Hold On (The 'Burg #6)(101)

Yeah.

Garrett was happy.

He just hoped he had it in him this time not to turn it to shit.

“Right, seein’ as I got plans tomorrow to spend time with my niece, I’m gonna spend some time with my girl while she’s at work,” he started. “Lettin’ you go so I can get at least fifteen minutes of some football in so I don’t start gettin’ the shakes before I get behind the wheel of a vehicle.”

“Best let you do that,” she muttered.

“Rocky?” he called.

“Yeah, Merry?”

“Love my little sister,” he said.

That got him silence again before she gave it back. “And love my big brother. See you tomorrow, Merry.”

“See you then, honey.”

They disconnected.

He’d thrown his phone on the bar and was heading toward his couch when a loud banging came at the door.

He hadn’t been home for ten minutes, but he knew from the insistent sound, not to mention the ’burg buzzing, who was standing outside on the landing.

He didn’t want to head that way, but he did because it had to happen eventually. He reckoned he might as well get that ball rolling now.

He checked the peephole and saw he was right because outside was a woman who was pissed for what Garrett considered no reason, which made him pissed, even though he knew he should keep a lock on it.

He didn’t.

He opened the door.

“What? Do you have cameras on me?” he asked, knowing that was not the way to lead, but he was angry Mia was not getting his message and he was not a big fan of her banging on his door.

He wasn’t surprised when she shoved in, taking two strides into the room before turning on him.

She threw out her hands, face full of rage. “Are you serious with this shit, Merry?”

He closed the door, using that time to pull himself together, and turned to her. “We gotta talk.”

“Yeah.” She took those two steps back to him and shoved his chest with one hand, doing it hard enough, his shoulder rocked back. “We f*cking do.”

He wasn’t big on her shoving him either.

“Take a breath,” he demanded, forcing his voice to quiet just as he was forcing himself to remain calm and not lose it.

“I don’t need to take a breath. I cannot believe you’re humiliating me this way,” she snapped.

They weren’t going to do this.

Not now, not ever if it came out angry.

“This is not the time or the place,” he stated. “Like I said, we gotta talk. But it’s not happenin’ now when you’re pissed and I’m not feelin’ like bein’ pushed into a bad mood.”

“Well, f*ck that,” she bit out, shoving him again, this time with both hands so his whole torso swung back.

He took a step to the side and warned, “Watch your hands, Mia. I don’t want them on me again.”

She tipped her head to the side. “You don’t? Oh. I would guess you don’t, considering you got the good stuff direct from a professional all weekend.”

He took a deliberate step away from her before he purposefully locked his body.

After he did this, he dragged in a breath that was supposed to be deep and calming, but it came in shallow and did not one thing to ease the fury he felt building.

“Watch your mouth,” he whispered.

“Fuck you,” she shot back. “Swank’s was bad enough. Swank’s. That woman and you at f*cking Swank’s. But a football game? You took her to a f*cking football game? In the ’burg? For everyone to see?”

“You need to leave. Now,” he returned. “I calm down, you calm down, we’ll talk.”

“About what?” she asked. “How you’re testing me? How many tests do I have to pass, Merry? I mean, you shit all over our marriage. You shit all over our future. Then you shit all over me for years. And now you’re dating the town slut, rubbing that in my face when—”

He advanced, she retreated, and neither stopped doing it until he had her pinned against the living room wall.

He didn’t touch her and kept his distance, but she felt him. He knew she knew she’d pushed too far. He knew this because she pressed against the wall and didn’t move.

“You ever f*ckin’ talk to my face or I even hear you spewed shit like that about Cher again, Mia, so help me God, the over we’re already over will be history. You won’t even be a memory, good or bad. I’ll erase you so completely, I see your f*ckin’ face, you’ll think I have no clue who you are.”

“Merry,” she breathed, eyes big, his name coming out pained.

“I wanted to sit down and talk about this, but you’re here and you’re like you are, which means I’m not big on seein’ you ever again, so this is happenin’ now,” he declared.

Then he gave it to her.

“I f*cked up. I f*cked us up. You’re right. I shit all over our marriage. I did that and I own that. It sucks I hurt you because…once, I loved you. Once, you meant everything to me. But I was f*cked in the head. I f*cked us up because I was terrified of what it would do to you if somethin’ happened to me and you lost me. I’ve felt that loss and know it’s an empty that never gets filled and I didn’t want that for you. I should have talked that out with you. I should have worked that out with you. I didn’t. And that was my f*ckup.”