“Consider me on patrol and following up on a tip.”
“What do you mean?”
Another shove. “I get a buzz that one of my deputies is looking like he’s ready to drink himself into a coma, I’m checking it out.”
“I’m fine,” scoffed Rick.
With a quirked eyebrow, Sly took in the six empty shot glasses set on the bar top. As he watched, Georgie slipped over to their side of the bar and placed another in front of Rick.
“You’re gonna regret that in the morning.”
Rick knew that. “Sly, I’m already regretting it now. Isn’t gonna stop me, though,” he added before looping two fingers over the glass and pulling it closer to the edge. He kept wondering if he’d find the answers to the troubles plaguing him at the bottom of the shot glass. It hadn’t worked yet, but he could be stubborn, too. He kept looking.
Once he downed the shot of whiskey, he pushed the glass away. Sly tsk-ing his tongue under his breath reminded him that his pal was still there.
“Go away. I’m fine. And you don’t have to worry about me driving. Georgie said I could sleep it off in his backroom when I’m done.”
It shamed him that this wasn’t the first time he went on a bender down at Thirsty’s. It was all too frequent in the days after he first returned to Hamlet. He’d gotten better in the last six months or so, and his trips to the bar were nonexistent ever since he started training with Grace. He’d fallen off the wagon and hard tonight. There was no one to blame except for himself.
To his surprise, Sly seemed to agree. “Drink yourself stupid. Good move, buddy. I guess it?
??s better than what Grace is doing.”
“Grace?” When he hit the c in her name, he lisped. Ugh. He was starting to slur, too. Clearing his throat, trying to hide it, he said, “What about her?”
“I buzzed Maria on the way over. Figured the outsider might have something to do with what’s going on with you. You know what they’re doing? The two of them are in the kitchen, bonding over a pint of rocky road. And that’s after Maria offered her something called tiger tail and the poor girl nearly cried. Don’t know why, but she said for me to tell you it’s your fault and that you’ll know exactly what I mean when I say that.”
Maria wasn’t wrong. And tiger tail? No wonder it Grace her hard. It was a reminder of him when she probably never wanted to think about him again.
Rick hung his head. “Shit, Sly. She asked me to go out for a drink.”
“Really? Then why are you sitting here like a sad sack all alone?”
“I didn’t think she meant it,” he mumbled, gesturing toward Georgie for another shot.
“That’s bull.”
Was it? Maybe. “Even if you’re right, even if she meant it, it wouldn’t be right. I don’t want to take advantage of her. Something sent her running to Hamlet, and God knows it’s still chasing her otherwise she wouldn’t want to be able to protect herself.”
“She’s here now. We can protect her, too.”
“That’s my point, Sly. Whatever Grace is dealing with, she’s scared enough that she doesn’t want to involve anyone else.”
Sly looked thoughtful. “Maria made it seem like that, too. I know your Grace opened up to her a little—”
“About what?”
“Can’t say. And don’t even bother asking me to find out. There’s some kind of girl code, I’m told. Unless—or until—it affects the rest of Hamlet, Maria will keep her friend’s secrets.” He paused, then added, “You know, she was the one who had the idea that Grace should find a way to defend herself. When she refused to take a bat of her own, those lessons with you were what Maria came up with next.”
No wonder. He should’ve already figured that out. Then again, Maria might’ve been trying to play him—with Sly’s help, of course—but he had all but jumped at the chance to spend some time with the lovely outsider after that.
Rick picked up his latest shot glass, downed the contents, relishing the burn in the back of his throat.
“You like her?”
“Wha— yeah. ‘Course I like her.”
“Then why turn her down? For some crazy reason, she likes you, too. Maria told me. She’s into you, buddy, and you made it seem like you could care less. Ice cream, Rick. You have a woman drowning her sorrows in ice cream. Do you know how serious that is?”