“I’m really okay, Merry,” I told him.
“I know you are. That’s you. You’re not okay, you find a way to be. That doesn’t mean I’m not pissed as shit my ex is bein’ a stupid bitch and draggin’ you into that. So I’m gonna be in to make sure you’re okay, and I’m gonna be in so I can be with you and not go find her and rip her a new asshole.”
“Best play you got, seein’ as I’m not sure she’d feel a new asshole,” I muttered.
Merry’s next sounded disbelieving. “Lore said Tanner waded in. He didn’t set her straight?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think like her, but I got the impression she’s all in and Tanner mighta delivered a few hits, but she’s feelin’ the need to prove something, so she’s gonna get back up and keep fighting.”
“Fuck,” Merry muttered.
I had no response because I didn’t know what to say. Not only had I never been in a situation like this, it was true, I didn’t think like Mia. I had no idea what she was planning and how those plans would be carried out.
And worse, if they might wear Merry down.
“Somethin’ you should know,” he said in a way that told me it was something I should know, but it was something I didn’t want to know.
“Hit me,” I replied, even though I wasn’t big on taking another hit that evening.
“Drew and Sean had the occasion to be in her development yesterday. Said the for sale sign on her house is down.”
“She sell?” I asked hopefully, knowing that was stupid.
It was always stupid for me to hope.
“Don’t know. Don’t care and don’t wanna give the impression I do.”
That was a good play.
I again said nothing.
“She doesn’t have it in her,” he said quietly.
“Mm-hmm,” I replied.
“Babe, not feelin’ dick about this except supremely pissed she had a go at you and equally pissed my hands are tied. I got no moves except ignoring her ass. Not a man who likes to be cornered, but there’s nothin’ I can do. I confront her, she’ll take that as attention and time I’m givin’ her and read it wrong. There’s no move but wait it out, play it smart, and give her nothing. She doesn’t have it in her to stay the course. She’s gonna give up.”
“Merry, I’m at work,” I reminded him. “Darryl’s back of the bar. He can pull beers and uncap bottles but a mixed drink is a crapshoot. I gotta get back out there.”
“Cherie,” his tone was now soft, “sorry as fuck she did what she did, but I’ll be sorrier, her doin’ that shit puts thoughts in your head that I’m not where I’m at with you, which, it’s important to note, is where I wanna be.”
I drew in breath.
He kept talking.
“I’ll be there in an hour. If you’re down with it, follow you home and hang with you until Ethan goes to bed.”
That’d work for me.
“That’s a deal.”
“Right, lettin’ you go. See you soon.”
“See you soon, Merry.”
I was about to hang up when he called, “Cher?”
“Still here,” I told him.
“Last coupla days, slowed things down,” he stated. “You were right, we hit hyperdrive. But you need to settle into this in a way you believe. And you also got a kid. He’s had you and he’s had all of you for eleven years. He digs me and doesn’t hide it. I like that. But I don’t need to all of a sudden be in your space and in his face every second of the day. Once, I went about winnin’ a woman. Never tackled the feat of winnin’ a family. Need you to know I’m in this with you and it’s a place I wanna be. Same time, need your boy to know that, you got me, he doesn’t lose you. He just gets me too. We take that time to do this smart, which means I give you and Ethan space along the way, I don’t want you to use that space to let shit fuck with your head.”
Winnin’ a family.
God.
Merry.
“All right, baby,” I whispered.
Hold On
Kristen Ashley's books
- Holding the Dream
- Dance Upon the Air
- High Noon
- Moon Island(Vampire Destiny Book 7)
- Illusion(The Vampire Destiny Book 2)
- Upon A Midnight Clear
- Son Of The Morning
- MacKenzie's mission(MacKenzie Family Saga #2)
- Loving Evangeline(Patterson-Cannon Family series #1)
- A Billionaire's Redemption
- A Convenient Proposal
- A Dishonorable Knight
- A Headstrong Woman
- A Passion for Pleasure
- Atonement
- Beyond a Doubt
- Beyond Control
- Cavanaugh on Duty
- Colton's Dilemma (Shadow Breeds)
- Conceal, Protect
- Conflict of Interest
- Confessing to the Cowboy
- Dreams Don't Wait
- Explosive Attraction
- Find Wonder in All Things
- Forbidden Fires (Bondage & Breakfast)
- Galveston Between Wind and Water
- Game On
- Gone with the Wolf
- Honor's Players
- Illusions of Love
- Intaglio Dragons All The Way Down
- Just One Song
- Living London
- Lone Wolf (Shifters Unbound)
- Love Resolution
- Lyon's Crew
- Mountain Moonlight
- Need A Want Companion Novel
- Of One Heart
- Once a Bad Girl
- Once a Thief
- Once Again a Bride
- Once and Again
- Once Touched, Never Forgotten
- Once Upon a Kiss
- Once Upon a Prince
- One Desert Night
- One More Kiss
- One More Sleepless Night
- One Night of Misbehavior
- One Night Standoff
- One Texas Night
- Only Love (The Atonement Series)
- Operation Endurance
- Primal Bonds
- Questions of Trust A Medical Romance
- Reflection Point
- Retribution
- Savage Redemption
- Second Chance
- Secure Location
- Someone I Used to Know
- Son of a Preacher Man
- Soul Bonded
- Sunset Seduction
- Sweet as Honey (The Seven Sisters)
- Sweet On You
- Tempting Cameron
- That Carrington Magic
- The Bridgertons Happily Ever After
- The Demon's Song
- The Dragon and the Pearl
- The Lone Rancher
- The Millionaire Cowboy's Secret
- Translation of Love
- Twisted Perfection
- Vision In White
- When Love's Gone Country
- The Lost Tycoon
- Down on Her Knees
- Love, Your Concierge
- A Demon Made Me Do It
- Campbell_Book One
- The Lady of Bolton Hill
- Born to Ride_A Clubhouse Collection
- A Question of Honor
- Blood on Copperhead Trail
- Passion and the Prince
- Top Secret Twenty-One
- Dungeon Royale
- Make Me Bad(Private Lessons)
- My Fair Billionaire
- Writing Our Song:A Billionaire Romance
- Kissed by Moonlight
- Redemption in Love
- The Masterful Mr. Montague
- Diamonds are Forever
- Every Second with You
- If You Only Knew