I had just grabbed two bottles of beer out of the cooler, only to look up and see Kyle standing on the other side of the bar. I gasped, slightly startled that he was here.

“Can I get one of those, miss?” he asked, nodding at the bottles in my hand.

“Sure, I’ll be right with you,” I unconsciously responded with a smile, tending to my current customer. I looked over at Ryan knowing he was going to be pissed that Kyle was here. Ryan was laughing heartily until he noticed my expression. His unspoken words of concern instantly turned to anger when he eyed Kyle on the opposite end of the bar. Ryan stiffened in his chair and stared Kyle down.

I slid a bottle over to Kyle, who had wedged his body conveniently between two ladies to get to the bar.

“I see pretty boy is happy to see me,” Kyle sneered, taking a long swig of his beer.

“Don’t start, Kyle,” I warned and quickly hurried out from behind the bar.

“Come here please.” I drug him by the sleeve of his leather jacket to speak to him privately. “I want to know, right now, if you have any weapons on you,” I asked, knowing that he had a permit to carry concealed firearms.

He took another swig of his beer and patted the space under his right arm. “I never leave home without it!” he stated proudly.

“And you felt the need to bring that into my pub for what reason?” I asked directly.

“Never know when I’m going to need it,” he reasoned. “I’m not breaking any laws. Besides, by the looks of it, there are enough of his fans in here - any one of them could be a psychotic stalker,” he said eerily.

“Hey, Kyle! How’s it going?” Mike greeted him with a pat on the shoulder, expressing more concern than friendliness.

“Just enjoying a beer on New Year’s Eve, Mike. And you?”

“Making sure things stay peaceful and calm around here.” Mike patted him again, gripping Kyle’s collarbone in his hand so he would get the hint.

“Mike, I was just going to ask Kyle if he would mind taking his firearm back out to his car. I would feel a lot better if I knew there weren’t any guns in my pub tonight.”

Kyle finished his beer in one big gulp and set the empty bottle down forcefully on a table filled with patrons. “I’ll remove mine if you remove yours!” Kyle arrogantly challenged Mike.

“I’m pretty sure you don’t want things to go down this way tonight, Kyle. Taryn asked you to leave your piece outside. It’s a simple request.”

“Fine, I’ll leave,” Kyle defended. “Don’t want to upset pretty boy tonight.”

“Kyle, I didn’t say you had to leave! I just don’t want you armed while you’re drinking in my pub, that’s all.”

“Come on… let’s take this outside,” Mike calmly suggested, slightly gripping Kyle’s arm.

“Get your fucking hand off of me!” Kyle responded angrily, shoving Mike’s hand away.

Ryan was at my side in an instant, taking the short cut behind the bar to reach me.

“What’s up, Kyle?” Ryan asked coldly. He stepped in front of me, protectively pushing me back with his arm.

“Do we have a problem here?” Pete muscled his way in through the crowd. Gary was right behind him. Cory raced out from behind the bar to back up Ryan.

Kyle smirked, almost analyzing if he’d be quick enough to take down all five men on his own. Part of my brain considered that he probably could, and I didn’t like those odds.

“Listen! Everyone just calm down!” I ordered, elbowing my way back in between Ryan and Kyle. “Kyle, you are more than welcome to stay, enjoy the band, and have a good time – just like everyone else. I just don’t want people who are not working for me to be carrying weapons inside my bar.

Go out to your car, lock up whatever toys you have on you, and come back inside. Okay?” I wanted to defuse the situation as quickly as possible.

“Okay,” Kyle conceded, drawing in a breath through his nose. “Taryn, come for a walk with me - please?”

“Oh hell no!” Ryan snapped, blocking me with his arm again.

Kyle scoffed at Ryan’s reaction. “Is your name Taryn?” he jeered.

“You’re not going anywhere with my girlfriend,” Ryan snarled.

“And why is that, Ryan? Are you afraid that I’m going to tell her? Afraid she might find out that she wasn’t the first girl you nailed in this town?”

Kyle said mockingly.

“You don’t know shit!” Ryan raised his angry voice.

“Oh, I don’t? So I guess you never told her about the little hottie you’ve been screwing on your movie set?”

“You need to shut the fuck up before I shut you up!” Ryan threatened, stepping even closer to Kyle. Mike put his hand on Ryan’s chest, giving him a heedful warning.

“So are you going to deny it now? Go ahead! Lie to her some more, Ryan!” Kyle taunted.

I looked up at Ryan, begging for an explanation. His face was turning red, coated with anger.

“Are you cheating on me?” The question flew from my brain and right out my mouth.

“No! Absolutely not! Never!” Ryan looked me directly in the eyes and squared his shoulders. “What he’s referring to happened before I met you.”

“So it happened?” I squeaked.

“Yeah, so what?” he muttered. “What happened before you and I got together is in the past, but since our friend here has an agenda, I guess my past actions need to be explained. For the record, Kyle, I slept with one girl one time and that was before I even met Taryn, so you might want to get your facts straight.”

Ryan quickly turned his attention back to me, locking his eyes on mine. “I’ve never been unfaithful to you – Never!” His words were urgent, direct.

I inched around Ryan’s side. “Kyle! Why are you doing this?” I demanded.

“You deserve better,” he said emphatically, almost pleading with me. “Better than the lies he offers.”

“What the hell is your problem? You think by coming in here and making a scene it’s going to make me want to choose you instead of him? Like maybe if you get him out of the picture you’d have a snowball’s chance in hell with me?”

“Huh! You believe him?” Kyle countered.

Memories of every beautiful moment I had spent with Ryan flashed in fast forward through my mind. We’d been through too much for me to doubt him. “Yes! Yes, I do!”