“Then I best let you go so I can find Ryker and tear him a new asshole.”

“Tear him a bigger one for me.”

He shook his head before he dipped it and touched his mouth to mine.

On the upswing, he muttered, “Came in for a drink with my girl.”

“You’re in luck. I’m a bartender and can see to that,” I replied.

“Can’t have a drink and go out and rip Ryker a new asshole.”

“Do that and then come back and hang with me.”

“She’s bossy even after she fucks up huge.”

I shrugged, being cocky, only because I could.

And again with the happy.

Because I’d fucked up huge; it was true. Merry wasn’t a big fan of me doing that; this was true too.

But it seemed he was big enough to get beyond it.

Or better, he liked me enough to get beyond it.

Or both.

So I could be cocky.

But I also felt happy because this said a lot about Merry, about me, about the relationship we were building. A fuckup like that could have led to a fight that could have torn down some of what we’d built, paving the way for us to tear down more.

Instead, we’d ended it like we’d started it.

Just us.

So yeah, I could be cocky.

And happy.

He studied me as I had these thoughts, ending them with my lips going up in a small smile.

Seeing that, he shook his head again, gave me another mouth touch, then murmured, “Get to work. I’ll be back.”

He started to walk away and I started to follow him, but then he stopped.

I did too.

He twisted to me. “Steer clear of that house, baby.”

Something in his face freaked me.

Shit. Did he already know something was going down at that house?

I didn’t ask. I nodded.

He nodded back, turned around, and kept walking.

Only when he tipped up his chin did I notice Colt leaning against the wall that delineated the pool area from the rest of the bar.

I walked right to Colt, who didn’t move, and stopped.

“Did you call him?” I asked.

“Nope,” he answered. “You barely rounded the corner to get to Ryan when he walked in the front door. I just told him where you were.”

Bad timing.

“Though,” Colt went on, “you plus Ryan equaling disaster, or just Ryan bein’ a dumbass on more than a rare occasion equaling disaster, Merry showin’ saved me from makin’ the call I was just about to make.”

“Traitor,” I muttered, only slightly joking, and made a move to pass him and finally get to work.

“Cher.”

I stopped at his side and looked up at him, raising my brows.

“You mean a lot to me. The pain-in-the-ass little sister I never had,” he announced.

Shit.

More warm and squishy, even with the pain-in-the-ass part.

“Sayin’ that to soften the blow of sayin’ this,” he continued.

Fuck.

“Take your big brother’s advice,” Colt stated. “You’re a tough chick and we all get that. But you hooked your star to a guy who makes a living providing protection. That is not a job. It’s a calling. Do not take that away from him. I don’t give a shit if it’s somethin’ you think is stupid, like fightin’ over who takes out the trash. But definitely shit like this, Cher. You gotta let him have shit like this or you’re not gonna keep him.”