“Whiskey, and I promise nothing,” Michael replied on his way to the booth in the back he thought of as his second home. “You could bounce him, you know.”
When he slid onto the side of the booth that let him look out over the whole bar, including the front door, Ty eased in across from him.
Perfect.
“I’m not being bounced,” Ty swore. “I only want a couple of minutes of your time. Maybe half an hour.”
It was obvious he wasn’t getting rid of the kid. “To talk about what?”
Ty’s face went mulishly stubborn, like he was about to say something he didn’t want to say.
He was saved by Sawyer, who placed a double whiskey in front of Michael. “I’m serious about the murders. It’s been a week. Fucking Texas tourists going to kill me. What do you want, Ty?”
Ty looked up at him. “Piña colada.”
Sawyer stared. “You’re fucking with me, right? Do I look like I have a blender and a bunch of umbrellas behind that bar? Do you think this is girls night?”
“You know you used to be more tolerant. I happen to remember when you used to drink wine coolers, the sweeter the better. Piña coladas are delightful, and I don’t care what you think, Sawyer. You liked Cosmopolitans that night in Denver,” Ty pointed out.
There was the slightest uptick of Sawyer’s lips. “I was trying to get into a woman’s panties that night.” He sighed and rolled his dark eyes. “I don’t have any freaking cream of coconut, Ty. The best I can do is rum and coke, or I might have enough lime for a margarita.”
Now he was curious. Sawyer didn’t exactly bend for anyone Michael had seen. He was a hardass who might be slightly criminal.
Ty brightened. “Margarita, please. No umbrella. And what’s with the hair metal?”
“November Rain” had given way to “Mr. Brownstone.”
Sawyer’s frown seemed to encompass his whole body. “Some asshole who bought Hiram’s old place in town came in. Gorgeous wife, but he didn’t like my choice in music. I’m fairly certain he had someone hack my digital juke and now it only plays Guns N’ Roses. All day. Every day. I might shoot myself.”
He turned and walked away.
“So you know Sawyer.” It was the only reason the man hadn’t simply told Ty to fuck off.
“We went to high school together.” Ty sat back, seemingly more comfortable now that he had a fruity drink on the way. “He’s not a bad guy. Just cranky. Kind of like you.”
Well, cranky did sum him up. He took a drink of the whiskey and bit back a groan. It was shit whiskey, but then if he wanted the good stuff he should have gone to Trio. Which was closed for the night and might be forever closed to him from now on. “If you don’t like the company, the door’s that way.”
“Do you care about Lucy?” Ty asked.
“That’s none of your business.” So this was another stay away from Lucy talk. “And like I said before, she made herself plain tonight. I won’t bother her again.”
“You didn’t even let her talk,” Ty pointed out. “You looked around, decided the world was shit, and walked out. She didn’t make herself plain. You didn’t give her a chance to make a choice. From what I can tell she didn’t know there was a choice to be made at all.”
He was confused. “Choice?”
“Between you and me.”
“I thought you didn’t want her to make a choice. I thought she was yours and you were some caveman asshole who intended to club her over the head and run away with her.”
“No, I intended to turn our friendship into something more,” Ty explained. “We’ve always been close. We’ve always been end game, if you know what I mean.”
“So you thought she would wait around while you sowed your wild oats,” Michael surmised.
Ty huffed. “No. That’s not how it was.”
“Oh, I’ve heard. It was a whole lot of oats. There’s rumors that you sowed all the oats of Southern Colorado, and all the tourist oats, too.” He liked the way Ty’s face had gone slightly pink.
Ty frowned, a stubborn expression. “This is not what I came here to talk about.”
Michael stopped baiting him. He wanted to get this over with. “All right, then tell me why you’re here so you can go.”
Ty looked back like he was waiting for something. Or trying to make sure Sawyer wasn’t listening. “I screwed up tonight. I pushed her too hard.”
“Give her a couple of days. Take her some flowers. I’m sure you’ll be back in her good graces soon.” Lucy wouldn’t stay alone for long. She was too sweet, and he’d seen how she lit up when Ty came in a room. She relied on Ty. He himself was nothing more than a flirtation. She was sweet, and she thought she could save him.
He was worried she might be right.
“I don’t think so.”
Sawyer was back, putting a glass in front of Ty. “We’re closing in an hour. There’s a pitcher of this shit behind the bar, and you know where the whiskey is. I’ve got paperwork to do. Let me know if anyone else comes in.”
He stalked away.
So Sawyer trusted Ty. That was interesting.
He glanced around. They were the only ones in the bar. It would have been perfect if only Ty wasn’t here. He could quietly drink himself into a stupor. Sawyer had a cot in the back for just such an occasion. It was sad he knew that. Even sadder he’d slept there more than once.
Ty took a sip of his margarita and winced slightly. “He’s heavy-handed with the tequila. Anyway, like I was saying, I don’t think my plans were going to work no matter how soft I went in, and you’re the reason why.”
He wasn’t sure when he’d become Tyler Davis’s relationship sounding board. “I told you, she’s all yours.”
“But she can’t be while she’s got a crush on you.”
He hated that word. “Crush? That seems like a juvenile word to use.”
“She likes you. She’s attracted to you. Fascinated. What word do you want me to use? Lucy’s always had a thing for strays.” Ty winced again. “Damn it. I didn’t mean to say that. You’re not a stray.”
He didn’t take offense. He was a practical man, and Ty had merely used a word that correctly described him. “I wouldn’t say that. I was part of what I thought was a family and then I wasn’t. That’s kind of the definition of a stray.” He was starting to get tired of being alone. The whiskey wasn’t working the way it used to. “I like her, too, but I don’t think I’m good for her.”
He expected Ty to agree with him, to point his way and nod. “Why?”
Michael decided to be very clear with the other man. “I don’t even have a house here. I know I defend that piece of crap I live in, but it doesn’t have a toilet. I have an outhouse. I don’t have a job. I’ve been living like this for two years now.”
Ty shrugged. “She has all those things. She doesn’t need them from you.”
Now the kid was being naïve. “She obviously could use some help.”
One shoulder shrugged. “And I’ll give it to her. Next objection.”