“Fine, you heathen.” Tex glared at Brad a moment, saw Brad simply stare back at him, then sighed. “Where was I?”
“It was a dark and stormy night,” Reggie said.
Tex smirked. “Raaght.” Twang for “right.” “Then our golden child, Mackenzie Revere, stepped up the plate. He whooped the woman at pool, holding back some, I could tell.”
“I won fair and square,” Mack protested. Sure, he could have made some trick shots, but he hadn’t wanted to rub the win in her face too badly.
“But then she took him aside and crushed him at darts. That’s one fine-shootin’ gal, I tell you.”
Brad listened with enthusiasm as he stuffed his face with carrot sticks and ranch dip. “Then what happened?”
“Well, as I was schoolin’ the yeti on the proper way to talk about my Cowboys, Mack disappeared. The little lady followed him. Next time we spotted them, they were strolling back to the table, arm in arm. Then Mack told her to stop treating him like a toy because he’s a real man, so he says.”
Mack would not laugh at Tex’s animated face or Reggie’s big thumbs-up.
“Yeah, little man won her precious heart, I’m thinking.”
“Thinking? Is that a new pastime?” Mack asked. “And I’m six-two, dumbass, not that little.”
“Oh, you bruised his tiny pride,” Brad said, which had Mack laughing despite himself.
“You’re all ass…wacket knobs,” he said, catching himself when one the kids next to them grinned at them, showing a missing tooth.
“Mom, what’s an asswacket?” the little girl asked.
Her mother sighed. “We’ll talk about it at home, honey.”
“Sorry. I tried to cover my slip,” Mack apologized to the mother of four. He turned back to the guys, secretly relieved when she bundled her children up and vacated the spot next to them. “Look, I like Lady Law. And yeah, she’s real,” he said before Reggie could ask. “She’s smart and has a job.”
“But she’s a cop,” Reggie just had to point out. “You screw her over, she’ll make your life a living hell.”
“Screw her over? How’s that?” Mack wanted to know. Unlike Tex, he was no playboy. He’d never had a problem finding a date. He’d also never had a problem moving on. When he broke up, he did so nicely and typically remained friendly with his exes.
“I’m not implying you’d cheat on her. You’re not that kind of guy.”
Mack accepted Reggie’s apology that wasn’t quite an apology.
“But you’re oblivious to long-term feelings,” Brad said. “You love your job, your car, your family. You never seem to have room for much else. Your last girlfriend was how long ago?”
“A few months.”
“Four months,” Tex corrected. “Hey, I pay attention. Mack, you love you more than you love love. That’s all I’m sayin’.”
What? That I’m a selfish asshole?
“What Tex said,” Brad agreed. “Which isn’t a bad thing at all. You’re happy with yourself, which is why you live with little drama.”
“Always a plus,” Reggie said, having been through his fair share not long ago.
Brad nodded. “That’s not a bad thing at all. But you being interested in a woman is great.”
“You’re growing up, little fella,” Tex said with a grin.
“Oh please.” Mack turned to each of them. He pointed at Brad first. “It wasn’t that long ago you were miserable because your inability to stop controlling everything almost lost you the girl.”
“Not exactly.”
He turned to Tex. “You got involved with the chief’s daughter after ruining how many dates with her first?”
