18. Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

Hannah

My week of avoiding Remington had come to an end the night at my parents’ house. After that, he kept popping up everywhere I went. Had he not seemed as surprised as I was, I would have suspected he was following me. Our carts had collided in the grocery store. I’d almost run him over while he’d been crossing Main Street. He’d been walking out of the house as I’d climbed the porch steps at Sugar Rush for an afternoon caffeine fix.

Sugar Brush was a small town. Running into people was inevitable. But my run-ins with Remington had exceeded the norm. Tonight, it was happening again at Joy’s Elbow Room, and I was beginning to think some nefarious force was pushing us to be at the same place at the same time.

Cormac was running late for our pool date, so I parked myself at the bar, sipping on a Shirley Temple. Running the length of the bar was a mirror, reflecting the action going on behind me, distorted and somewhat warped as it was.

I hadn’t noticed the table for four when I’d arrived, but once I found the group in the mirror, I couldn’t stop watching.

Tina, Teller, and her husband, Brady, were sharing a table with Remington. I couldn’t quite read Remi’s expression, but his folded arms and tilted body read like a man who would have rather been anywhere else.

Oh, if they were reciting poetry to him, I would need to be carted away since I’d be laughing too hard to stand. I was already snickering into my drink at the very idea.

“What’s so funny, Banana?”

I grinned at my baby brother. For once, he was dressed in a T-shirt and jeans instead of his ubiquitous suit and actually looked his age.

I patted his scruffy cheeks. “You’re late. I had to start the party without you.”

He took a sip of my drink and smacked his lips. “Not spiked. Doesn’t explain why you’re sitting by yourself, cracking up like a lunatic.”

I yanked my glass from his hand and slammed it on the bar. “Of course there’s no alcohol, Maccie. I’m pretty damn insulted you had to check.”

He grabbed the back of my neck, pulling me off my stool and into his side. “I’m just teasing you, Han. I know you’re not drinking.”

Alcohol and I didn’t mix. Since it had led me to make destructive choices one too many times, I’d given it up before I was even legal to drink. I had plenty of vices and habits, but that wasn’t one of them.

“I don’t like that kind of teasing.” I shrugged him off. “I’d ask for an apology, but I’ll just kick your ass at the pool table instead.”

Drink in hand, I led the way to the back of the bar, making sure to weave past Remi’s table. As we drew near, Tina’s voice rose above the music and din of conversation.

“His tender heir might bear his memory,” she recited somberly, one hand raised in front of her, shaking with each word, “but thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes, feed’st thy light’st flame with self-substantial fuel…”

For one fleeting moment, I met Remi’s panicked gaze, and I couldn’t stop myself from barking out a laugh so loud everyone around us turned to look. Poor Tina lost her spot in the poem, her hand hanging impotently as she scanned the printout in her lap.

“What’s happening?” Cormac muttered from behind me. “Why’re Double T reciting Shakespeare? Is this hell?”

I lost it, cracking up so hard my brother had to take my drink from me so I wouldn’t spill it. With the back of my shirt gripped in his fist, he guided me like a naughty puppy to the rear of the bar, away from Sugar Brush’s version of the Globe Theatre. I could practically feel the eye daggers Tina and Teller were throwing at me and hid behind a post until I could get a hold of myself. Luckily, it was the middle of the week. Joy’s wasn’t packed, but Kayla from the grocery store and her boyfriend Brian were at the next pool table over, casting plenty of side-eyes my way.

Mac stared at me, the corner of his mouth hitched. “Something tells me you’ve been up to no good.”

I swiped the tears from the corners of my eyes and grinned at him. “I may have implied Remi’s a big fan of poetry. Tina and Teller apparently took that little tidbit and ran with it.”

Hands on his hips, he shook his head at me. “I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but I can’t in good conscience leave Remi alone with those two—not when you set him up like that.”

“What?” I swiped my hair from my face and waved to Kayla. When she finally looked away, I turned back to my brother. “Come on, Maccie. If he didn’t like the sonnets, he wouldn’t be sitting with them. Besides, he’s got good ol’ Brady over there with him. Surely his tales of glory on the football field have balanced out all the Shakespeare.”

“Nope. Nothing you can say will convince me he’s at that table by choice. I know a hostage when I see one.” He straightened and ran his hand down his front, smoothing out his tee. “I’m going in.”

Cormac was too nice for his own good. And mine . As kids, if I thought up a devious little prank and he found out, he’d always rat me out. Not because he thought it was wrong. It was because his empathy well was too deep to see someone even mildly uncomfortable.

I peeked around the column, displeased to find Cormac had extricated Remi. They were now at the bar together, ordering drinks. I was so busy watching them, I failed to notice Tina and Teller approaching until they were in front of me, looking pretty damn put out.

“You think you’re so funny, don’t you?” Teller hissed.

“Yeah.” Tina stomped her foot. “You’ve been jealous of us since high school. Like we can help that we’re prettier than you.”

Teller raked her beady little eyes over me. “Maybe if you made an effort, you wouldn’t be so bad. But then you’d be like other girls and little Miss Tomboy can’t have that, can she?”

I looked down at my fitted black tank, jeans, and favorite cowboy boots. I’d showered and changed after work. Had even swiped on lip gloss and mascara.

“I thought I looked cute.” I snapped my fingers. “Dammit. I’ll have to try again next time.”

These women were out of their minds if they thought I should get frilly to play a round of pool with my damn brother. Then again, I wasn’t sure either of them would be caught dead outside without being fully made up. Lip gloss and mascara were so far below their bare minimum they couldn’t even see it.

Tina stepped into my space, poking her finger at me. She was a good eight or nine inches shorter than me, so it lost some of its threat, but I sure didn’t appreciate her aggression. If she didn’t back her ass up, I would have no problem putting her in her place.

“You’re a bitch, Hannah Kelly. Someone’s going to teach you a lesson one of these days.”

Teller grabbed Tina’s bicep, pulling her back. “She’s not worth it, T. She thinks she’s funny, setting us up to make fools of ourselves, but she’s the one who looks foolish.”

I folded my arms over my chest. “If you’re here expecting an apology, the possibility of that flew out the window when you called me a bitch. Why don’t you move along? I’m not interested in reliving high school with you.”

Teller’s eyes narrowed on me, spite pinching her mouth into a pucker. “Tell Watt hi for me. Oh, that’s right, he dumped your ass, didn’t he?”

Tina snorted, her eyes raking over me. “No wonder he stepped out on her. Sleeping with her has to be like sleeping with a dude.”

My mouth fell open as her words landed in my chest. Damn her for hitting me exactly where she knew it would hurt. I couldn’t give a shit about her insulting my style, but I hadn’t quite recovered from the way my ex had screwed me over, so this didn’t roll off my back as easily as I wished it would have.

My fists balled at my sides, though I couldn’t say what I’d planned to do with them since I didn’t get the chance to figure it out.

“All right, all right.” Remi slid in front of me, blocking me from view. “You said what you had to say. Time to move along.”

Tina huffed. “I don’t know why you’re sticking up for her. She did this, you know.”

Teller crowded Remi, poking her stubby finger around him. “You’re a bitch, Hannah.”

“You already said that,” I replied.

A low, guttural squeal emanated from between her gritted teeth. “God, I’m gonna—”

A thick arm banded around her middle, dragging her backward. “That’s enough, Tell.” Her husband, Brady, held her firmly in front of him, a scowl crinkling his doughy face. “Let’s go.”

She tipped her head back, her painted lips pursed. “But, babe, Hannah—”

“Don’t care, babe. You’re not makin’ a scene in the bar I frequent. Time to go home.” He jerked his chin toward the other angry blonde. “Tina, you too. Out of here. Now .”

Brady had never been good for much, but he cleared Tina and Teller out of Joy’s in less than thirty seconds. Only when they were out the door did Remi turn around to look me over. He reached out like he intended to run his hands down my arms, but I stepped away and swiveled my head, trying to spot Cormac.

“He had to leave.”

I whipped around to face Remi again. “Mac left?”

“He did.” He picked up a pool cue, passing it back and forth between his hands. “Got a call while we were at the bar ordering. Some big, important guest showed up at the resort a day early. He had to head back to work to deal with it. Told me to keep you company, so that’s what I’m going to do.”

“I”—could not believe my brother had ditched me without a goodbye—“think I’ll head out too.”

“Stay.” He used the cue to block my path. “Let me beat you at least once.”

“I see what you’re doing. It’s not going to work.”

He cocked his head. “Isn’t it?”

“Nope.”

His mouth slid into a slow, easy grin. “I get it. No one likes to lose.”

Damn him. He already had my number. There weren’t many challenges I had the willpower to walk away from.

“Fine. You want me to sweep the floor with you; that’s your decision.” I popped my hip, tipping my head toward the table. “Rack ’em up, Town. Let’s do this.”