Falling for the Groomsman (Wedding Dare, #1)(49)
The bartender came over and smiled at him, her eyes inviting. “What can I get you?”
She picked the wrong guy to flirt with tonight. She didn’t have red hair or blue eyes or a list of ways to f*ck with his head. “I’ll have some Maker’s Mark, please. Two glasses.”
“You waiting for someone else?”
“Nope,” he said. “They’re both for me.”
“Oh,” she said, her tone even. “All right. I’ll be right back.”
She must’ve read the anger in his voice well enough to know he wasn’t in a playful mood. Good. For once, he didn’t want to be that guy, as Christine called it.
When the bartender set the drinks in front of him, he downed the first one and picked up the second. He should probably wait a few minutes to see how the bourbon mixed with the vodka he’d already drunk. His mouth quirked, and he downed the second glass defiantly.
He lifted the empty glasses and wiggled them in the air. “I’ll have two more, please.”
“You’re upset about something.” The bartender watched him with critical eyes. “It’s a girl, isn’t it?”
He laughed, the alcohol already numbing a fraction of the pain. About damn time. “You got it, ma’am.”
“Want to talk about it?” she asked, making her way over to collect his empty glasses.
“Not a chance in hell.”
“Fair enough.” She picked them up and inclined her head toward the doorway. “But there’s a woman glowering at you right now, and it looks like she’ll be heading this way soon. Be warned.”
“There is?” His hands curled into fists. “Shit.”
If it was Christine, he would walk right up to her, tell her she’d lost a man who could love her the way she deserved, and kiss her until she begged him to stay. Until she told him she wanted to be with him. Then…he’d stay by her side for the rest of his life.
Yeah. That’s what he’d do.
That would teach her a lesson.
He turned around, trying to be nonchalant but probably failing, and scanned the bar. In the doorway, a woman did glare at him—but it wasn’t his Christine.
No, it was worse. It was his sister. He lifted his hand and waved.
Kady stomped over to him, her eyes promising a hell he didn’t want to visit right now. “What are you doing here, drinking like you’re hoping to not remember anything at all, when you’re the one who ruined my waltz?”
He flinched. “Yeah. I’m sorry about that,” he slurred. “Wasn’t my intention.”
The words came out in one long drawl. He hadn’t had that much, had he?
“Ugh. You’re drunk,” she said, her eyes narrowing on him. “I’ve never seen you get drunk.”
It was true. She hadn’t. Well, there was a first time for everything. “Some things are enough to drive a man to drink. Christine is one of those things.”
She sat down beside him. “What happened tonight?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“Here you are.” The bartender set his drink in front of him and smiled at Kady. “Would you like a drink?”
“Yes, I’ll have a dirty martini,” Kady said, giving her a small smile. As the bartender walked away, Kady said, “And you will be telling me what the hell is going on between you and Christine.”
His grip tightened on his glass. “Absolutely nothing. That’s the problem.”
“Stop speaking drunk, and tell me everything in English.”
“I thought we had something between us. Something real, but we didn’t,” Tyler said, his gaze on the amber liquid. “She wanted payback for something I’d done to her in the past, and she got it.”
She made a weird noise and shook her head. The bartender brought over her drink, and she picked it up, taking a dainty sip. “What could you have possibly done to make her want payback?”
He hesitated. “You don’t want to know.”
“Yes. I do.” She glowered at him. “You’re going to tell me what you did, but first? Know this. Christine doesn’t have a spiteful bone in her body. You’re wrong about her.”
He glowered at his own drink. “No, you’re wrong. She wanted to punish me for taking her virginity and leaving, and she did. I fell for the whole act, hook, line, and sinker.”
Kady was taking a sip when he’d started his sentence and by the end of it, she was gagging. Literally. She choked on the liquid and set the glass down with a clunk. She flailed her arms, gasping for air as if she were drowning in the ocean.
“Oh, stop being a drama queen.” Tyler rolled his eyes and reached over, slapping her on the back hard. It didn’t help with choking, but she wasn’t choking anyway. “You’re not going to die. Just breathe and you’ll live to get married.”
She held a hand over her throat and shot him a look that should have set him afire. “Y-You’re an a-*.”
“She lives,” he slurred, flinching when she smacked him hard on the arm. “Ow, that hurt.”
“Good. You deserved it.”
He cocked a brow. “For pointing out the obvious?”
“No, for throwing that out there when you knew I’d react that way.” She picked up her drink and took a long sip. “And, uh, seeing as I didn’t know she, uh, lost her V-card with you in the first place, I kind of needed a second to absorb that.”