“What in the ever-loving fuck is this?” Machlan asks.
He and Peck stand shoulder to shoulder. Lance and Walker are behind them, whispering. I’m not sure which set of men I’m more worried about at the moment. The two in the front, ready to throw tantrums, or the two in the back who are whispering back and forth.
“Machlan, I don’t care that we’re in your bar,” Nana says. “I still won’t listen to that mouth.”
“You’re about to hear a lot worse than that,” he says. “What on earth are you doing here? Please, someone tell me.”
Nana’s face breaks into a smile. And I know she’s going to do it. She’s going to out me. She’s going to throw me under the bus.
“Well, I can’t really say because I think it’s a surprise. But when Dylan invited me tonight, I had to come.”
And dead.
All four of their heads, six if you count Nana and Dave, whip around to face me. Machlan is seething. Walker isn’t amused, but Lance is. I think. And Peck …
I can’t tell if he’s happy to see me or not. He starts to smile and then realizes his grandmother is two feet from him in a place where we dirty-danced not that long ago.
I wave. “Um, hi.” I smile. I shrug. I pray for my soul.
“I have so many questions right now,” Peck says.
“Me too,” Machlan adds with a glare.
Walker motions for me to follow him. So I do. Because there’s really no other choice.
My heart pounds harder than it’s ever pounded before, and I think I might pass out. Peck doesn’t say anything to me, just kind of watches me in shock as I follow his cousin a few feet away.
I want to attach myself to him, to kiss his face and ask for forgiveness. To tell him I’m here for him, and that I love him, and that … I didn’t invite Nana here. But I’m not sure what he would do, and there’s a burly man who apparently expects to have a conversation with me.
Now.
Walker spins around. “Gonna need you to explain.”
“Um …”
“That’s not an explanation.”
I blow out a breath. “Yeah. I know. So, um, you see, I kind of acted like an idiot to Peck and—”
“I know. Should I bill you for the day’s work Peck didn’t get done yesterday? Because he was worthless as fuck, and I’m still gonna have to pay him.”
I gulp. I’m not sure what to say. Just as I’m about to volunteer to do just that, Walker tips his hand. The corner of his mouth starts to lift before he twists his lips into a grin.
“I’m kidding,” he says. “I mean, I’m not. He was worthless. But it was kind of nice to see him all pissed off over a woman for once.”
“That’s happened before, I’m sure.”
“Never.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. He’s never really given a fuck about anyone. Molly, but not like yesterday. Not for real.”
“Oh.”
I glance at Peck over my shoulder. He’s positioned himself so he can watch me and listen to Lance and Machlan interrogate Nana and Dave too. I smile. He does too. Kind of. He also kind of looks … worried.
There’s nothing I can do about that right now. Maybe ever. So I focus on Walker because maybe I can have one Gibson not hate me.
“So,” Walker says. “Why is there a nana? In a bar?”
“Okay, let me explain.”
My brain spirals from one topic to the next too fast for me to grab on to one of them and go. Do I start with why I ended up at Nana’s this afternoon? Or why I think Nana is here? Or that I forgot Peck’s drill battery over there the other day and told myself I needed to retrieve it before he realized it was missing, but really I just wanted the comfort Nana provides?
I don’t know. I. Don’t. Know.
“Please.” He waits. “Anytime now.”
“Okay.” I hold my hands up, gathering myself. “So I was at Nana’s today, and I could tell you why, but I bet you don’t care.”
“Nope.”
“So when I was there, she sort of … plucked my emotions right out of me.”
He nods with a level of sympathy only someone can have if they’ve encountered a lesson-wielding Nana.
I’ve now experienced it. Twice, really. But both times were about the same situation, so maybe that only counts as one.
“She was telling me …” I stop. The boys don’t know about her test results, and I’m not about to add that to the mix tonight. It’s not mine to tell anyway. “She was just telling me that you only live once, and that you have to just … go for it. Live the life you want. Forget whether it might be scary or appropriate or if you’ll … piss your grandsons off.”
He folds his arms across his chest and looks over my shoulder. “Is that why she’s here with Old Man Dave?”
“I think your grandmother might be in love.”
A series of emotions pass through his eyes. “Well,” he says finally, “she’s entitled to a little love of her own. Pops has been gone a long damn time now.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that.”
“But she still doesn’t belong in a fucking bar.” He looks at me all serious again.
“Well …”
Before I can try to explain that, Machlan comes up beside us. He’s bemused.
He points at me. “Talk.”
“I … um …”
“Yeah. If she has a heart attack tonight, it’s your fault.”
“That’s not fair, Machlan,” I say.
“I don’t give a rat’s ass if it’s fair or not.” He glances at Walker. He must find something in him to settle him a bit. “But … it is kind of funny.”
My shoulders sag as I watch these two men try not to find amusement in this situation. But the longer they try to hold it in, the harder it is. When Lance walks up, they all start to laugh.
He leans forward, his head dipping into the odd-shaped circle we’ve formed, and whispers, “I think Nana’s getting lucky tonight.”
Walker shoves his brother, knocking him off balance.
“So,” Machlan says, running his hands through his hair, “I still don’t know why you thought it was a good idea to invite her here. I’m never gonna be able to look at this place the same way again.”
“No shit.” Lance nods toward the actual bar. “Our grandmother just ordered a drink. With her date.”
“In pearls,” Walker adds.
“I think it’s kind of cute,” I say.
“No one asked you.” Walker grins. “Okay, so I’ve had enough of this fucking gossip bullshit tonight. I’m going to go find some whiskey and watch this play out. You,” he says pointing at me. He pauses as if he was going to say something else. Instead, he shakes his head with a little smirk and walks away.
I scan the bar but don’t see Peck. I wonder if he left. Panic begins to set in as I turn a complete circle and come up with nothing.
“Hey,” Machlan says.
I turn back around. “Yeah?”
“All joking aside. What’s happening?”
“Okay. I needed to do something to show Peck that I love him. I just, um … Well, I want him to trust me. That I won’t leave him. That … just …”
I don’t know how to explain it. Not really. I don’t know how to put into words that I want him to know I love him, and I don’t want to say those words until I say them to him. Because I’m not sure anyone’s ever really said that to him and meant it like I do.
Lance nods. “We get it. We may act all tough on the outside, but we’re really pussies when it comes to our women.”
“Fuck you. I’m not,” Machlan says.
Lance rolls his eyes.
“I was telling Nana today that I wanted to do something really special for him. To show him that I love him, but I didn’t know what to do or how or when.” I blow out a nervous breath. “So we decided I’d do it here. In front of his friends. Just put it all out there. And the next thing I know, she’s decided she’s coming.”
Machla
n’s head cocks to the side.
“Oh, don’t look at me like that,” I say. “Like I want to profess my love for your cousin in front of your grandmother. In a bar. Come on now.”
Lance puts a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I believe you. I think Nana just wanted a night on the town. Look at her.”
We turn to see Nana and Old Man Dave dancing some 1930s jig. I’m sure the tempo would’ve been faster and probably not to today’s hip-hop, but it works. Strangely. And it's one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen.
“That’s what I want out of life,” I say.
“It’s what everyone wants,” Lance agrees. “I mean, mostly. I don’t think Mariah is the type to order a Manhattan, and I’m definitely not wearing a tie with … are those koalas?”
“Maybe,” I say, unsure.
Machlan sighs. “Well, I’m not thrilled she’s in here. But I am happy she’s … I guess she’s happy.”
We watch as Nana throws her head back and laughs a full-bellied laugh.
“I think that’s a safe bet,” Lance says.
“Yeah.”
My heart warms as I watch her. If Nana can find the balls to show her love in a bar, then so can I.
“Machlan, would it be okay if I borrowed your bar?” I ask.
“I think you already have.”
“No,” I say. “Like, for real. Can I jump on the bar and—”
“Can I have your attention, please?”
My stomach bottoms out as I turn and see Peck standing in front of Navie.
On the bar.
The music has been stopped.
A few shouts come from the back for Peck to dance, but he runs his hand through the air. “No dancing tonight. Sorry. I know you really just come for that.”
Machlan scoffs beside me, making me laugh.
“Tonight, I want to make a little announcement.” He looks around until he finds me. His face softens, and a smile that I only see when it’s the two of us graces his lips. “I want to say something to the woman I love—”
“No!” I don’t mean to shout it through the bar, but I do. “Stop!”
Peck’s face falls.
My stomach twists as I dash toward him. I climb on top of a barstool, wobbling as I get my balance, and step onto the bar.
The eyes of everyone inside the establishment are on us, on this little show we’re putting on that should really be done in private. But this is not how it was supposed to go down.
“What are you doing?” he asks.
“Don’t steal my thunder.”
I face him, my chest rising and falling. His cologne hits me and almost knocks me on my ass.
I've missed him so much.
He watches me, unsure as to what I’m doing and what I mean.
“Let me finish. Please,” he says.
“No. My turn.”
“It’s not your turn,” he says. “I haven’t had mine yet.”
“Because I’m going first.”
“Will one of you just fucking go?” Machlan shouts.
The people in the bar laugh. I vaguely hear their voices.
I turn toward the bar. “I want you all to know something,” I say.
No one says a word. It’s absolute silence as I scan the crowd.
Machlan and Walker stand side by side with amused grins on their faces. Lance stands next to Nana. She clutches his arm and watches us … proudly, I think.
Old Man Dave nods slowly, his golf-style hat propped poshly on his head. And then there’s my best friend, Navie. She stands at the end, her elbows resting on the counter.
“Get him,” she mouths, making me laugh.
“If anyone is curious, even if you’re not …” I look at the man beside me. “I’m sorry.”
“You wanted to tell us that?” Lance yells. “Come on. Give us something good.”
“Lance, you be quiet,” Nana says.
The bar laughs, teasing Lance, as Peck reaches for my hand. We step closer as I put my palm in his. Just like that, the world shifts. The ball of pain in my stomach and the crack in my heart begin to heal.
“I’m sorry,” I say again. “I got scared.”
“I’m sorry,” he says, repeating my words. “I should’ve come to get you, but I just … panicked.”
“You shouldn’t have had to come. I should’ve stayed.”
We exchange a soft smile.
“I have this … fear,” I say, “that I won’t be able to handle things as good as you do.”
He laughs. “It’s cute that you think I know what I’m doing.”
“We’re a pair, huh?”
“Let’s just … agree that neither of us leave. That we talk things out,” I say.
“Oh, like I wanted to do yesterday?”
I take our hands and shove him. He uses the motion to tug me even closer.
I look up in his eyes, the pools of blue that have captured my attention from the first time I saw them. When I thought he was Logan and a pots and pans thief.
“The past few hours have been a revelation to me,” I say.
Something catches my eye. I glance down and see Molly standing there. She stares at me, and I’m not certain that she’s not going to grab my leg and jerk me on my ass.
But she doesn’t.
Instead, she gives me a smile that’s kind of sad but maybe resolved. I smile back. She tucks her chin with a little nod and disappears into the crowd.
I turn back to Peck. “You were right about a lot of things.”
“I’m always right.” He winks. “Especially this.” He removes his hand from mine.
Sucking in a lungful of air, I watch as he brings his hands to my face. Cupping my cheeks, he plants a kiss against my lips.
The crowd cheers, and I think someone tries to spray us with beer, but I’m not sure. I’m too absorbed by this man and this kiss.
His forehead rests on mine as a shy smile touches his lips. “I love you,” he says.
My chest swells as tears prickle my eyes. Because he means it. It’s the one thing in life I’m absolutely sure of.
I pull away so I can look into his eyes again. “I love you,” I whisper.
The grin he gives me could fix the world.
“That’s enough,” Machlan shouts. “Get off the bar. Drinks half price for the next ten minutes!”
The crowd goes wild. We don’t move. We just stand on the bar as chaos ensues around us. The music starts, and it's the same song that has nothing to do with a pony that we danced to before.
Peck laughs. I think he’s going to start dirty dancing with me again, but he doesn’t. Instead, he takes one of my hands in his and puts the other on the small of my back. And we dance, just differently this time.
Because this time, it is different.
But it’s us. And it’ll always be a little crazy.
Epilogue
Peck
“Why are you all so loud?” I ask.
I wince as Dylan and I step into Nana’s. It’s loud as hell, my family going balls to the wall for some weird reason.
And then I see that weird reason.
Old Man Dave is here.
Nana has a date to Sunday dinner.
“Your reaction looks about the same as mine,” Vincent says as he walks past me.
Dylan elbows me in the side. “Breathe.” Then she snickers. “How’s it feel to have your words delivered to you?”
“Baby, as long as it’s you bringing it, I’ll take it.”
She smacks my stomach.
Mariah and Sienna come over and whisk Dylan away. She’s never met them before, but you wouldn’t know it. They just envelop her like she’s family.
Because she is.
I don’t care that I haven’t really known her that long or that we’ve already kind of broken up once. Or that I still don’t know her mom’s name or what she wanted to be when she was a kid. I know what matters.
I know the sound of her feet when she’s coming to bed and how off-key she
is when she’s making dinner. I can tell you how fast it will take her to reach out when she thinks I’m having a shit day and the tenderness in her eyes when she’s helping me sort Nana’s medications on Monday evenings.
It’s been a great couple of weeks since our little performance at Crave. The me before would’ve thought I was jinxing it. I would’ve been waiting for her to get sick of things and pack up and go. But she’s already done that. She won’t do it again.
I won’t let her.
“Look who I found out front,” Vincent says, coming through the back door. Behind him is Blaire.
“We saw her last night,” Walker says. “Not impressed.”
She points a manicured finger her way. “You. Shut it.”
Everyone laughs.
“How are you all?” she asks, slipping off her jacket. “Hey, Peck.”
“Hey, Blaire.”
I watch her move through the room with an air of sophistication. It’s easy to see how she’s so successful. She commands a room. You can look at her and see how intelligent she is. And beautiful. She reminds me a lot of her mom.
She tosses her jacket on the back of a chair and slides up next to me.
“You forget how boisterous they are.” She laughs. “Wait. I’m talking to you. You’re usually the loudest one of them all.”
My gaze finds Dylan. She’s taking a pie out of the oven and chatting away with Sienna. As I watch them, I wonder if I could ever be happier than I am right now.
“Yeah, well, I’m settling down, I think,” I admit. “I’m good with being a wallflower.”
I watch as Lance comes up behind Dylan and whispers something in her ear. She turns and looks at me and starts laughing.
“Stay away from her,” I shout across the room.
Blaire laughs. “Yeah. You’re a wallflower, all right.”
“I’m working on it.” I take a sip of sweet tea. “So what are you up to these days? We haven’t seen you around in a while.”
“My job has been killing me. I had a trial that went on forever. But I won,” she says, smiling proudly.
“So you’re taking a little time off for once? Good for you.”
She does a very un-Blaire-like thing. She blushes. “I’m actually heading down to Savannah for a few days.”
Gibson Boys Box Set Page 122
