Roc grumbled but didn’t fully wake, curling up into a ball between the couch and the coffee table.
Charlie returned to the living room, making a face when he saw Roc still in the same place he left him. “I said git!” He nudged him again, harder this time, then tilted a beer bottle over his face. “You’ll be covered in a golden shower in five, four, three—”
“I’m gettin’, I’m gettin’. Damn, Chuck, you’re mean these days.” Roc stood, stumbling over an afghan as he turned down the hall. “And that’s not a golden shower, dipshit.”
“Say hi to Tammy, Roc.”
Roc turned around, eyes wide. “Oh, shit, Tammy, I didn’t know you were here.” He stood straighter, pulling his shirt down around a protruding belly, his pale cheeks flushing. “And here I was talking about golden showers. Shit. Sorry. Was I snoring?”
Tamryn giggled. “Not since I’ve been here, Roc.”
“Ah, cool. I’ll see you two lovebirds later.”
Tamryn’s eyes widened. “It’s not like that.” But he’d already disappeared into a room down the hall. She turned to Charlie, whispering, “It’s not like that.”
“I know. Here.” He handed her a cold beer. “Sit down.” He stepped toward the couch, pushing aside magazines and rental insurance paperwork, clearing a space for her.
When she sat down, she took a long pull of the beer, then fiddled with the label. “I probably shouldn’t have come here.”
“Tammy—”
“Tamryn.”
“Tamryn, sorry, I’ll get used to that, I swear. Old habits, and all. Look, you’re welcome here anytime you want, for as long as you want. We’re your boys, remember? I won’t push you to date me again, especially if you’re in love with someone else. I’m not that guy.”
She smiled, then met his gaze. “Thank you.”
“Wanna tell me what happened?”
“I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”
“The beginning.” He settled into the couch, took a sip of his beer, then pinned her with all-too-familiar brown eyes she knew would pull the truth from her.
But if she went back to the very beginning, she’d break his heart. So she started her story after high school, just after Charlie left.
He didn’t need to know she’d only ever loved Jake Johnson.
Jake ached like someone had physically extracted his heart, left his chest open and exposed, then poured burning embers inside the raw cavity…an alien sensation he couldn’t remember having experienced in all his twenty-six years. Had he ever cared about anyone as much as TB? He didn’t think so. Not with the way this raw ache consumed his every muscle.
Noon had come and gone by the time he’d cleaned up his kitchen, though he knew he’d find flour in obscure places for weeks, possibly months to come. Little reminders of the girl he’d loved and lost before he ever even recognized that he loved her.
He’d realized it all too late. And now she was gone.
“What a fool.”
“Talking to yourself, Johnson?” Reed stood in his doorway, a box of pizza and a case of Buds in hand.
Randy leaned against the kitchen table, sipping on a bottle of Gentleman Jack.
Jake crumpled to the floor. “She left me.”
“I know, buddy.” Reed crossed the kitchen and slid down the cabinet to sit beside Jake. He popped open a beer and handed it to him, then opened the pizza box. “What are you gonna do about it?”
Jake looked up at Reed. “What do you mean? She hates me. She said she was never happy here, never wanted to be here.”
Reed tilted his head. “And you believe that?”
“It’s what she said.”
“Then you’re dumber than you look.”
Randy sat down across from Jake and Reed, stretching his legs out and crossing them at the ankles. He leaned back against the cabinet and shoved half a piece of pizza into his mouth. “You know, you’re about as sharp as a cue ball, Johnson.” Randy grinned his lopsided smile, exposing the missing molars he’d lost after a football game over a decade ago, and a mouthful of half-chewed food.
“What am I missing?” Jake grabbed a slice, biting into the cheesy goodness.
“That girl loves you. She’s loved you since she was still in a training bra.”
Jake met Randy’s gaze. “Let’s not discuss TB’s bras.”
“I’m just sayin’, man, that girl looks at you like you hung the moon. Everyone knows it.”
Jake tilted his head, eyes narrowing.
“Everyone but you, Johnson.” Reed smacked his shoulder. “Everyone but you.”
“Nah.” Jake rubbed his hand through his hair, shaking his head. “She was already packed and ready to go.”
“All right, buddy. Get up. You need to see something.” Reed pulled Jake up by his armpit. “Randy, grab the grub; we’ve got work to do.”
Jake followed the guys next door, raising an eyebrow when Reed pulled a key from his own pocket. The muscles in his arms tensed. “Don’t remember giving you a key, bro.”
Reed nodded. “No shit. Had to get one made.”
Jake’s chest constricted. He really didn’t want to kick Reed’s ass again—
“Now, before you start swinging at me again, it’s not what you think.” Reed unlocked the door, pushed it open, then motioned inside. “Go on, see for yourself.”
Jake narrowed his eyes, watching Reed as he stepped past him.
“It happened one time, buddy.
Jake snorted. “One time too damn many,” he muttered under his breath.
Reed stepped in behind him and flicked on the lights.
Eyes wide, Jake stepped into the center of the room, then spun in a slow circle, left hand on his hip and the other rubbing back and forth through his mop of hair as he tried to make sense of everything before him. Pale pink paint covered the top half of the walls, some striped plaid wallpaper beneath. There was a chair rail installed through one section of the room, halfway finished. Beside a glass display case, a countertop had been installed, a vintage-looking cash register resting atop.
“What…what is all this?”
“You really don’t know, do you? What do you know about Tamryn Baker?”
Jake rounded on Reed, meeting his gaze with narrowed eyes. “I know TB. She likes to sing, and bake, and—” His eyes widened, and he surveyed the small storefront once more, realization hitting him like a brick. “She likes to bake,” he whispered.
“Yep.”
Randy snorted.
Jake shot him a glare, then looked back at Reed. “She really doesn’t want to go to college, does she? Shit, man, all this time, I just thought she was digging her heels in to spite me.”
Reed smirked, shaking his head.
“She wants a bakery.”
“Quick wit for the win,” Randy murmured, fingering the keys on the cash machine.
“She wants her own business.” Jake slowly looked around the room again as things reluctantly fell into place. How had he missed this?
“Not just her own business, Jake. Not just a bakery. She wants a bakery next door to you. Her dreams aren’t just for her.”
Jake scratched his beard stubble, struggling with this new information, still trying to make sense of everything. He looked back at Reed for further explanation, brow furrowed. “Help me out here, man.”
Reed shook his head, smirking. “You really don’t get it, do you? This is The Bakery. Next to The Bar. Your bar. She wants to set up shop beside you. Live in your home. With you. All of her dreams include you.”
Jake shook his head, unable to process Reed’s words.
“Even after loving you all this time with not a whole heck of a lot in return, she wanted to set up shop beside you. Like it or not, man, that girl is the very best thing you’ve ever had in your life.”
“And you fucked it up right good,” Randy said.
TB wanted to live with him? But that couldn’t be right…she’d been very clear in her exit speech. “She said I sho
uld be free.” He shook his head again. “She felt like she was stuck with me ‘cause of Colby. That’s all.”
Reed sighed. “She’s not stuck with you, asshole, she’s in love with you.”
Chapter
Fourteen
Jake scowled. Everyone he’d ever loved had left.
Reed watched him, eyebrows raised, waiting.
Jake shook his head. “Nah, man. She doesn’t feel that way about me.” But even as he said the words aloud, something tugged at his chest. He spun in another slow circle, still processing the sight before him, from the new girly curtains to the Barbie pink walls.
“A bakery?”
“Yes, Jake, a bakery. She wanted to surprise you.”
“But she left.”
“Yes, Jake. Because you’re an asshole.”
Jake glared at Reed.
Reed shrugged. “Sorry. But you know it’s true. How many women have you paraded in front of her?”
Jake threw his hands up. “I didn’t know!”
Randy snorted again, then took a long swig of his beer, following it up with a loud belch. “Sure you didn’t. Everyone knew.”
Jake barked out a sharp laugh. “Apparently not everyone.”
Reed slapped his hand on Jake’s shoulder, so Jake turned back to meet his gaze.
“Well, now that you know, what are you going to do about it?”
Jake inhaled deeply, straightening his shoulders, then puffed out a large breath of air, sagging beneath Reed’s hand on his shoulder. “Not a fucking clue, man.”
Reed frowned. “Yeah, I figured.”
“For all the ladies you’ve been with, I’d have thought you’d have a better understanding by now.” Randy smirked as he bit into another slice of pizza. “Turns out, you’re even dumber than the rest of us.”
Jake raised an eyebrow. “Get a woman—any woman—naked, boys, and I’ll know exactly what to do. Not sure that’s going to work in this case, though.”
Reed chuckled. “No, I’d think not.”
“I’m open to suggestions.”
Reed dropped his hand, then reached for a beer, popping the top off and handing it to Jake. “That, my friend, is on you. If I tell you how to get Tamryn back here, it won’t be sincere.”
Jake exhaled, then chugged the beer in one long swig. “Y’all are worthless, you know it?”
Reed shrugged. “We’ll leave ya to it,” he said as he headed out behind Randy.
Jake paced around the newly transformed space, still dumbfounded by it all. Everything he knew about TB had shifted. She loved him? He couldn’t wrap his mind around it.
Everyone else had known, but he’d been oblivious. Maybe that meant they were wrong, then. Maybe she wasn’t really in love with him. Just because she wanted a bakery next to his bar didn’t mean she wanted him. Not like that anyway. They were practically family. And even if she had wanted him, she’d made it clear by leaving that her feelings had changed. He’d do well to remember that.
And hell, Jake Johnson wasn’t boyfriend material anyway.
Just ask the army of women who hated him.
Tamryn awoke to the unmistakable scent of bacon, the sizzle of meat in a pan, and the clank and bang chorus of boys in the kitchen. She opened her eyes, squinting against the sliver of sunlight seeping in through the living room windows, turned over on the couch and inhaled deeply. “Mmmm.”
“Good morning, beautiful.” Charlie popped his head through the doorway to the kitchen, smiling widely. “I hope you’re hungry.”
“You cook?”
“Bacon? Hell yeah. Who can’t cook bacon?”
Tamryn laughed. “Does it come with eggs or toast, or are you about to feed me a plate of animal product covered in animal product, topped with more animal product?”
Roc emerged from the kitchen doorway. “Sounds legit to me.”
Charlie laughed. “Nah, Tam, I can make toast and eggs, too, believe it or not. How do you want ‘em?”
“Over medium, please.”
He met her gaze. “Just like I like ‘em.”
Tamryn smiled, then pulled herself up into a sitting position and tugged her ponytail holder out to redo her hair.
Roc sat beside her, a plate of bacon on bacon in his lap. “Sleep good?” He pushed a slice of crispy goodness into his mouth like a conveyor belt, until the entire piece was gone.
“Yes, actually.” Considering. “Sorry I showed up and you had to move from the floor.” Tamryn winked.
“Yeah, well, for you, Tammy Baker, I’d sleep in a bed any time.”
“Are you flirtin’ with my girl, you big bastard?” Charlie rounded the corner, plate of steaming food in one hand and a steaming cup of coffee in the other.
“Pretty sure she’s not your girl no more,” Roc said around a mouthful of bacon.
Tamryn accepted the plate and mug, settling deeper into the couch. Her stomach growled, triggering her mouth to water at the prospect of perfectly cooked eggs—no runny whites in sight.
“So, what’s your plan?” Charlie pushed the coffee table back a few feet, then sat cross-legged in front of Tamryn. “Do you have one?”
Tamryn’s cheeks flushed and she shook her head.
“No, I figured as much.”
Tamryn smiled sheepishly, then took another bite of breakfast; she couldn’t talk with a mouthful of food, and staying silent about last night’s catastrophe was her only plan thus far.
“Since you left the dude you were living with and also working for, I’m assuming you left your job?”
Tamryn’s mouth stalled, mid-chew, and her eyebrows rose as her stomach sank. Her job. She hadn’t even considered that part of all of this. “Shit,” she mumbled around a mouthful of food.
Charlie smiled, shaking his head. “You always have been quick to act, slow to think things through.”
Tamryn threw her napkin at him. “I am not slow!”
“Isn’t that the truth? You’re one of the hastiest people I know.” Charlie laughed, dodging as she whipped a chunk of toast at his head.
“It’s no big deal, Tammy, we always loved the way you kept us on our toes.” Roc laughed. “Especially my boy, here, huh, Charlie?”
“Whatever, Roc. Eat your bacon.” Charlie met Tamryn’s gaze again. “We’ll find you a job in no time. Just eat. No worries.”
Tamryn inhaled a deep breath through her nose, then resumed chewing, nodding at Charlie.
A job. What was she thinking? She’d never worked anywhere but The Bar; she had no other qualifications!
Chapter
Fifteen
Two weeks later, Tamryn walked into the local Wynn-Dixie for her third shift as a cake decorator in the bakery. It wasn’t baking, exactly, and working for minimum wage at a grocery store was definitely not owning your own bakery, but beggars and choosers, and what not.
Tamryn had made her bed, and now she laid it in. Alone. In an ugly apron and hairnet combo that slayed a little bit of her soul every day that she put it on. No more than she deserved, she figured, for holding onto her idea of Jake for so long, rather than facing reality.
She shook her head and tied the back of her apron.
Her other job wasn’t too awful, so she tried to focus on that. Hosting karaoke night at the other bar in town, Old Faithful’s, was actually a pretty good gig and rarely ever felt like work in the true sense of the word. She drank for free, sang as often as she wanted, made somewhat decent tips, and kept every damn cent she earned.
There was also the tiny victory of working at The Bar’s only competition.
Take that, Jake Johnson.
Tamryn sighed, her heart tightening in her chest at the thought of him. She straightened her shoulders, washed her hands, then headed back to the main desk to assess the day’s work orders. If there weren’t too many, she hoped she’d be able to get a little baking in. The manager had been kind, granting Tamryn permission to use the industrial kitchen for baking, but only once all store responsibilities were finished.<
br />
Which had yet to happen, but a girl could dream.
Her gaze landed on a stack of receipts a half inch high. She groaned; no baking today. What else was new?
“When you gonna come back and bake for me, Little Baker?”
She grinned, looking up from her paperwork to meet Reed’s warm stare. “You aren’t supposed to be back here.”
“Shit, me? Don’t forget I played football with Marty Bankhead. Your WD manager would let me sleep in the meat freezer if I asked.”
Tamryn stood, smirking. “That would be an odd request.” She tilted her head. “Now, Randy, on the other hand—” Words cut off by a fierce hug, she let Reed lift her into the air, squeezing him back just as fiercely.
“We miss you, Tamryn.”
“I miss you, too, Reed.”
Reed released her and surveyed the room. “So, you’re baking; that’s good, at least.”
“Yeah. I love it here. I’m baking all the time.” Her heart tightened on the lie, but she forced a smile. “It’s awesome, everything I’ve always wanted. I’m so happy here. It’s great.” She promptly closed her mouth; she’d gone too far.
Reed’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly and his lip quirked. “Great.”
“Too much?”
Reed nodded. “Just a bit.”
She inhaled a deep breath. “So, what brings you by?”
Reed nodded slowly. “Groceries.”
Tamryn snorted. “Oh, obviously. How silly of me.” She looked down, fiddling with the hem of her apron, then ran her hands over the fabric, straightening out nonexistent wrinkles.
Reed leaned against the doorjamb and crossed his arms. “Tamryn Baker, have we been pushed into fake niceties and bullshit, you and me? Are we really those people now?”
She looked up, eyes wide. “No, Reed, of course not, I mean…”
“Then don’t bullshit me. This is a shit job in a shit place, and you’re miserable.”
“Reed.”
“Come back to us. The Bar isn’t the same without you.”
Whiskey Burned (Flawed Heroes Book 2) Page 9
