Page 54 of The Merger

I try to process what the annoying Brewer brothers said, but it’s hazy. And, ultimately, I don’t care. I can make my own decisions.

The door flies open behind me, and Taryn sticks her head in.

“Come on,” she says, her eyes sparkling. “Dance with me.”

“Now that’s some energy I can get behind,” I say, swaying as I move toward her. “Let’s go!”

We cheer, our arms around one another, as we head back into the living room.

Chapter Thirteen

Gannon

“I’m here,” I say, pulling up to the curb in front of a small green house with white shutters. The place is lit up like the Fourth of July.

“Gan, I owe you one,” Tate says. “Thanks for doing this. I know rescuing women isn’t in your repertoire.”

You’d be surprised what’s in my repertoire lately.

I clear the GPS on my dash. “Want to give me her address in case she’s out of it?”

“Yeah. Good idea. Hang on, and let me find it.”

I roll down the passenger’s side window and take in the address Tate gave me to Courtney’s.

In what can only be described as a work of God, Carys revealed via text what I know she’d only normally tell Tate. And once I pieced together what was going on—and that there was no way in hell she was grabbing a rideshare with a stranger while inebriated—all it took was a quick call to innocently put myself in the middle of the situation.

And Tate will remain none the wiser.

“All right,” Tate says. “It’s 3086 Aviana Drive.”

I punch that into my system and watch as the maps calculate the fastest route. “Got it.”

“I know I’ve already said it, but thank you for picking her up. Small miracles, I guess.”

“That’s me. A miracle worker.”

Tate snorts. “Let me know how it goes.”

“See ya.”

“Bye.”

I take a deep breath and then call Carys’s phone. It rings all the way through before her voicemail picks up.

My jaw ticks as I press her name again. It rings five times before she answers.

“Hello?” she says, clearly confused. “Gannon?”

“You have two choices, Miss Johnson.”

“Is that so?”

“You can come outside and get in my car so I can drive you home. Or I can come inside and make a spectacle in front of all your friends. You choose.”

She hums. “How do you even know where I am?”

“Do you want to test me?”