Chasing Dreams (Devil's Bend) (24 page)

“Then
do me a favor,” he retorted, his anger slowly starting to build.

“What’s
that?”

“Stay
away from him.”

Tessa’s
eyes narrowed on him, and he felt the chill all the way to his bones. She
obviously didn’t take too kindly to his demand, but he couldn’t help himself.
He hated seeing that bastard talk to her that way. If Cooper had anything to
say about it, the guy would’ve been leaving in an ambulance, but luckily for
everyone involved, he had somehow managed to keep himself under control.

“In
case you didn’t notice, I own this bar,” she said adamantly before turning away
abruptly and heading back inside, leaving Cooper standing there, staring into
the night.

Shit.

He
hoped like hell this night didn’t get any worse.

A
short while later, Tessa was standing behind the bar once again, making change
when Izzy’s statement from earlier resounded in her mind.

“Just
think of it this way. The night can only get better from here.”

She
hoped like hell Izzy was right. There for a few minutes, when she had been
dancing with Cooper, she thought her friend might be on to something. Being in
Cooper’s arms for even that short period of time had been just what she needed
to calm her nerves. The safety and security she found in his arms was such a
welcome change from the chaos that had erupted not long before that. It was
difficult to admit, but Tessa was actually getting used to him being there and
the comfort that his nearness afforded her.

At
least until he went and said something idiotic like he did outside.

“Stay
away from him.”

It
was almost as though he believed she had started the incident with Chad. She
had seen the doubt in his eyes, known that he wasn’t absolutely sure of her
because of what happened, but for the life of her, she hadn’t wanted to argue
with him. Especially not about Chad. She had no intention of talking about him.
Ever.

“Can
I get a Crown and coke over here?”

Tessa’s
spine straightened as the voice registered and she turned slowly to see Marcus
Evergreen once again gracing her bar with his presence.

Oh,
hell.
Apparently, Izzy spoke too soon. Tessa got the feeling things were about to go
from bad to worse.

Tonight
Marcus looked not much different than the night before, only this time his suit
wasn’t gray, it was either navy or black, she couldn’t tell in the dim light.

Nodding
her head when he continued to pin her with his beady eyes, Tessa took her time
getting the Crown from the shelf. There was no way she could warn Cooper this
time. There were too many people there, too much going on and quite frankly,
she didn’t want him to have to endure this guy just yet. For the first time
since Tessa had met him, Cooper seemed perfectly at ease, like he was doing
what he loved to do – the altercation with Chad notwithstanding.

Once
she had the drink poured, she gave him the total as she pushed it toward him.
And just like last time, he told her to put it on Cooper’s tab.

“Sorry,
no can do. Cooper doesn’t have a tab here anymore.”

Marcus’
chocolate brown eyes narrowed. Tessa felt as though he were examining her,
trying to determine exactly what he needed to say. Or perhaps how he needed to
say it. As she waited, refusing to walk away until he paid for the drink, the
guy continued to make her uncomfortable.

“Fine,”
he said with a huff, standing from the stool and pulling his wallet from his
back pocket. Slapping a ten on the bar, he told her to keep the change, and she
offered a small smile in return.

“You
mind going up there to let Cooper know it’s time to go,” Marcus said, grabbing
her arm just as she was turning to walk away.

Tessa’s
outrage at being manhandled nearly broke loose, but she managed to stare down
at her arm, then back up at Marcus. “You’re gonna take your hand off of me
now.” Her voice was low and calm, but she hoped he understood how deadly her
statement was. She might not have the ability to kick this guy’s ass, then
again, she might. He was kind of puny in her opinion. But there was a bar full
of her cousins, not to mention her brother Jack was somewhere close, who’d do
the deed for her if she just said the word.

Marcus’
fingers slowly uncurled from around her arm, and Tessa pulled far enough back
that he couldn’t reach her. “And I’m not your messenger, so you’ll have to go
talk to him yourself.”

“Oh,
that’s right,” Marcus said, acting as though he just recognized her. “You’re
the gal he’s hooked up with this time.”

Tessa
tried not to let the “this time” in his statement bother her. She failed. It’d
been an emotional day, she was curious. “What do you mean ‘this time’?”

Marcus
glanced away, his eyes searching the room before landing on hers once more.
Tessa kept her mouth shut, waiting for him to answer when she wanted to grab
him by the shirt collar and insist he tell her everything.

“It’s
just time Cooper go back home. He’s done this before, but this is the longest
I’ve seen him stay away.”

A
sour taste filled Tessa’s mouth and her stomach felt as though it might revolt.
She gripped the edge of the bar, trying to convince herself that this guy was a
liar, and she shouldn’t listen to anything he had to say.

Marcus
sipped his drink, and after setting it back on the bar, he looked at her with a
serious expression on his face. “Oh, sorry, sweetheart, I guess he hasn’t
informed you that this is a phase he goes through every now and again. Takes
him some time to cool off, but he always comes back where he belongs. Sometimes
I just need to give him a little push.”

“What
do you mean a phase?” Tessa asked, just for the hell of it. She’d already heard
more than she needed to. A smart woman would’ve told this guy to fuck off, but
something had Tessa rooted in place. A need to know more? To get someone else’s
opinion, maybe? Heaven knew she’d already gotten herself in over her head with
Cooper.

“Oh,
you know,” Marcus began, acting as though she should already know what he was
talking about. “Last year he ended up in Arkansas. Some backwoods town he took
up residence in. Stayed there for a couple of weeks with some filly he picked
up in a bar.”

Tessa
actually felt her heart drop from her chest to her stomach. She didn’t want to
believe this guy, didn’t want to take him at his word. Not after all she’d
learned about him, but he sounded so confident, she was having a hard time.

Wanting
to appear busy, Tessa grabbed a towel from beneath the bar and began wiping
down the top slowly, staying close to where Marcus was sitting. Her gaze darted
between the guy in the expensive suit and the cowboy who was now heading down
the steps at the side of the stage. Cooper didn’t look happy.

“It’s
about damn time,” Marcus said with enthusiasm. “You sounded good up there.”

Tessa
watched as the men shook hands, Cooper’s eyes darting back and forth between
Marcus and her as though he were trying to figure out whether they’d had a
conversation or not. Was he feeling guilty? Did he not think she’d learn that
he did this frequently? After all, the topic of their conversation from the day
before did get derailed every time she had asked about it.

She
suddenly felt sick to her stomach. Really, really sick. Thankfully a customer
walked up asking for a beer and Tessa moved out of earshot to handle the
request. Before she could finish, Cooper and Marcus were heading out through
the front doors, obviously wanting to talk in private.

Well,
she was more than willing to let them chat it up if they wanted to.

“Hey,
Eric,” she called out after she made change and the customer was on his way
back to the table he’d been sitting at.

“What’s
up?” Eric’s deep voice startled her, sounding much closer than she expected him
to be.

“I’m
not feeling well,” she explained hurriedly, her eyes darting toward the front
doors. “You think you can handle things tonight? Jack’s here and so is Izzy.”

When
Eric didn’t respond immediately, she glanced up to meet his eyes. “You know I
can, Tessa. But I don’t think –”

Interrupting
him before he could finish, Tessa mumbled her thanks, grabbed her keys that she
kept under the bar and fled to the back door. Never looking back.

A
few minutes later she was driving out of the overflowing parking lot, not
bothering to look around to see if Cooper was out there. She didn’t want to see
him. Not now. Hell, maybe not ever.

When
she was halfway home, Tessa glanced down to realize she had her hand over her
heart. It was aching. Physically hurting in her chest, but she knew it wasn’t a
heart attack. No, this pain was self-inflicted. All because she had been stupid
enough to get caught up in Cooper’s life. She should’ve known better.

Stupid.
Stupid. Stupid.

Once
she was home, Tessa continued to fight the urge to have a breakdown. He wasn’t
worth her tears. She knew that. And no matter how much she’d started to like
him, she had worked diligently to keep some emotional distance between them.
Even if he had seemingly tried to bridge that gap a time or two, Tessa had
forced herself to stay back.

She
was grateful for that.

That
and her two huskies.

“Hey
there. Did you miss me? Huh?” she asked Harmony and Havoc when they met her at
the front door.

She
wished they could talk, but since they couldn’t, she settled for taking solace
in the way their entire bodies wagged with their happiness. Making her way into
the house, she went straight for the dog food, knowing that’s the first thing
they expected even though she was several hours early. Just as she was pouring
the last scoop in Harmony’s bowl, a knock on the door nearly sent her into
hysterics.

Whirling
around, she found Izzy standing on her front porch, staring at her through the
screen door.

Damn
that Eric. Why’d he have to be such a loyal friend?

“Eric
send you?” she asked her friend as she motioned for her to come inside.

“Of
course he did. And I came running.”

Izzy
was usually a big help when the bar was busy, but she knew Eric wouldn’t
hesitate to send her to make sure Tessa was all right.

“Want
some wine?” Tessa offered.

“Nope.
I brought something stronger,” Izzy answered, revealing a bottle of Tito’s
vodka.

“Thank
heavens,” Tessa exhaled on a sigh. Even if the bottle had come from her bar,
she wasn’t going to ask questions.

“Come
on, let’s go back outside.”

Izzy
knew her all too well. Tessa didn’t do well being cooped up inside, no matter
the time of day or the season. She’d much rather be sitting on the front porch,
enjoying the weather. She never actually thought about why that was, but for as
long as she could remember – even as a child – Tessa had always escaped
outdoors.

She
remembered back to when her mother was an emotional wreck because of Tessa’s
good-for-nothing father. Even years after the man had abandoned them, Sheila
spent hours sobbing in the house. Rather than listen to her mother cry her eyes
out, Tessa had found her solace outside. And if Adam ever came looking for her,
he knew she’d be somewhere close, but always outside rather than in.

Izzy
planted her butt on the porch swing and patted the cushion beside her. Tessa
knew better than to argue, so she ventured over to her friend and plopped down
beside her.

“Want
to tell me what happened?” Izzy asked as she uncorked the bottle of vodka.

“Not
really, no,” she muttered, knowing Izzy didn’t care one way or another whether
Tessa actually wanted to talk. She’d be chatting it up before too long. Vodka
was one thing that always loosened Tessa’s lips.

“Tough.”
Izzy took a swig of vodka and handed it over.

This
was going to be one of those nights. She could feel it.

Half
an hour later, or hell, maybe it was just ten minutes, Tessa was feeling good.
Better than good actually. The smile on her lips wasn’t forced, nor was the
numbness in her limbs.

“How
serious is this thing with you and Cooper?” Izzy finally asked, and
surprisingly, the vodka refused to allow Tessa to get defensive.

“I
thought it was serious, but I learned he’s…” Ok, so maybe she wasn’t as loose
lipped as she thought she was.

“He’s
what?” Izzy asked, the words coming out as
heswatt
.

“Nothing.
He’s just not what I thought he was,” Tessa slurred before grabbing the bottle
of vodka again.

“So
does that mean y’all aren’t together anymore?”

Tessa
wasn’t sure what it meant. She’d listened to Marcus and part of her brain had
latched on to every word. The other part told her she needed to give Cooper a
chance to explain himself. She considered that part vulnerable and stupid, so
she refused to listen to it.

She
was done with vulnerable and stupid. Done. Done. Done. “Izzy,” Tessa began as
tears formed in her eyes. “Why me? Why… I should mind my own business.”

“What
are you talking about?” Izzy asked, her full attention now focused on Tessa
making her feel like she had to say something.

“Trust.
It’s too hard to trust anyone. The only person I should’ve ever trusted was
Richie.” Nothing short of the truth. Richie had loved her, protected her. He
had never hurt her.

“Remember
that time when you and Richie broke up and you found him talking to Annie
Metcalfe?”

Glaring
over at Izzy, Tessa’s mouth fell open. “Are you serious right now?”

Izzy
stared back at her like she’d lost her mind. “You didn’t trust him either, did
you?”