“Bite your tongue. Never!”
We all laugh again.
“What about you, Mandi?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “Nah, I haven’t had her do mine yet.”
Posey finishes shampooing me, and we go over to her chair. “Enough about that, tell us about Logan. If the rumors are true, you two are getting it on in the woods.”
“We’re married. Married people have sex.” I shrug it off as though it’s nothing.
“We’re not stupid, Nik. You came back here without him after you were first married.” Mandi sits in the chair next to mine while Chevelle sits in the other one.
“Come on, just be honest. Marla’s not here.” Chevelle twirls in her chair. Sometimes I wonder if she’ll ever completely grow up.
I sigh. “We’re giving it a go. I mean, we’re dating.”
Posey looks at me through the mirror. “That’s great! I’m so happy for you. He seems like a great guy.”
My phone rings in my purse and I’m sure it must be my mom asking for details too. “Can you grab it, Mandi? If it’s Mom, tell her I’ll call her back.”
Posey cuts my hair as Mandi digs in my purse but can’t find my phone. The ringing stops and we all wait because usually she’ll try one of my sisters if the one she wants doesn’t answer. We all stare at one another when no one else’s phone rings.
“Must not have been Mom. See who it was?” I say.
Mandi finally finds my phone and stares at the screen, her smile dimming. “Um… it was Dad.”
Posey glances at me in the mirror, then dips her head down to concentrate on cutting my hair. My stomach sours immediately.
What the hell does my dad want? Usually I only hear from him on holidays and my birthday.
I shake my head. Of course, he probably wants to meet his new son-in-law, the professional MMA fighter, so he can brag to all his friends.
I haven’t really given any thought to what my dad might think of my marriage. Besides the trust issues I carry around, he doesn’t really factor into my daily life. But I’ve got something that’s worth something to him now. Of course he’s calling. How did I just realize this now?
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Jed, go inside.”
Logan
“My ass is going to need some lovin’ tonight,” I say to Nikki on our way into town for this duo night she’s so excited about.
Craig snickers and Nikki quirks an eyebrow. “I take it Craig knows what happened?”
“My training suffered a little bit today.”
“A little?” Craig shakes his head. “I kicked his legs out from under him and you’d think he broke his tailbone.”
They both laugh at my expense.
“It was a lot of splinters,” Nikki says.
“The whole reason for needing some lovin’.” I take Nikki’s hand as we approach the square, and much to my satisfaction, she doesn’t pull away.
“Not sure what you want me to do,” she says.
“I don’t wanna hear what he wants you to do.” With a laugh, Craig walks ahead as if he’s not with us, then he holds up and joins us again.
We enter the square, and there are more people than usual here. From what Nikki says, Handyman Haven and The Grind are working together tonight, so they’ve put on an exhibit outside in the square where George, the owner of Handyman Haven, will show people how to do some rehab project while Zoe from The Grind serves coffee and hot chocolate.
Immediately, we run into Nikki’s mom and Hank.
“Hey, you two.” Marla gives us each a kiss on the cheek and a hug.
“Marla, this is my trainer, Craig. Craig, this is Nikki’s mom, Marla,” I introduce them. “And her stepdad, Hank.”
“You up for watching the rehab project?” Craig asks Hank.
“Nah, I could do that with my eyes closed.”
Marla puts her arm around her husband’s waist and pats his stomach. “Hank is the town fix-it man.”
Her words get my mind swirling about an idea I had for Nikki. Although she and I haven’t talked at all about where we’ll live after this fight, I sense the majority of our time will be spent up here, which is fine with me. I’m starting to like this small town. But Nikki needs a place to record her podcasts, and since I have no idea where we’ll live after tourist season, I need to set something up for her soon.
“Hank, can I talk to you for a minute?” I ask.
“Sure, you can,” Marla answers for Hank.
Hank laughs at his wife. “Of course.”
“We’ll be watching the redo. I see George brought up guests to make it more entertaining.” Marla points in the direction of the crowd.
“I’ll meet you over there.” I kiss Nikki on the cheek and step away with Hank.
He and I weave out of the crowd and end up outside Truth or Dare Brewery. It’s filled with wall-to-wall people too.
“You enjoying your first duo night?” Hank asks. “It’s more about getting the people out to socialize and spotlighting some businesses to help with exposure.”
“I think it’s a great idea, and yeah, so far I’m enjoying my time in Sunrise Bay.”
Hank nods and waves to a few people who pass by and call to him by name. What must it be like to know everyone in town? “That’s good. Sometimes people get overwhelmed in a town like this where everyone knows everything. Like the unfortunate incident with you and Nikki this morning.”
My eyes bulge out of my head. “So people heard about that?”
He shrugs and nods.
“How’s your ass, Stone?” Jed, Nikki’s brother, comes out of Truth or Dare Brewery.
“Lower your voice, Jed,” Hank says.
“Why? Everyone knows already. Miss Hartford has the biggest mouth. You’d have been better off with the Gossip Brigade finding you two. They might’ve had sympathy for you, being men and all.” Jed laughs.
Hank gives Jed a look, but it doesn’t stop him. I assume not much does.
“Anyway, I called you over here to ask a question,” I say to Hank.
“He’s the stepdad, but our dad is a cocksucker, so you can ask me for Nikki’s hand.” Jed comes to stand with us.
That wasn’t what I was going to ask Hank. “Um…”
“Jed, go inside,” Hank says.
“Sure, one thing though. I hate hearing rumors about my sister being naked in the woods. If you two could keep it behind closed doors, it’d be much appreciated.” Jed dramatically shakes his entire body as though it skeeves him out to know his sister has sex.
The sound of someone banging on the window pulls our attention to the brewery. Molly’s standing there with her hands on her hips.
“Jed! I am not working this place alone. Get in here.” She says it so loudly, we have no problem hearing her through the glass.
Jed walks backward. “Whatever happened to respecting your boss, am I right?” He disappears back inside.
“You have to excuse Jed—”
“It’s fine. I should probably ask for Nikki’s hand, but I haven’t had any contact with her father. From the sounds of it, she doesn’t much either.”