Harper’s brows tugged together. What was he doing here? Cody would flip if he saw him.
She hurried over. “Miles, maybe you shouldn’t be here.” Heck, there wasn’t any maybe about it. Cody was already on high alert—he didn’t need his former best friend in the bar.
Dark circles shadowed Miles’s eyes. “Please. I just need a beer, and I need to drink it somewhere I’m not by myself.”
She studied his face, noticing how pale he seemed. Not only that, but his shirt was wrinkled and he looked exhausted.
She might regret this, but… “Sit over there in the back corner. I’ll get you a beer.” She’d also let Cody know and cross her fingers that he didn’t cause a scene.
Relief passed over the man’s face. “Thank you.”
She cleared a couple more tables before returning to the bar. After she’d set the glasses in the kitchen, she poured a beer and stepped over to Cody.
He turned—and immediately, his brows tugged together. “What happened?”
What was he, a mind reader? “Nothing happened.”
“Then why do you look nervous?”
“I’m not nervous.” Okay, maybe she was a little nervous. “Miles is here.”
Cody’s gaze lifted, tracking around the room, his jaw tightening.
She gripped his arm. “He looked like he needed to be surrounded by people. I don’t know what happened with him and Vanessa, but I think it really messed with him. I told him he could sit in the back and I’d bring him a beer.”
Cody’s gaze lowered to her, his eyes softening a fraction. “I’ll take it to him.”
“Cody—”
“I’ll be nice…ish.”
Nerves trickled down her spine as she watched Cody cross the bar. When he stopped at the table, she wasn’t sure what she expected to see, but after Cody set the beer on the table, a few words were spoken before he just…walked away.
The air rushed from her chest. Good. She didn’t have the energy for a bar fight tonight, and by the look of him, neither did Miles.
Cody returned to the bar and as he passed behind her, he whispered, “Now who’s worrying?”
She shook her head, the corners of her lips twitching as he moved away to serve a customer.
The next couple hours passed quickly, with people filtering in and out, drinking, playing pool. By closing time, her ribs hurt, but it was almost a welcome ache after all the resting she’d done over the last week. Moving felt good.
Finally, every customer was gone except Miles, who still sat at the back table. His head was in his hands. God, he just looked so sad. Because of Vanessa? She barely knew the man, and he probably didn’t deserve her sympathy after what he’d done to Cody, but she couldn’t help but feel just a bit bad for him.
Cody took a step toward him, but Harper set a hand on his chest. “I’ll go talk to him.”
Even though Cody hadn’t kicked the guy out earlier, she didn’t quite trust him to be calm if Miles proved hard to remove from the bar. Her gentle approach might be more effective.
She crossed the room and stopped beside Miles’s table. “Hey, we’re closing up. I’m sorry but I’m going to have to ask you to leave, Miles.”
He mumbled something under his breath that she didn’t quite catch, so she stepped closer. “What did you say?”
“I should’ve known better.”
“Known better about what?”
“She cheated on Cody withme…I should’ve known she’d cheat on me with someone else.”
Harper frowned. “Vanessa cheated on you?”
