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Authors: Madeline Pryce
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two dozen blondes and a couple of brunettes. Your choice. You had
her wrapped around your finger.”
Eli opened his own door and exited. He looked at me over the
car’s roof. “She deserves someone normal, a life away from this crap. Isn’t
that the one thing she wanted? Normalcy?”
“That’s the one thing Ella wanted for her.” I slammed the
door closed, rocking the GTO. “You wanna know why she chose Dante?”
“Aside from the fact he’s a walking Adonis?”
I stared at him for a beat, wondered if he’d really said
that aloud. “That’s super gay, bro.”
Eli shrugged.
“She picked him because he doesn’t treat her like glass. He’s
the first person who actually gave enough of a fuck to listen to what she
wanted and gave her what she needed. It pisses Ella off he had the balls to do
it and not her.”
My boots crunched over the gravel, each step farther away
from Ella a labor. I pulled open the heavy wood door. A thick haze of smoke
greeted me. I strode inside, threading my way through tables until I got to the
spot I’d deemed mine last week.
I glared at the two cowboys occupying Eli’s and my seats.
The wide, tan brims of their hats shadowed their faces. Each one had an overly
done-up woman hanging on their every word.
“Move,” I growled.
“Fuck off,” one of them said and went back to their
conversation as if I hadn’t spoken.
The skin at the back of my neck prickled and I fought the
initial urge to grab him by the back of the neck and slam his face against the
scuffed table. I grabbed the knife I’d tucked into my boot, in no mood to fuck
around. I was tired, pissed and I hadn’t gotten laid in over two weeks.
This was my bar, my spot and I wasn’t going to stand there
and fuck around with two wannabes whose belt buckles were bigger than their
dicks. I slammed the blade into the middle of the table. The resounding thwack
drew attention.
I pressed a hand to the table and leaned down until I was
nose to nose with the interloper. The move knocked his Stetson to the floor.
“I don’t think you heard me. Move the fuck somewhere else,
this is my table.”
The man scraped his chair back and when he rose, I did too.
I stepped in close, the tips of my boots touching his shit-kickers, and stared
into his eyes. I might not have been a giant like Eli or Dante, but I was
taller than most. More than height, I had the strength to back up my words. The
predator inside me rose, filling me with a visceral need for violence.
Not getting laid was really screwing with my temper.
Whatever the cowboy saw was enough for him to know I wasn’t
bullshitting. Apparently he wasn’t in the mood to nurse a shiner and a few
bruised ribs. He backed up a step and cast his gaze to the side. His girl
cuddled into his side and wrapped her arms around his middle. She looked up at
me with big, frightened eyes, as if I were the fucking boogieman.
The man gathered her close as his buddy and his girl got up
too. “You’re a real asshole, you know that?”
I let a slow grin lift the corners of my mouth. “Sure do,
now get lost.”
The second they grabbed their drinks and left, I sat. I
pushed out a newly vacated chair for Eli. My brother shook his head, took his
seat and stared at me.
I pulled the blade from the table and re-tucked it into my
boot. “What?”
“We could have gotten another table.”
“No, we couldn’t have. This is the best one. I can see the
front of the room—you can see the back. Have you forgotten it’s a dangerous
world out there?”
A redhead carrying two longnecks sauntered over to our table
and did everything she could to catch my gaze on her way. Lust gleamed in her
eyes and I shook my head in a clear dismissal. Not interested. Without missing
a beat, she redirected and stopped at Eli’s side. She set both drinks on the
table before walking her fingers, nails painted in something I dubbed cotton-candy-pink
polish, up his arm. Perfume eclipsed the scent of tobacco. I
her wrapped around your finger.”
Eli opened his own door and exited. He looked at me over the
car’s roof. “She deserves someone normal, a life away from this crap. Isn’t
that the one thing she wanted? Normalcy?”
“That’s the one thing Ella wanted for her.” I slammed the
door closed, rocking the GTO. “You wanna know why she chose Dante?”
“Aside from the fact he’s a walking Adonis?”
I stared at him for a beat, wondered if he’d really said
that aloud. “That’s super gay, bro.”
Eli shrugged.
“She picked him because he doesn’t treat her like glass. He’s
the first person who actually gave enough of a fuck to listen to what she
wanted and gave her what she needed. It pisses Ella off he had the balls to do
it and not her.”
My boots crunched over the gravel, each step farther away
from Ella a labor. I pulled open the heavy wood door. A thick haze of smoke
greeted me. I strode inside, threading my way through tables until I got to the
spot I’d deemed mine last week.
I glared at the two cowboys occupying Eli’s and my seats.
The wide, tan brims of their hats shadowed their faces. Each one had an overly
done-up woman hanging on their every word.
“Move,” I growled.
“Fuck off,” one of them said and went back to their
conversation as if I hadn’t spoken.
The skin at the back of my neck prickled and I fought the
initial urge to grab him by the back of the neck and slam his face against the
scuffed table. I grabbed the knife I’d tucked into my boot, in no mood to fuck
around. I was tired, pissed and I hadn’t gotten laid in over two weeks.
This was my bar, my spot and I wasn’t going to stand there
and fuck around with two wannabes whose belt buckles were bigger than their
dicks. I slammed the blade into the middle of the table. The resounding thwack
drew attention.
I pressed a hand to the table and leaned down until I was
nose to nose with the interloper. The move knocked his Stetson to the floor.
“I don’t think you heard me. Move the fuck somewhere else,
this is my table.”
The man scraped his chair back and when he rose, I did too.
I stepped in close, the tips of my boots touching his shit-kickers, and stared
into his eyes. I might not have been a giant like Eli or Dante, but I was
taller than most. More than height, I had the strength to back up my words. The
predator inside me rose, filling me with a visceral need for violence.
Not getting laid was really screwing with my temper.
Whatever the cowboy saw was enough for him to know I wasn’t
bullshitting. Apparently he wasn’t in the mood to nurse a shiner and a few
bruised ribs. He backed up a step and cast his gaze to the side. His girl
cuddled into his side and wrapped her arms around his middle. She looked up at
me with big, frightened eyes, as if I were the fucking boogieman.
The man gathered her close as his buddy and his girl got up
too. “You’re a real asshole, you know that?”
I let a slow grin lift the corners of my mouth. “Sure do,
now get lost.”
The second they grabbed their drinks and left, I sat. I
pushed out a newly vacated chair for Eli. My brother shook his head, took his
seat and stared at me.
I pulled the blade from the table and re-tucked it into my
boot. “What?”
“We could have gotten another table.”
“No, we couldn’t have. This is the best one. I can see the
front of the room—you can see the back. Have you forgotten it’s a dangerous
world out there?”
A redhead carrying two longnecks sauntered over to our table
and did everything she could to catch my gaze on her way. Lust gleamed in her
eyes and I shook my head in a clear dismissal. Not interested. Without missing
a beat, she redirected and stopped at Eli’s side. She set both drinks on the
table before walking her fingers, nails painted in something I dubbed cotton-candy-pink
polish, up his arm. Perfume eclipsed the scent of tobacco. I
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