Page 95 of While You're There
“Yeah, and Cole served you three doubles. Don’t fight me on this, Wheeler. I know you live right down the road, but this isn’t my rule. What itis,is my new job on the line. Give me your phone, and I’ll order you a car.”
Rhett balked at the suggestion. Dempsey already had his keys. There was no way he was handing over his fucking phone.
Last call came early at a bar in a small town, so although it was just past midnight, The Oak was closed and almost completely cleared out. Just Dempsey, Cole, and a dishwasher remained, along with Rhett and an attractive redhead who had been eye-fucking Dem for the last hour.
Rhett wasn’t drunk. It took a lot more than five drinks to get him drunk nowadays. But he was loose enough to let out some of his anger and try to retaliate against Dempsey for taking his keys.
“Hey,” he called out to get the woman’s attention. Everything sounded louder now that the music was off and the bar was almost empty, including his own voice. “He’s got a twin, you know. The fucker looks just like him. You could screw that one instead, or in addition, I guess, if that’s your thing.”
The woman’s eyes doubled in size. She hopped off the barstool and exited the bar without saying a word.
“Nice, Wheeler. Real nice…” Dempsey muttered to himself as he watched his potential hookup scurry out the door. He blew out a long breath and scowled. “How about this?” Dempsey leveled with him, leaning his forearms on the bar, trying to play the role of the nice guy. “How about I call Tori to come get you if you don’t want a ride home?”
“No.” The one-word answer came out sharp and clear.
“Give me my keys,” Rhett commanded. He wouldn’t stand to be patronized. He wasn’t drunk. These fuckers had no idea what kind of tolerance he had built up.
“Not happening.” Dempsey stood to his full height and crossed his arms across his chest. Rhett smirked as he took in the tough-guy stance. Someone had obviously been taking lessons from Jake.
“We good out here?” Cole asked as he came back around the bar, interrupting their stand off.
“Not quite,” Dempsey responded. “I’ve got his keys, but he refuses to get a ride or to call Tori to drive him home.”
Rhett glared as the two men talked about him like he wasn’t sitting right there. Cole met his eyes but quickly looked away. At least one of them had the decency to be intimidated. He didn’t have a plan for getting home, but he knew he’d be fine walking the few miles if need be. It was a nice night, and the walk might even clear his head and help him sleep.
He wasn’t interested in walking now. He wasn’t going to let anyone tell him what to do. He knew his fucking limits. This wasn’t it.
Rhett had sat at the bar longer than planned, letting his mind wander and the tension he was carrying unravel. But now he really needed to get home. He had two unanswered texts from Tori. Both had come through within the last hour. It was past midnight, and she needed sleep. He didn’t give a shit about anything else. He just needed to get home and hold her so she could go to bed.
“Should we call Jake?” Cole asked quietly. But he wasn’t quiet enough.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” Rhett snapped.
Neither man looked over at him. They just carried on like he wasn’t right there. Rhett focused on the keys in Dempsey’s grasp, the keys to the car Jake had lent him. Was he fast enough to get around the bar and snag them out of his hand? He tried to remember where he parked the M3. He was pretty sure he was in the back lot, through the alley and behind the building. He hadn’t even bothered to check for a spot out front. He had just parked in the back out of habit.
“Jake said to only call him if there was a literal fire. I don’t know if this counts, man. I’ll text my brother. They’re probably still together. He’ll tell us if Jake’s still awake.”
An intense enervation was starting to take hold as Rhett strained to hear what the two men were saying. All of Dempsey’s words registered, but nothing stuck. He was too tired to fight them anymore. All he could do now was wait and see which one of them finally gave in and called his best friend.
“Okay. He said keep him here, and he’ll come deal with it himself.”
That was the last thing he heard Dempsey say before Rhett gave in to the exhaustion, folded his arms on top of the bar, and closed his eyes.
Chapter thirty-nine
Rhett
“Ishepassedout?”
“Nah, just sleeping, I think. He had plenty to drink, but not enough to pass out.”
“Motherfucker…”
Rhett couldn’t discern who was speaking. The voices were too similar, their tones a perfect match. It was like listening to someone have a conversation with themselves.
He raised his head and looked around the empty bar. Either he was seeing double, or Fielding Haas was standing right next to his twin brother, staring him down.
Why is he here?Rhett returned the glare Fielding cast upon him, but he didn’t utter a word. He needed to get ahead of this, to figure out what they were playing at so he could outsmart them and win.
