On The Rocks

Before the first teardrop falls though, Hunter is pulling me into his arms and tucking my head against his chest. “It’ll be okay, Gabs. She’s just angry, but she’ll come around. She didn’t mean those things.”


Squeezing my eyes shut to dispel the moisture hanging heavy in them, I nod my head in agreement, although I’m not really sure Casey is going to get over this.

Pulling back slightly, Hunter uses his hand to push my chin up so I look at him. “I swear to you… I did not kiss her. She caught me by surprise, but I pushed her away as soon as I got my bearings. I have no fucking clue what she’s doing here.”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I shouldn’t have gotten so mad, and now I’ve ruined everything. I’ve embarrassed you, pissed Casey off…”

Leaning down, Hunter kisses me softly, gently holding my head. “Don’t worry about it. It will be fine.”

Nodding my head, I step back. “Listen, I’m going to head home. You need to go take care of your guests. We can talk more tomorrow.”

“I’ll take you home,” Hunter says, understanding it would not be a good idea for me to go to his house tonight. A slight surge of jealousy hits me that Sasha will be staying there with her brother—at least, I assume she will be—but Hunter really hasn’t given me any reason to distrust him.

“No,” I tell him as I lay a hand on his chest. “I’ll get a cab. Go inside and check on Casey… and like I said, you have guests who came in to see you.”

Hunter looks unsure, glancing between the bar and me. Finally, he calls over his shoulder to Brody, who’s still standing by the door. “Can you take her home?”

“Sure,” he says quietly. “Let me go get my keys.”

Hunter steps back up to me, reaching a hand up to cup me behind me head. He looks at me, pinning me hard with assurance. “It will be fine, Gabs. Trust me.”

I nod even though I completely disbelieve that this could in any way turn out okay.





Well, if one good thing came out of the fiasco of tonight, at least Gabby and I are out in the open.

Assuming I still have Gabby.

After I loaded her in the car with Brody, I went inside to do damage control. I found Casey in the bathroom crying, while Alyssa tried to talk to her. I walked in there, ordering another customer who was primping in the mirror out, and tried to set things right.

“Casey… please don’t be mad at Gabby. She was struggling with what to do, and she was scared.”

Glaring at me, she blew her nose while Alyssa patted her on the back and said, “How could you both keep that from me? What does that say about the way you trust me?”

“You didn’t react all that well, Case,” I point out. “You told Gabby she had ‘sunk her claws’ in me. Maybe that’s what she was afraid of.”

“I was madder that she kept it secret, not that she was seeing you.”

“It didn’t come out that way,” I said gently. “But it’s done. You need to move past it and forgive her for not telling you. We all make mistakes.”

She huffed at that statement, but I ignored it. I gave her a hug, told her I loved her, and suggested she go home and get some rest. They left not long after that.

The more awkward part of the night came from having to deal with Sasha. By the time I finished talking to Casey, Brody had made it back to cover the bar. I headed home with John and Sasha following me in their rental car. The ride was all too short because I was stewing with what to say when we got there.

After giving them a brief tour of my house, telling Sasha she could have the spare bedroom, and making up the couch for John, I pulled John aside while Sasha was in the bathroom.

“What the hell, man? Why did you bring her?”

“I didn’t, dude. Not intentionally. I told her where I was going, and she showed up at the fucking airport this morning. What was I supposed to do, tell her she couldn’t come?”

“Yeah, John,” I said angrily. “That’s exactly what you should have done.”