“Sweet. An Irish car bomb, please.”
I laugh. Mia’s a trip. “Done, beautiful.” I put her order in with the bartender, only to turn around and be met with two hundred twenty-five pounds of angry man.
“The fuck you think you’re doing?” the wall of man asks. Guy’s totally jacked. I don’t think his neck moves. I’m almost fascinated except for the part where I want to get the hell out of his way.
“Nothing, dude. Just here having a good time.”
“Did you just buy her a drink?” he accuses, pointing at Mia.
“If I did, it’s none of your fucking business,” I tell him.
“The hell it isn’t,” he says, pushing me. I’m not ready for the force of his hands, and the guy’s got fifty pounds on me, easy, so I stumble back into a barstool but recover quickly.
“Chad, stop!” Mia interrupts, placing her small arm on his beefy one. “This is Knox. We’re friends.”
“Is he the clown you spent Halloween with?” he asks angrily.
“Chad, it doesn’t matter,” Mia soothes. “You and I are back together. I only have eyes for you, big guy. I was just—”
“Just what?” he taunts. “Just leaping into his arms? Wrapping your legs around him? Rubbing your tits all over him? What the fuck, Mia?” He’s full on yelling now, and I notice the bartender walking our way. But before he can intervene, Chad loses it. “You promised, Mia. You fucking promised you were done with this shit. We’re back together all of two days, and you’re rubbing up on some guy like a cat in heat.” And with that, he shoves her, pushing her back into the crowd that has gathered.
I don’t even think. I just react. My punch lands squarely on his jaw and he stumbles backward, hooking his foot on a barstool before crashing to the ground. He comes back up swinging faster than I expected, and I now have the black eye to prove it.
All hell breaks loose and the next thing I know, I’m sitting in the back of a cop car heading downtown.
Shit.
* * *
It’s notthe first time Ty’s had to bail my ass out of a jam, but it feels worse than usual.
That could have something to do with the fact that he and Phoebe are sitting in the front of the car like grown-ups, while I’m in the back seat like a petulant child.
“What the actual hell is wrong with you?” Ty says for what seems like the forty-seventh time.
“Calm down, Ty. You’re just making a bad situation worse,” Phoebe scolds.
Yup. It’s official. They’re the parents and I’m the out-of-control teenager.
Ty’s not done. “You realize this could go on your record, right? If that douchebag presses charges…”
I sigh, though I’d rather scream. “Yes, I realize that. And not just because you’ve already said it. But listen, it won’t come to that. He hit me back.”
“So? He’ll claim self-defense.”
“I also have at least a dozen witnesses who saw him shove Mia before I took a swing. He put his fucking hands on her, Ty. Tell me you wouldn’t have done exactly what I did.”
“No, I wouldn’t have because I wouldn’t have gotten my ass in that situation. Jesus.”
He’s frustrated, and I get it, but I’m over the holier-than-thou shit.
“Of course you wouldn’t have. My bad for temporarily forgetting just how fucking perfect you are. Let me out here,” I say when he pulls to a stop at a red light.
“Fuck you,” he throws back. “I’m driving. Stop trying to open the door.”
“Then hit the power lock and let me the fuck out of here,” I say, nearly clawing at the door. I feel like my head is going to explode and sitting in this SUV with the world’s most perfect couple I know isn’t helping matters.
Ignoring me, he guns the engine, and we ride back to The Chapel in silence. I stew in the back seat, Phoebe worries her hands, and Ty grips the steering wheel as though it’s about to float away.
