Two to Tangle (A Tangle Valley Romance #2) - Melissa Brayden Page 0,107
had about all she could take.
“You done?” she asked Lana, sliding her own dish across the counter. “Let’s maybe get outta here.”
“I’ll follow you,” Lana said quietly.
Gabriella looked over her shoulder as they stood. “Leaving? I guess the night is young, right?”
Ryan couldn’t play this game any longer. She looked to Gabriella in exasperation. “Look. This is not a—” She sighed. “You know what? Doesn’t even matter. You two look like you were made for each other and for ice cream and a long, wonderful life. I wish you nothing but happiness. Me? Just trying to get by.”
“You’re doing quite well,” Gabriella said tightly.
“Come on,” Ryan said to Lana, realizing there was nothing she could do to make this feel any better for any of them. “Have a nice one, guys.”
“You, too,” Gabriella said with a tight jaw and zero eye contact.
Madison rolled her lips in but said nothing, finally bowing her head as if waiting for the moment to pass.
They walked to Ryan’s truck quietly, only the rest of the world felt exceptionally loud, aggressive, and foreign, like Ryan had just wandered onto a movie set and didn’t know her lines.
“You okay?” Lana asked. “That was a charged scene back there.”
She placed a shaky hand on top of the hood of her truck. “I will be.” She looked at Lana ruefully. “I guess they’re official now.”
“Sure looked like it to me.” Lana winced. “What a way to find out. You don’t deserve any of this, Ry. Honestly, just forget they even exist.”
She shrugged. “Maybe I do deserve it. I pretty much gave up, didn’t I? Madison didn’t.”
“Yeah, well, Madison is not you. Gabriella’s loss. Want me to drive?”
Ryan, still dazed, tossed her the keys and came around the passenger side. As they drove with the windows down, Ryan looked over at Lana. “Thanks for having my back. I mean, the romance part was a little unexpected but…”
“I don’t know why I did that. Just got so protective of you and had to do something.” She grimaced. “I’m sorry if I’ve complicated everything further.”
“It’s okay. You’re a good friend.” She sighed. “Speaking of, aren’t you heading to Portland tonight?”
“Yep.” Lana lit up at the thought of seeing Tasha. “I need to pack a quick bag and head that way. We’re going to just stay in tonight, and I can’t think of a better way to spend time.”
“Sounds nice,” Ryan said, refusing to think about it too much. Not when she missed comfy nights like that so much she couldn’t pull in a proper breath. The soft jokes, the flutters when she held Gabriella close, the amazing sex, and, just as important, sleeping next to Gabriella, inhaling her, holding her through the night. There had been nothing better.
After dropping Lana at her place, Ryan hopped in the driver’s seat and headed for home. Only the idea of replaying the run-in at Maraschino’s eighty times over didn’t carry much appeal, so she turned her truck around and headed back into town.
Half an hour later, the loud music from the Scoot and the whiskey she’d tossed back helped dull the ache. “Another, please, Pats.”
“You got it. Glad you came by tonight, sweetie,” Patsy said with a grin as she passed.
Ryan raised her empty glass.
“Ryan fucking Jacks,” Heather said, leaning sideways on the bar and regarding her.
“Heather,” she said back conservatively.
“Figured it was time for us to bury the hatchet.”
“I had no idea there was one.” A lie. They’d left things on bad terms in the parking lot of the cocktail launch.
“There doesn’t have to be.”
“Good.” She was beginning to really feel the effects of the alcohol, and that was good. Exactly what she needed. Patsy slid her a double, and she tossed back another gulp.
“Oh, hey. It’s the little contractor from hell.”
Ryan frowned at the snide tone and characterization. She turned to see Lana’s ex, Scott McCarver, three seats down the bar. That fucking guy. The stools between them opened up and they had a clear view of each other. “What’s up?” she said nonchalantly. She raised her glass and turned away from him.
“You know she’s a home wrecker?” he shouted. To who she wasn’t sure. She didn’t know Scott very well, only what she’d heard from Lana. He was uptight, particular, and had a tendency to lose his cool without warning. A winning combo.
“You heard what I said. Can’t keep your hands to yourself.” He jutted his chin out to Heather. “She married? Whose life are you tanking tonight?”