stupid.” He drops his arm, his face carved in disappointment. “Why’d you give it to him? You could have given him anything but that.”
“I gave him the ring so we didn’t end up in fucking jail.”
“You shouldn’t have done that.”
“What choice did I have?” I yell, facing him. “What the fuck would you have done?”
Groaning, Bear shakes his head. He knows we’re not getting anywhere like this.
If I were smarter, I’d leave this town now. Before I got in over my head.
If I were smarter, I wouldn’t have come here in the first place. As it turns out, I’m pretty fucking stupid. And hung up on a girl I’m never going to be able to forget.
Domestic Observers - Privately employed individuals placed aboard fishing vessels to ensure the legal catch of different commercial fish.
“Where have you been?”
I pause, my footsteps halting. Turning, I look back at Avie, who’s sitting on the couch in the living room, coffee in one hand, the remote in the other. It’s been years since I’ve seen him sit down to watch television. “I was with Lincoln.”
His lips press into a hard line, but he doesn’t offer any advice, other than “Can you at least let me know when you’re not coming back? I knew you left that bar, but Mal didn’t say where.”
I lean into the wall, my arms crossed over my chest. “Well, she knew where I went.”
He points the remote at the television and turns it off. With a sigh, he stands and sets his cup on the counter. Passing by me in the process, he mumbles, “I’m gonna take a shower and then I have to run up to Olympia. And you need to take a day off this week. I don’t want you getting sick again.”
“Okay.”
I spend the next twenty minutes texting back and forth with Presley. She wants details about this morning with Lincoln, but I don’t give any. How do I tell her he likes to suck my blood in a text?
And then she sends me another one saying she knows Kylo tried to kiss me. Small town drama never ends well.
After Avie leaves, I shower and return to the bar. I know he said I should take a day off, but what am I going to do? Sit at home and wonder what’s going on at the bar? That’s what I usually do. We’re closed on Sundays. That’s my day off.
So I go in, and I’m met with curious stares and one annoyed one. Can you guess from who? Kylo. He won’t even talk to me, and I feel like such a jerk. I thought I had been polite about telling him I was involved with someone, hadn’t I?
Dylan, Mal, and Presley are all seated at the bar talking. In the distance, through the large windows overlooking the docks, I can see the Amphitrite leaving port. Guess that’s where he had to be so early this morning.
“So, how was last night?” Mal asks, refilling napkin dispensers. I stare straight ahead at the empty pool tables and the sign we had to add above them that says:
NO HITTING PEOPLE WITH THE POOL STICKS AND NO THROWING THE BALLS.
Believe me, it’s a rule broken at least once a week. In fact, I’ve had a few balls thrown at me, and once, a pool stick slapped to my ass.
Presley laughs into her hand. “She made the rounds last night.”
I take the cut-up limes off the counter and toss them at her one by one. “Mind your business.”
“At least I’m not the only one trying out the flavors,” Dylan adds, her attention on her cell phone in hand.
Mal laughs. “Dylan, honey, there’s a difference between trying flavors and ruining marriages.”
Dylan’s eyes shift to Mal, as if she’s going to object, but she focuses her interest on her phone again.
Everett comes around the corner, this time pancakes stacked up on a plate, and there are sausage links on the other. He sets them in front of me. “I had eggs, too, but you know, Ky’s back there.” He uses tongs and picks through the sausage and pulls one out, tossing it in the garbage behind the bar. “That one he dropped.”
We all laugh, and then Kylo surfaces, his eyes on the ground as he moves down the hall to the restrooms. Mal waits until he’s out of sight before she swallows her mouthful of pancakes. “I have the cake on order, and I figured we could just decorate the bar with those streamers