“That’s the one.”
“Tyler needs better friends.” I sipped my root beer from the bottle.
“Yeah, well, slim pickings in the neighborhood.”
“True that.” It wasn’t like I’d kept in touch with anyone from school. “The guys at the shop are cool. Normal.”
Riley laughed and threw back his whiskey. “What the hell is that?”
“I think maybe for the first time ever you and I are basically living it,” I said. “No drama. Feels awesome, doesn’t it?” Nothing but work and Robin and family . . . peace and quiet. We’d been together a month and going stronger than ever. Good stuff.
“It sure does.” Riley gave me a grin. “Got some good news today, too. At Jessica’s insistence, and okay, as a result of Jessica doing all the paperwork, the bank let me refinance at a lower interest rate. They rolled the back-owed money into a new loan, but the payments are still the same. With me, Jess, and Tyler all working, we can afford it, so we get to keep the house.”
“Wow, that’s awesome. Seriously.” I was impressed with how Riley had managed to create a life for himself and his brothers. I reached out and gave him a fist bump.
“God knows it’s not exactly where I want to live, but there is no way we could have that space for as little money if we rent anywhere else. And I don’t have to switch Easton’s school or upset his life anymore than it already has been. And in ten years, I’ll own that dump clear and free.” He raised his glass and grinned. “It makes a man proud.”
“It should. You done good, man.”
I was about to say more, but suddenly there was a loud crash. We whirled around and saw Nathan throwing a pole stick across the bar, a look of fury on his face. Both Riley and I jumped up as we saw Tyler holding his hand out and murmuring to Nathan.
“What’s going on?” Riley asked. “It’s just a game, man.”
“This isn’t over pool,” Nathan said through gritted teeth. “Kylie just broke up with me.”
“What?”
I hung back, on edge, arms crossed.
“In a five-second phone conversation.” He raked his hands through his hair, pacing back and forth before rounding and pointing a finger at me. “It’s that bitch Robin’s fault!”
Oh, hell no. He was not going to fucking go there with me. I dropped my arms and took a step toward him. “Excuse me?” I asked, my voice steely cold.
Zeke appeared between us and gave Riley an apologetic look. “Dude, you need to take him out,” he said, tilting his head toward Nathan. “You know you’re always welcome, but he broke the pool stick and that ain’t cool.”
“Sure, no problem, I understand.” Riley gave Tyler a long look. “Get him out of here. Phoenix and I will stay.”
“He’s not going anywhere until he apologizes for calling my girlfriend a bitch,” I said, knowing that I should just let it drop. But I couldn’t. If Kylie had broken up with Nathan, and Nathan was accusing Robin of being to blame, then that meant Kylie knew what had gone down. Which meant being the slimeball that he was, Nathan was trying to throw Robin under the bus. Fuck that.
Thinking about Robin, how much she had suffered, how devastated she would be right now, made me really upset. Pissed.
“Dude, don’t,” Riley said. “Come on, just leave it alone.”
Tyler had Nathan by the arm and was trying to wrest him toward the door, but Nathan was fighting him. “I’m not apologizing!” he yelled at me. “That selfish little bitch did it on purpose! She fucking set me up and now Kylie knows about me and Robin.”
“Shut up,” Tyler said, pushing him harder. “This isn’t cool.”
I moved closer to Nathan, even when Riley darted and tried to block me. “What is he talking about?” he asked.
“Say it, Nathan,” I said, egging him on, and knowing full well I was egging him on. But the fury was coursing through me like an electrical surge, and I wanted just one more insult so I could put my fist into his sneering dickhead face. Did he have any idea how much Robin had agonized over what had happened? How worried she was about hurting her friend? Obviously not. He was just concerned with saving his own sorry ass. “Go on, blame a girl for you being a tool. Let me hear your pussy explanation for why you can’t take responsibility for your own actions.”
“Hey, Robin was there when I fucked her. I kept it a secret. She could have kept her mouth shut.” Nathan sneered. “But maybe she’s so used to having a cock in it, she doesn’t know how.”
And that was my fist in his face.
There was no conscious thought. Just a reaction, a lightning-quick move, my head a haze of burning hot anger, adrenaline lending me enough power to drop him to the floor with one hit. Nathan went down hard, and the sound was satisfying, but not nearly enough to clear the cloud of anger distorting my thoughts. I kicked him on the foot. “Get up!”
Riley tried to grab my arm, but I shook him off. He and Tyler were both speaking but I didn’t hear what they were saying. My entire focus was on the piece of shit scrambling to his feet, wiping at his mouth, which was bleeding. The sight of that red smear excited me, made me pleased. I wanted more of it. I wanted his face distorted and swollen, eyes shut, a bloody pulp. He thought he was so fucking sexy, wait until I was done with him. Wait until he understood what happened when someone called my girlfriend a whore.
He was moving too slow for me, so I punched him again without waiting for him to fully stand. He grunted and fell backward with the impact, right into the door. Zeke opened it, and Nathan spilled out onto the sidewalk. Bouncing on the balls of my feet, I followed.
“I’m calling the cops,” Zeke said, shaking his bald head at us.
I didn’t care. I didn’t give two shits. By the time they got there Nathan would look like raw ground beef.
But Riley came at me from the side with a football move, plowing me down the sidewalk about three feet like I was a tackle dummy and screaming, “Knock it off! You don’t want to do this, man.”
“Let me go! Yes, I do!” I scrambled, going down low to dart out of his reach. “Don’t make me hit you, Riley.”
“You want to go back to jail? You’ll get three years this time!”
I knew that logically, but anger was propelling me. Wild, uncontrollable anger, but by the time I escaped Riley’s grip, Tyler had dragged Nathan to his feet and was shoving him in the back of his car on the street. Riley pulled the back of my shirt. I swatted at him.
“Fucking stop it!” I yelled. “Fine. I’ll let him go.” I knew where he lived. Taking a deep breath, I paced back and forth on the sidewalk. “Shit. Shit. Shit.”
“Walk, asshole,” Riley shoved me in the direction of home. “I don’t think Zeke actually called the cops, but just in case.”
I raked my hands through my hair. “Did you hear what he said about her?” I asked, my voice hoarse and raw. God. The pain I knew she must be feeling, it was my pain. I pulled out my phone and tried to call her, but there was no answer. It went right to voice mail, so her phone was probably turned off.
“That was pretty shitty,” Riley admitted. “I am not saying I blame you. If someone had said that about Jess I would have lost it.”
“Can you try calling Jessica?” I asked. “Robin isn’t answering. If Kylie knows she and Nathan hooked up, then she must be furious with Robin, too. I’m worried about her.”
“You knew, didn’t you?”
Nodding, I walked faster. “Yeah. She told me a few weeks ago. She was drunk, blacked out, woke up with Nathan back at the beginning of the summer. It’s why she quit drinking. It’s been eating her alive, the guilt over Kylie.”
“Damn.” Riley shook his head. “What a fucking mess.” He put his phone to his ear. “Hey, babe, what’s going on there? Shit hit the fan here.”
Trying Robin again, I cursed. Of course it was still turned off.
“So where are you girls? Uh-huh. And Robin? What time was that? Okay. Yeah, I love you, I’ll call you back. Bye.”