showing off the ring I now wore proudly, “I've been taken off the market.”
Goose peered at the titanium band, like he couldn't quite believe it, brows pinched and eyes narrowed. “You for real?”
“For real.”
His expression softened as he nodded. “Andy?”
“Yep.” I grinned. I still wasn't tired of calling her my wife.
“She's a good one, dude. I'm happy for you.”
He offered a hand and we shook as I gave him thanks, appreciating that he hadn't commented on how little time we'd known each other before tying the knot.
Goose poured me a Coke and grabbed a basket of wings from the kitchen. I would've preferred something stronger to drink, something like whiskey or tequila, but I kept my mouth shut. He could read me well enough without my stupid mouth helping him along.
“How's shit with you?” I asked him, monopolizing the conversation before he could steer it toward me.
He shrugged. “Ah, you know. Same shit, different day.” He folded his thick, tree trunk arms on the bar's surface. “Been seein' this chick, actually. It's nothing serious right now but it's been kinda nice to be monogamous for once, you know?”
Goose and I had once upon a time shared a certain taste for casual sex and no strings attached. Now, to hear him say he'd been exclusively seeing someone made me wonder if my relationship with Andy had inspired the change.
“Nice,” I said, nodding before sipping at my drink. “That's awesome, man. Where'd you meet?”
He chuckled, a deep, jovial rumble. “Here, actually.”
I feigned shock, pressing a hand to my chest and gasping. “I thought you said you'd never get involved with a girl who came in here.”
“Yeah, well,” he grumbled, tipping his head down to hide his pinking cheeks, “if you saw her, you wouldn't have said no, either.”
“Hot, huh?”
He closed his eyes and nodded slowly. “Smokin'.”
We shot the shit for a while, making casual conversation while he tended to the occasional customer. It was a quiet Thursday night and I was grateful for the time spent with my friend.
Until he said, “So, hey, can I ask you a question?”
“'Sup?”
Goose pulled in a deep breath and dropped his gaze to the dirty glass in his hand. “So, uh, the last time you were here, you had said shit was getting pretty hard for you.”
My heart began to jitter with anxiety as I nodded. “Yeah.”
“So, uh ... what happened with that?”
I lifted my shoulders high, too high, and shook my head. “Nothin', man. Nothin' happened.” Then, my shoulders dropped heavily as I quickly added, “Why do you ask?”
He slowly placed the glass in the sink, then said, “Nah, I was just wonderin', you know? You were in a real bad way last time, so I was just making sure you were all good.”
“All good, man,” I said on a deep sigh of relief.
I felt uplifted and triumphant, convinced that I'd dodged a bullet. And then, he had to ask, “So, how come you've lost so much weight?” Accusatory eyes found mine and, in an instant, I saw red.
“The fuck you gettin' at, Goose?”
He ran his tongue along his upper teeth as he shrugged one shoulder in an infuriating display of false nonchalance. “Oh, nothin', man. I'm just wondering why it is you came in here tonight, looking like you've spent the last month strung out on some heavy shit.”
And this is what happens when you make friends in rehab.
They know too much.
“Fuck off.”
“Oh, you're really helping your case now,” he retorted coolly.
“There is no fuckin' case,” I argued, flattening my hands against the bar.
“Then, why the hell are you yelling at me, huh?”
“Because I don't appreciate you,” I jabbed a finger into his wide, barreled chest, “makin' bullshit comments and accusing me of shit that isn't true!”
“So, what is it? Coke?”
“Oh, Jesus Christ,” I grumbled, shaking my head as I got down from the stool. “I'm not dealing with this shit.”
“Don't let it get the best of you, Vinnie,” Goose went on. “I'm here for you, man. Okay? Whatever you need—a place to stay, a ride somewhere, whatever. I'm there. Just—”
“Shut the fuck up!” I shouted, grabbing my empty glass off the bar and throwing it onto the floor where it shattered into a hundred glittering shards of crystal. Through gritted teeth, I repeated, “Shut the fuck up. You have no fuckin' idea what you're talking about. So, stay the fuck out of my business. Got it?”
Goose never flinched in reaction to my outburst. He stood behind the bar, looking completely unmoved and unamused,