Hold On (Page 34)

“You been livin’ in a hole since last Friday?” he fired back sarcastically.

“Rumor is flyin’ but not confirmed,” Tanner told him, finishing, “until just now.” His gaze stayed intent. “You wanna share where that’s at?”

“Right now, it’s not anywhere, seein’ as Ryker shot off his mouth and by that, Tanner, I mean the woman is done. I told you she was there when I was dealin’ with the finality of losin’ Mia, and she was there in a way that left somethin’ to explore. I was makin’ no headway with that but you are in the know that she means something to me, we’re tight, and with Ryker’s play today, that’s gone. She’s done with us any way she can be done.”

“You were tryin’ to make headway?” Tanner cautiously pushed.

“Fuck, you seen the Cher we’re talkin’ about?” Garrett asked.

Tanner grinned and mumbled, “Yeah.”

Yeah.

Not a lot of men would look at the kind of pretty Cher Rivers had and not feel it somewhere, primarily in their dicks. Took a certain kind of man to see the barbs she surrounded herself with and give it a go. But there weren’t many who wouldn’t take it if a miracle occurred and she gave them a shot.

Tanner wouldn’t take it because he had a wife, kids, and a happy life he worked hard to get.

But that didn’t mean he didn’t appreciate a good view.

“That’s the package, Tanner. Found Friday night, wrapped up under it, what she’s got blows the mind. I don’t mean just the fact the woman is fuckin’ outstanding in bed. You get that with the attitude, her sense of humor, and Christ, never laughed so hard with another being, man or woman. All that comes with her brand of loyal and protective, which is sharp, but that edge hides a warm so warm, you got hold on that, you’ll never be cold.”

“Jesus, Merry,” Tanner murmured.

“Now,” Garrett kept on, crossing his arms on his chest, “not lost on anyone in this ’burg, especially the ones with a vagina, any woman who gets my attention after Mia made the finality of our final obvious by accepting another man’s ring, that woman would be a rebound. And straight up, that’s what I thought had happened with Cher the morning after. I needed to let go and she gave me that opportunity. Then I found she had a situation, and my reaction to that bore contemplation. I contemplated.”

“And you wanna explore,” Tanner surmised.

“I did. She doesn’t. She’s certain she’s a rebound fuck, and she’s certain of a lotta other things she was tryin’ to convince me about in a way I knew I had my work cut out for me. One thing I knew, the way things are with me and the way she just fuckin’ is, I could make no promises I couldn’t keep. Not for her, so she didn’t get in too deep. Not for her kid, who she isn’t gonna drag into another situation that might go south. The last man she let in, turned out he was as bad as it gets. She doesn’t need another man to make promises and shit all over her. But in all that, I’d made a promise. One promise. I broke it for a reason. Now she really doesn’t wanna explore.”

“I had no idea about any of this shit, brother, or my brief with Ryker would have gone different,” Tanner told him. “I didn’t expect he’d say shit anyway, but you know I wouldn’t lay you out like that if I knew where your head was at with Cher.”

Garrett drew a breath in through his nose and looked out the window.

“You really over Mia?” Tanner asked quietly.

Garrett turned his gaze back to him. “It’s an uncomfortable feeling, kickin’ your own ass for years, knowin’ you let go the only woman you loved and knowin’ you should’ve pulled out all the stops to get her back, then switchin’ that on a dime to kickin’ your own ass when you realize she wasn’t worth that emotion.”

“Yeah, I get that. That’s a major shift, Merry. And, not tellin’ you somethin’ you don’t know but gonna say it anyway ’cause it’s important, you gotta know you made that shift before you explore dick with Cher Rivers.”

Garrett locked eyes with his friend. “Happily stand at the town limits and wave the woman on her way to Bloomington. I’m dead serious about that. Our end did not happen Friday night. Our end happened five years ago. I drew out the grief of that, with her stringin’ me along in ways I never shared because that was mine and hers. Seein’ it through different eyes now, though, it wasn’t mine and hers. It was hers, and it was shit.”

“Stringin’ you along?” Tanner asked.

“Mia likes games. Blinded by my feelings for her, never saw it for what it was, but she likes games,” Garrett told him and watched Tanner’s jaw go hard.

He wasn’t a big fan of secrets between family or friends, but on this, he had to suck it up. Until Garrett wanted to make info like this Tanner’s business, it wasn’t.

Which meant only now, sharing this info about Mia was his business.

“Since Friday, had time to think about it,” Garrett went on. “And what I think is that I held on to what I had with her so I wouldn’t be open to what I could have with someone who didn’t get off on yankin’ my chain.”

“Yankin’ your chain?” Tanner prompted.

“We’re not talkin’ about Mia now,” Garrett told him. “Time I gave her is done.”

“Okay, brother. I hear you,” Tanner muttered, then he asked, “You think you’re where you need to be now?”