“Friend of Holley’s,” I reply steady and firm. “Got plans tonight, not sure what you’re issue is man, but I think you should leave.” I tip my chin toward Holley briefly. “She’s trying to work and we got plans tonight. You’re standing in the way.”
Holley’s eyes flick to me, surprised. Like she didn’t expect me to open my mouth.
Eric barks a humorless laugh. “This is my business. Anything with her is my business. She’s my wife.”
He takes another step toward her. She automatically leans away, shoulders hunching, fingers digging into the fabric of her coat. “Ex,” she firmly explains, shifting as if trying to put space between them.
Fourth tell.
She doesn’t want him closer.
I shift just enough to intercept his path, not touching him, not crowding, just presenting an obstacle. Years of practice in bars, clubhouses, and back alleys come back like they never left.
“This isn’t the place for it,” I state calmly. “You need to leave.”
He shoots me a glare. “You don’t talk to me, old man. I’m talking to my wife.”
“Ex-wife,” Holley corrects again in a rush, embarrassment flushing her cheeks. “Eric, not here. Please. I have a guest. You can’t just come here.”
“You think I give a shit about your little side hustle?” he cuts in, waving an arm wildly enough that his jacket flaps. “My card got declined. I told you to put money on it last week. You said you would and you didn’t.”
Anger flashes bright in her eyes now. “I never said that. You asked. I told you stop calling and I wasn’t giving you another dime. We are done. The divorce is final. Why can’t you leave me the hell alone.”
“You always got an excuse,” he snaps. “You got money to keep the heat on in your little cabin but not enough to cover our joint?—”
“What I do and don’t do is not your business,” she fires back, sharper now, and cutting him off completely. “The temperature inside my house or out isn’t your concern..”
He either doesn’t hear her or doesn’t care. “You think this is easy on me?” he goes on, voice rising. “You think I like getting declined at the gas station? Like being the guy everyone whispers about because he can’t pay for his stuff?”
“I think you should’ve thought about that before you maxed out three credit cards and left me with all the debts while you fucked the neighbor’s wife,” she snaps, the anger blazing through the shame for a second.
Good, I think. This woman has fire and backbone.
But he barrels right over that too.
“Wow,” he sneers. “Real nice, Holls. Real supportive. I’m out there trying to start something new, build us a future, and you’re just bitter that I want better than you.”
Verbal shots fired. My jaw ticks as I feel my blood boil in anger towards this piece of shit. I’m not a fucking boy scout but this shit is uncalled for from any man to any woman.
“You left me with the past,” she bites out. “All of it. The debt. The notices. The ‘we’re going to send this to collections’ calls. You left everything in my lap and now you show up and expect me to give you more. Fuck right off, Eric.”
“This is not the conversation you should be having here,” I cut in, voice dropping another notch.
Both their heads snap toward me.
Eric looks like he wants to tell me to go to hell. Holley looks like she wants to melt into the porch boards.
Her eyes have that overbright shine I’ve seen too many times—people holding it together by a thread. One more tug and it snaps.
I hate that look.
I hated it the first time I saw it in a young recruit’s eyes overseas. I hated it the first time I saw it in my daughter’s eyes when Smoke didn’t show up and her daughter was looking for her dad. I hate it no less now.
I take a breath, keep my voice even. “I came here for peace and quiet with a friend. Not to listen to you scream at your ex-wife about your poor life choices. You want to make an ass of yourself, do it somewhere else.”
Eric’s gaze goes hard and cold. “Man, you got no idea?—”
He takes that half-step closer to Holley again.
