shelter and pick out a dog by myself. Because I don’t need him.”
“Wow. Okay. I think it’s probably time you switch to water,” Gypsy chimed in, forcing a glass against my palm.
I lifted it and sucked it back, only then realizing how thirsty I was. “Thanks,” I muttered, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand before returning to the incredibly important topic we were discussing. “I’ll get a dog walker since I work so much, but I’m gonna love that little guy like crazy, you know? And he’ll be all I need.”
“Okay, I definitely think it’s time to go,” Nona announced. “Come on, drunky, let’s get you home.”
“No, I don’t wanna go home,” I whined and my friends hauled me up. “Ooh! Can we swing by the shelter so I can pick out a puppy?”
“Everything good?” At the rough, gravelly voice, my head twisted around to see Hunter McCann standing in front of us. I’d been around Hunter plenty of times, usually when I was with my girls and we were hanging with some of the Alpha Omega guys. He was always nice and seemed funny, but I couldn’t claim to know him well. In all honesty, I wasn’t sure if anyone really knew him well. I got the impression he was really closed off, that he kept his private life private from almost everyone. However, the little bit I knew about him I liked, and it didn’t hurt matters that the man was seriously easy to look at.
“We’re gonna go get me a puppy,” I told him excitedly.
“No, we’re taking you home,” Gypsy said, bursting my bubble. “It’s nearly midnight.”
Hunter chuckled then, the sound somewhat abrasive, like he didn’t do it all that often. “Come on. I’ll help you guys get her loaded up.”
My girls did a trade off, and I looked up at Hunter, asking, “Are you gonna carry me? ’Cause I think I’d be just fine with it if you did.” I mentioned he was hot right? Because he was. Like, super hot.
He hooked one of my arms around his neck, keeping me balanced with an arm around my waist as we moved out of the bar. “Pretty sure Drake’d skin my ass alive, if he found out I carried you outta here.”
I blew out a big raspberry. “Pfft! Leo Drake doesn’t exist. I drank him away tonight. When I wake up in the morning, I’m not gonna remember him.”
“Pretty sure you won’t remember much of anything in the mornin’, darlin’,” he replied.
“Then my plan worked.” I threw my fist in the air, which screwed up my center of gravity, and I started going down. Fortunately, Hunter caught me before I could faceplant on the sidewalk. Good thing, because that would’ve really hurt. He let out a grunt as he righted us both and continued on the trek to Sage’s car, a badass, perfectly restored ’67 Mustang.
“I’ve decided something, Hunter,” I continued conversationally. “I’ve decided that I don’t need a man. I’m gonna get a dog. Did I tell you that?” I didn’t give him a chance to answer. “So I don’t need a man, ’cause I’ll have a puppy, and puppies don’t smash your heart to dust. They love you unconditionally as long as you feed them and let them out to pee and stuff. And I’ll do that. Plus, I’ll play with him. Frisbee and fetc
h and hide and go seek. Wait. Do dogs play hide and go seek? Whatever. You know what I mean. So it’ll love me unconditionally, and that’s all I need, ’cause having your heart smashed to dust is so not worth it.”
I hadn’t noticed, too busy sharing about my new puppy, but at some point during my long-winded rant, we’d reached Sage’s car.
Hunter propped me up on the side as Sage unlocked the doors. “You know,” he said quietly as the rest of the girls started climbing in, “usually, I’d agree with you. But seein’ you now, even with you bein’ totally shitfaced, I think there’d be somethin’ seriously wrong with the world if a woman like you didn’t have a man to cherish her.”
I stared at him, swaying a little as I tried to focus on his two faces. “Okay, so I’m super drunk right now, so I may be wrong, but I think you just paid me a really nice compliment.”
He chuckled again. “You’d be right, darlin’.”
“You know what, Hunter McCann? I think you might be a really sweet guy.” I closed one of my eyes and squinted with the other, pointing between the two Hunters standing in front of me. “Both of yous. Totally sweet.”
He gave his head a shake, then deposited me in the car, mumbling for us to get home safe. And that was the last thing I remembered before passing the hell out.
It had been three days since my trip to The Tap Room with the girls. I’d spent that first day holed up in bed, hating life and cursing my friends for letting me attempt to drink my body weight in tequila and beer.
The second day I was feeling a little more alive so I’d instituted a plan to get up and get on with my life. That included hitting the local shelter after work where I met and fell head over heels for a little fella named Roscoe. He was part lab, part something-they-weren’t-sure-about-but-whatever-it-was-it-was-huge. He was around three months old, had paws the size of my fist, and wild fur that was part wavy, part curly, and part wiry. I’d felt an instant kindred spirt the moment I locked eyes on him.
He and his litter mates had been abandoned in a box behind a dumpster shortly after they were born, and all but Roscoe had been adopted out. He was the runt and by far the ugliest out of all of them, but to me, he was absolutely perfect.
Now he was in the back seat, on his way to meet my folks for his first ever family dinner. Dad was going to love him. Mom was going to freak, but she’d eventually come around.
“You ready to meet your new grandparents?” I asked, glancing in the rearview mirror to get a look at him. “They’re gonna love you, sweet boy.”
He showed his excitement by hanging his tongue out the side of his mouth and hopping around like a little rabbit.
I flipped on my blinker and turned onto my parents’ street with a big smile only to have it fall from my lips a second later.
“Shit,” I mumbled under my breath at the sight of Leo’s truck sitting in Jed’s driveway.
Roscoe yipped, and I took that as puppy speak for “What’s the matter, Mom?”
“It’s all right, boy,” I murmured. “We’re just gonna park, get out, and make a mad dash for the front door, right? We’re gonna go really fast, that way they hopefully won’t see us.”
He yipped again, giving me the okay.
I pulled into my parents’ driveway, briefly casting my gaze to the two containers of cookies I’d brought with me, one for my folks and one for Jed like always, feeling a tremor of guilt creep beneath my skin. I loved spending time with Jed, and it wasn’t his fault that his son had broken my heart, but I couldn’t possibly take his bi-weekly treats over if Leo was there.
Pushing my door open, I jumped out and scuttled around the hood, going as fast as I could without running.
Roscoe barked as soon as I got the back door open.
“Shh!” I hissed, lifting a finger to my lips. “No noise.” He let out two more barks, both louder than the first, and began bouncing all over the place as I tried to clip his leash to his collar. “Roscoe, no. No. Sit still. Sit. Sit.” The harder I tried to catch him, the more rambunctious he got, evading me at every turn and barking his head off. “That’s it. No treats for you when we get home. You’ll get your food, but no. Treats.”
He stopped, cocking his head to the side with that damn tongue hanging out.
“All right. Fine. I’ll let you have one treat. But that’s it. Now stop looking at me like that.”
I finally clipped his leash into place and got him out of the car, but it was too late.
“Dani! You got a puppy!”
Roscoe went nuts, barking and tugging at his leash in an attempt to meet Macie halfway as she darted across the street. As soon as she reached us, she went down on her knees to pet my baby boy, giving him the perfect opportunity to lick every inch of her face.
Macie let out a giggle so cute I couldn’t help but smile as she looked up at me. “What’s his name?”
“His name’s Roscoe. Roscoe, meet Macie.”
To see my dog just then, you’d have thought he’d never had human interaction a day in his life. He’d fallen head over heels for her, not that I blamed him. Macie Drake was absolutely lovable.
“He’s so cute,” she cooed, laughing and dodging his wet kisses as she petted him all over.
As much as I’d tried avoiding it, my gaze wandered, moving up and across the street to see the rest of the Drake clan had come outside with Macie and were heading our way. Hardin was hanging back moving slower than his dad and grandfather, looking at me with unconcealed anger that gutted me.
“When did you get him?” Macie asked, drawing my attention to her just as the rest of her family joined us in my parents’ driveway.
Leo went down into a squat beside his daughter, rubbing Roscoe behind the ears, and my sweet pup nearly died of happiness right there, falling down and rolling to his back in a brash demand for belly rubs. “I adopted him from the shelter yesterday.”
Leo’s head jerked up. Those olive-green eyes hit me, filled with sadness that I couldn’t bear to look at, so I quickly turned away.
“He’s a good lookin’ fella, Dani,” Jed said sweetly.
“Thanks,” I offered him a small grin.
“He looks mangy.” At that, my head shot around to Hardin, who was glaring down at Roscoe. “What’s wrong with his fur?”
“Hardin,” Leo clipped angrily, rising to his feet at the same time Jed turned bewildered eyes to his grandson, issuing a warning of, “Boy. Watch yourself.”
“It’s fine,” I offered. “He does have crazy fur. That’s part of why I got him. He’s super sweet.” My grin wobbled a little bit as I focused back on Hardin. “Do you want to pet him?”
I could see the indecision in his eyes, and I found myself holding my breath in anticipation, but instead of falling into Roscoe’s snare, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and took a step back. “No thanks. I’m not a dog person.”
Ouch.
Macie gave her brother an incredulous look. “What are you talking about? You love dogs.”
He might love dogs, but it was obvious he hated me, therefore, he wanted nothing to do with Roscoe. The knowledge that the boy I’d come to care about so much hated me was like a white-hot poker stabbing into my chest. That burn I’d been feeling for far too many days hit the backs of my eyes again, and I had to fight to hold the tears in.
“That’s all right.” My words came out in a raspy croak. “I should get inside. I’m sure my mom’s dinner is getting cold.” I twisted to my car and opened the passenger door, pulling out the containers of cookies. I moved toward Jed and passed him one, keeping my gaze toward the ground. I was quickly losing my battle against the oncoming tears and had to get out of there fast. “Um, these are for you guys.”
“Thanks, sweetheart,” he said softly, his voice so gentle it made my fight even harder.
I might have intended to give the cookies to Jed, but I’d baked and packed them with that whole family in mind whether I’d been willing to admit it to myself or not. “I made a variety. Peanut butter for you a
nd Macie, chocolate chip for Leo, and, um . . .” I cleared my throat trying to rid it of the lump that had suddenly formed, “snickerdoodle for Hardin. All your favorites.”
I felt something pouring off Leo just then, something so strong and so overwhelming it made it hard for me to breath. I gave Roscoe’s leash a tug, and he pranced over to join me.
“Hope you guys like them,” I mumbled to the ground. “See you around.” With that, I spun around and bolted just as the first tear fell.
Leo
“Hardin,” I called out as soon as the door to my dad’s place closed behind us. Macie kept going toward the kitchen, but my boy stopped, turning to face me. I held out my hand, saying, “Gimme your phone.”
“What? Why?”
“Because you’re grounded. That means no phone. And when we get home, no PlayStation, no TV, and no laptop.”
“Are you serious?” he cried. “What for?”
I gave him a bland look, pulling in a breath and counting to ten slowly to keep my anger in check. “You know exactly why,” I answered quietly. “You wanna be mad at me, that’s your business. I’ve laid it out for you, I’ve explained everything, so it’s on you whether or not you want to grow the hell up and start acting like a man. But what I won’t tolerate ever is listening to you disrespect a woman who’s never been anything but good to you. Now give me your phone and get your stuff. We’re leaving in five minutes.”
His face grew an unnatural shade of red, and I was gearing up for a fight, but he surprised me by pulling out his phone and slapping it into my hand before whipping around and stormed off without a word. But I didn’t miss the look of shame that flitted across his face before he disappeared.
I let out a sigh once he was gone and stuffed the phone in my pocket as my father spoke up.
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