not be completely against that.” I glanced at the bartender. “He looks like a jerk, but he has a sweet side at the most right but sometimes not right times.”
“I think you’re talking about seventy-five percent of men out there, honey.”
“Her,” I drawled. “I like her.”
Sledge chuckled.
“Robyn. My name is Robyn.”
“Robyn the bartender is super dee duper cool, Sledge. I should tell Petra and the girls about her.” I patted my pocket and frowned. “I lost my phone.”
Sledge shook his head. “It’s in the car, sugar.”
“Probably for the best.” I drained the rest of my glass and set it on the bar. “More, please.” I beamed at Robyn. “More cherries would be cool, too.”
“You didn’t eat the ones already in there,” Sledge pointed out.
I rested my elbow on the bar and turned toward him. He was already facing me, and I had to stick one of my legs between his. We were sitting like two pieces of a puzzle snapped together. Rather cozy. “They’re marinating.”
He took the last slug of his beer and set it next to my glass. He had been nursing the same beer for the past hour and I wondered if he wasn’t up for drinking or if he was keeping it on the sober side to keep an eye on me.
“Marinating?” he chuckled.
“Yup. They get all juicy and stuff.” I had clear thoughts in my head, but when I opened my mouth they didn’t come out exactly how I wanted them to.
“I’ll have to remember that.”
I awkwardly winked. “You do that.”
“You wanna talk about Lynn?”
I wrinkled my nose. “Do we have to?” I had liked Lynn and even after yelling at her like I had, I still liked her. She had just been the person who had brought all of my pissed off feelings at Duchess to the surface. I guess that was her job since she was a shrink.
“She said if you want to keep talking, she’s always available for you.”
Talking. Ugh. I was so much better at feeling what I felt and just dealing with it on my own. Word vomiting all over someone and then having them tell me why I felt the way I did just didn’t seem too appealing to me. “I’m sure she has a ton to say to me after I yelled at her earlier.”
Sledge shrugged. “I don’t think you said anything surprising. Watching someone you love be an addict isn’t easy. You carried the burden of getting your sister clean for years. I’m assuming while you paid for her to talk to everyone and get clean, you didn’t do anything like that for yourself.”
Robyn set my drink next to my elbow and grabbed Sledge’s empty. “Another one?” she asked him.
He shook his head. “One will do for me.”
“Am I getting drunk by myself?” I asked.
“Got to drive you home, sugar.”
“We could always get a taxi or one of those ride share things.”
He shook his head. “I’m better with being in control and not having someone I don’t know drive me.”
“Control,” I drawled. “Sledge needs to be in control.” I took a sip from my drink. “Not surprised by that one at all.”
“We were talking about you, not me.”
“Talking about you is more funner-er.” I tipped my head to the side. “Funner?” Well, that wasn’t right, but I guess I was sticking with funner because my brain couldn’t think of the right word.
“Can I just summarize what I’m thinking and then we can play pool?”
Sledge glanced over at the pool table. “How do I know you’re not a hustler who’s just looking to beat my ass.”
“Pfft, I’m hardly good. I just like to play with the balls.” Yeah, I said that.
“Summarize and I’ll tell you if you’re off the hook.”
I guess I was going to have to make this good. I brushed my hair back from my face and laid my hand on his thigh. Yeah, I was hoping my hand on him would maybe distract him a little bit. “How far back do I need to go?”
“Just tell me what’s going on in your head, sugar. You’re a tough one to read.”
Accurate. I had spent years perfecting the tough chick act. After a while, even I started believing it. “I’m mad. I’m also a little sad, but I know if I give into being sad, I’m going to be absolutely useless. I wasn’t ready to be Gunner’s mom, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t want it. The second I saw him in the hospital, I knew I would