I shrugged at his words and raked a hand through my hair. “This is different. I’m trying to make her mine and I want her to see me as more than her good buddy, trusty, old, faithful Ryan. I need her to see me as a man. A real man. Her man.”
Cal let out a loud bark of laughter. “Have you tried sex? That tends to give women a lot of clarity about who’s the man.”
I rolled my eyes and gulped down my beer at Cal’s words. “If I recall right, Teddy hated your guts before you got together. What did you to do change that?”
Cal shrugged and grabbed three dart from the small round table. “I just charmed the hell out of her, that’s all.”
“Bullshit,” Antonio barked with a laugh and turned to me. “He forced his company onto her until she realized he wasn’t the callous dirtbag she thought he was. That’s not your problem, though. Persy knows who you are and she loves that guy. I don’t think romance is what you need, not exactly.”
“If not romance, then what?” The question came out on a sarcastic snort because I figured romance was exactly what Persephone needed and wanted. “She needs a man to put her first, to show her how amazing she is.”
“You already do that,” Cal added with a shake of his head. “You and Persephone are the only two people in all of Jackson’s Ridge who don’t know how perfect you are together.”
“You think so?” His words gave me hope.
“Hell yes.” Antonio hit three bullseyes and smiled. “You know that phrase fake it ‘til you make it? That’s what you need to do, treat Persy like she’s already yours. Not your best friend forever, not your movie night bestie, or a mother or a doctor. Show her that you see her as just a woman, your woman, the same way you want her to see you.”
“That sounds good,” I admitted, “but what in the hell does it mean?”
“It means take her somewhere fun, someplace adventurous. Take her on the kind of date none of her stuffed-shirt exes would ever think to suggest.”
Antonio’s words resonated with me. Maybe I was thinking of us in a way that was too traditional. I needed to think outside the box. “Thanks. Next round is on me.” I headed toward the bar.
“In that case, add a round of shots to the tab,” Cal called out.
I flipped him off and made my way to the bar, mind swirling with different ideas to impress Persephone. Maybe ‘impress’ wasn’t the right word, but I wanted—no, I needed her to see me in a new light.
Cy stopped in front of me, arms folded. “What can I get ya?”
“A pitcher of amber ale.”
“Drowning your sorrows?”
I shrugged at the bartender’s question. “Not exactly.”
“All right,” he answered with a shrug and turned to grab a plastic pitcher with The Outpost emblazoned on it in cowboy font.
“Add a round of shots to that order,” Gavin said and bumped his shoulder with mine. “Thank you.”
Cy looked up and arched a brow in recognition. “Gavin Ross?”
“That’s me. And you are?”
The bartender grinned. “I’m Cy, and a big fan.”
“In that case, add a shot for yourself.”
I snorted a laugh and shook my head. “So easy.”
“Hey, fans are why I’m rich and famous, and I love them for it. And Cy here seems like a genuine music lover, which is hard to come by.” Gavin flashed another of his easygoing smiles but I had a feeling he spoke the absolute truth.
“Here you go,” Cy grunted. “Thanks for the shot, man.” He lifted the glass and knocked back the shot with a smile.
“Come on, rock star. We’re in the back.” I made my way toward the dart boards with Gavin on my heels. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
“Thirsty,” he shouted over the jukebox.
“You’re a bad liar,” I shouted back. “Stick to singing.”
Gavin’s loud laughter sounded behind me, causing shocked stares from Antonio and Cal. Antonio clapped Cal on the shoulder. “Look who’s traveling in fancier circles these days.”
Cal laughed, too, but his curiosity won out. “New friend, Ryan?”
“Shut up. This is Cal, he works in the ER and that’s Antonio, a famous chef. Guys this is Gavin, as if you don’t know.”
“Ryan here was nice enough to pick me and my Bel-Air up off the side of the road.”
“Yeah, he drove the damn thing from Vegas without a tune-up. It was smoking when I found him pretending like he knew what he was doing under the hood.”
Cal and Antonio groaned as if they could feel the Bel-Air’s pain. “You don’t have someone who looks after your cars?” Cal, who’d spent the past year renovating his home, stared in shock at the rock star.
Gavin shrugged.
“He won it in a card game in Vegas.”
“Damn, that’s a baller move.” Antonio covered his mouth and looked at Gavin like he’d just found his new hero.