"Give me another," Harley muttered, tapping the bar. "And don't be stingy with the good stuff this time."
Desi roller her eyes. "You know, this isn't going to solve your problems," she said as she set up another round.
"No, but it sure makes me care about them a hell of a lot less." Leaning her head on her arms, she gave her gothic friend a pathetic smile.
Shaking her head, Desi tipped the bottle up into the glass. When Harley gave her a skeptical look, she laughed and tilted it up again, pouring in more of the thick liquid.
"Happy now?" she asked, raising a pierced eyebrow. At Harley's nod, she poured the concoction into a martini shaker and started vigorously blending the mixture.
While Desi did her thing, Harley closed her eyes. She was exhausted...though part of it was due to an incredible night with her sexy Adonis which had not only left her tired, but slightly sore to boot. Not that she was complaining. And she wasn't weary from the ride on her bike, she loved the freedom of the open road when she was on her Harley. She had burned up miles of pavement this morning trying to wrap her mind around everything and make sense of it. From Travis's outrageous claims of her being stalked by some imaginary killer to her family trying to beat the man she loved into a pulp before they even got a chance to say hello. Even her problems with Rafferty snuck into her musings after a few 20 or 30 miles.
Sadly, the only conclusion she could come up with was men were idiots and she didn't know how to speak their language enough to tell them off in their own complicated tongue.
After she had calmed down to the point she was no longer seeing red and her brain was frazzled from overthinking, she had made a U-turn and ended up at the Longhorn to drown her troubles and to seek advice from her friend. But, mostly, it was to drown her woes. Advice from Desi was iffy at best.
"This is your third one." Desi interrupted her thoughts as she poured Harley's drink into a tall glass and pushed it towards her.
"It's your fault for making the best chocolate milk around," she said, lifting up her head. Snatching it off the counter, she took a long drink. "Ahhh...so good," she moaned, licking her lips.
"Wonderful, I'll add it to my resume," Desi drawled, wiping down the counter. "So let me get this straight." She chucked the rag she had been using into the sink behind the counter and leaned against the bar. Crossing her arms over her black shredded t-shirt which gave glimpses of the blood red camisole she wore underneath, she gave Harley a scrutinizing stare. "You waltz into town and snag the most eligible bachelor Wolf Springs has to offer. Who then proceeds to pop your long overdue cherry like a true professional and then...your so called family shows up who just happens to be five of the hottest men this side of Thunder Down Under..."
"Six," Harley mumbled, not meeting her gaze as she toyed with her glass.
Desi snorted. "Oh, excuse me. Six sexy cowboys and you're sitting here at my bar bitching to me about it?"
Harley took an awkward sip of her drink. "Yes?" she said hesitantly, not really sure what the correct answer to that one was.
"Honey, if you were standing on a chair with a rope around your neck, I'd kick the fucking chair." Desi said, slapping her palm on the bar and making her jump.
Harley stared at her as if she was from another planet. "Gee, thanks buddy ole pal of mine," she grouched. "Nice to know you have my back."
"Seriously, you know I love you, but that's the worst case of first world problems I've ever heard."
"You weren't there. They were at each other's throats," she defended lamely.
"So what? Hello? News flash...that's what men do! They fight, fuck and feast." She waved a hand in the air, the bar lights catching the silvered spikes on her leather cuff.
"Charming, Desi. Have you ever considered a career working for Hallmark?" Harley said wryly.
She raised her eyebrow. "Trust me, my advice is way better than any of that flowery shit they sell. You want sugar, spice and everything nice? Go sell your troubles to Becca." She narrowed her sandy eyes. "Although, I think she'd probably smack you silly with that purse she drags around. Especially if you tell her how many orgasms you enjoyed by that orangutan."
"So, according to you, I'm supposed to just let them kill each other because I had great sex?" Harley snorted, shaking her head.
"Yup. To the victor goes the spoils."
"I'm not a piece of meat to be fought over, Desi and I happen to be in love with the one my family plans on burying six feet under." She sighed. If they haven't already, she added to herself.
"Oh stop being so dramatic," she snapped, grabbing Harley's empty glass off the counter. "This isn't Romeo and Juliet. Travis can take care of himself. Do you really want some namby-pamby guy who can't take a lick or two?"
"I guess not, I just wasn't expecting...," she shrugged her shoulders, "all this hostility."
"You brought a new hound into the doghouse. Of course there's going to be snarling and sniffing of butts." Desi reached over and patted her hand. "They all love you. It's in men's fucked up genetic code to want to protect what they think is theirs." She reached up and lightly fingered the silver heart with her husband's name dangling from her collar.
Harley's brow dropped to a frown. "I know Bo. He has an extraordinary amount of that genetic code. He's as stubborn as the day is long and has become worse since daddy died." Harley took a deep breath. "Making him see that I really do love Travis isn't going to be easy."
"So you make him see. When one door slams shut, you open the fucking door because that's how doors work."
"You sound like a messed up fortune cookie," Harley snorted. "Besides, I think it's when one door closes, you open a window."
"Ever try to throw a man out of a window?" she said, shrugging her shoulders. "Besides, if your want life to be sunshine and roses then you can always move back to the boring one you left behind in Colorado where you can sit surrounded with your family of grunting protectors until spinsterhood approaches."
"Good point," Harley mumbled. It would have been infinitely easier to have stayed in Colorado, but...there was no Travis back home. Actually...there was nothing for her there. She would never find the kind of love she had discovered with him. Sure, she would be surrounded by friends and family in a town that didn't hate her very existence...but...that wasn't enough. Not anymore. "What do you suggest I do?" Asking Desi for personal advice was risky, but right now, she didn't have any other choice. It was risky or nothing at this point.
"Give them something to focus on rather than ripping out each other's throats."
"Like what?" Harley narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her gothic friend.
"You can always tell them about Rafferty," she suggested.
Harley gasped. "Are you insane?"
"Hear me out." Desi held up a hand. "You need a project the men in your life can rally around and you need to get Rafferty out of your hair. What better way to kill two birds with one stone?"
"They will kill Rafferty!" she hissed. It would be like sic'ing a bunch of rabid grizzly bears on the man. Not that he didn't deserve it, but holy shit!
"And the problem with that would be?" Desi gave her an evil smirk. "You'd probably get the key to the city for getting rid of him. Hell...they might even make you mayor."
"I am not discussing this," Harley said, though the thought made a smile tug at her lips.
Desi put both her palms on the counter and leaned in, her face scrunched up. "Why not?"
"Because," Harley rolled her eyes, "I have enough on my hands with dealing with that pig. I don't need more. I can handle Chucky."
"Oh yeah, you're handling him alright." Desi chuckled dryly. "Do you realize he has started a campaign against you with the local businesses? Not just the feed store," she paused for a moment, "all of them. He's trying to make sure everybody in town is against you, either by force or willingly."
Harley's eyes popped wide. "You're kidding me?"
"I wish I was, but he even had the audacity to drag his blubbery butt in here." She did an over exaggerated shudder. "I told Max we needed to fumigate to get the smell out."
Oh yes, Harley remembered that smell well, she thought turning a little green. "What did he say?"
"I didn't give him a chance. I had already heard through the gossip grapevine what he was up to, so I met him at the door with this." She pulled out a shotgun from under the counter and jerked her arm. The gun made an ominous sound as it loaded.
"Jeezus!" Harley reared back. "Put that away before you get arrested," she sputtered at her friend, looking nervously at the few customers who had filtered in.
"Don't get our panties in a wad." Desi laughed. "This is a small town, everyone has a gun." She stowed it back under the counter. "The point is, he's not going to play fair and neither should you."
Harley slid off the stool, sloshing a little from the amount of chocolate milk she had consumed. Probably not her best idea, she grimaced. If her thighs rubbed together anymore, she'd be able to start fires.
"Where are you going?" Desi asked, following Harley to the exit.
Turning around, she gave her a hug before putting on her helmet. "I'm going to take your advice and have a talk with my men." With that and some rather rambunctious applauding from Desi, she walked out and headed for her bike.
She had seven over protective Neanderthals at home, itching for a fight. If Rafferty wanted one, he was going to get one. Even if all her knights in shining armor were only morons in tinfoil, she thought laughing to herself. Throwing a leg over her Harley, she started it and headed towards home.
*****
"Pass me a cannoli." Vincent Castello reached out a meaty palm towards his traveling companion.
"Vinny, the boss doesn't want you eating in his cars anymore," Franky said grouchily, not bothering to look up from his phone. He was sick of this backwoods hick shit they'd been driving through for days. He was from New York dammit, Franky "Switchblade" Salvatore didn't do cows.
"The boss ain't here now is he?" Vinny said, raising a brow. "How is he gonna know unless you start snitching on me?"
"I don't have to snitch on you. The trail of meatball sauce you left on the interior of his Mercedes when we did that job in Yonkers was pretty telling." Franky held up his phone, but still...no damn signal. "How the fuck do people communicate out here?"
Vinny shrugged his humongous shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe they still do that tapping the wire thing."
"You're a moron."
"Whuh? It's a real thing. I saw it on one of those historical type shows."
"It's not tapping on the wire." Franky rolled his eyes. "It's called a telegraph."
"Oh...my apologies," Vinny gestured one of his paws around. "I didn't know I was traveling with Mr. Trebek. I'll take stop busting my balls for one hundred, Alex."
"That's why I'm the brains and you're the brawn."
"Is that so Mr. Fancy Pants? Then hows come you got demoted from your big cushy job of finding hookers for the boss's poker games to travel across country with me?"
Franky winced. You slip up one measly little time and accidently hire your boss's distant cousin's daughter twice removed and BAM, your ass is planted in a nondescript Lincoln Navigator next to a man who smelled like cheese.
"Cat got your tongue, Franky?" Vinny chuckled. "Or maybe we should start calling you Spanky instead of Switchblade, because...damn man...you got spanked for that fuckup."
Franky whirled around and flicked open his ever present switchblade. "Call me that one time and I will cut off your balls and serve them up in Carmine's spaghetti, capish?"
"Yo, Franky...chill man." Vinny pulled back from the blade pressing against his plump cheek. "You need to relax, otherwise you're gonna give yourself high blood pressure, no lie."
"Just fucking drive the car," Franky muttered, swiveling the knife closed with a fancy twist of his wrist.
"What youse think I'm doin over here?" Vinny grumbled, lifting his hands off the wheel and waving them around. "Fucking ain't much driving involved. This road is as flat as our sister's chest."
"Are we even on the right damn road?" Franky held up his phone and cussed. "I can't get GPS on this bitch to save my ass."
"That's why we have this." Vinny turned his huge bulk to the side and started digging around in the back of the Navigator. Huffing and puffing, he stretched further, but the map was still inches from his fingertips. "Fucking seatbelts," he mumbled. "They're made for those stupid skinny ass soccer moms, not real men."
"You mean they don't make them for fat asses."
"I'm not fat, I'm big boned."
"Really? When's the last time you even saw your dick?"
"How about youse shut the fuck up and grab the wheel so I can find out where the hell we are in this God forsaken place." Vinny popped the seatbelt and let go of the steering wheel, making a grab for the balled up map.
Leaning over him, Franky gripped the wheel, but couldn't turn the damn thing because his humongous ass was tuck underneath it. He was just about to say something, when he looked out the windshield and saw they were barreling down a motorcycle.
"Fuck! Vinny!" Cranking on the son of a bitch with all his might, the Navigator missed the biker by centimeters as it swerved and screeched wildly. Flicking his eyes up to the rearview, he saw the biker weave unsteadily and then go down in a cloud of dust and gravel.
"What's your problem?" Vinny asked, tossing the map into Franky's lap as he settled his sizable self into his seat and straightened the car out. "You drive like a maniac. Are youse trying to get us killed or something?"
"You fucking mowed down a goddamn motorcycle, you idiot!"
Vinny looked up in the rearview. "I don't see nothing," he said, shrugging his shoulders.
Scrubbing a palm over his face, Franky sat back in the leather and wished like hell he was back in New York for the millionth time that day.
"Can I have that cannoli now?"
Author's Note:
Hello everyone!
I hope you had a marvelous Easter! I know I did and greatly enjoyed spending time with my family. I even managed to get a little work done! I know...I was surprised too. LOL! Hopefully, I will get started on my garden and the other things begging for my attention soon.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this chapter of When Roses Collide and I wanted to thank you for not only reading, but for waiting patiently for the update. If you liked it, hopefully you'll consider giving it a vote.
I can't wait to hear from you...it seems like I've been gone ages rather than just a week.
Sincerely,
K