AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Both of them gloated with shit-eating grins.
I held back a laugh as I took another sip of my drink, lifting the glass to say, “Fuck you both.”
Two of them had given me shit for my whole life. Right from the beginning when they figured out the kind of lifestyle I’d lived. What I’d been brought up in. That it was different from them.
Little did they know I’d gladly trade it all in. Take it all back. Give it up if it could rid the depravity from my life.
But it was seeded deep.
Who I was.
Bred and fucking born.
And I knew, deep down, even though I was attempting to change, it was who I was. I needed to remember it before I made someone else pay for the sins that I had earned.
“So, tell me, Caleb,” Ryder said, scratching a tatted finger on his temple, something sly riding into his expression. “Is my Paisley-Cakes still making you itch?”
A flurry of unease whipped and stirred, incited in a beat, my guts tangled with the mess I’d created today. My chest still burned where it had met her outrage. I didn’t know whether to feel guilty or furious.
I roughed a hand through my hair, taking a swig of my bourbon, letting the burn glide down my throat and land in a puddle in my stomach.
Somehow I got lucky and didn’t have to answer since Ryder was a cocky, flirty asshole. Some chick sauntered up and, in an instant, he’d forgotten all about pressing me about Paisley.
The woman was tall and black-haired. Hot as sin and looking for a good time. One Ryder was all too happy to give her, sending her one of his cocky smirks that was sure to get her naked. He had no problem chatting her up, propositions made, while I sat there stewing in the storm that was Paisley Dae.
Or maybe I just felt it.
The chaos that whirled through the building. A bedlam of frenetic energy and the unrest of ill deeds.
I looked up, drawn, searching through the bodies that were crushed in the cavernous room.
It took all of a second for my gaze to tangle with hers. Paisley Dae stared back with a hatred so hot it seared me through.
Like with just a thought, I’d conjured her.
Instant-fuckin’-karma.
My molars ground as a wave of guilt throbbed against the confines of my ribs.
Evelyn was going to be devastated when she found out she wouldn’t be returning, not that she would ever know the details. But the reason for her departure wouldn’t change the aftermath, wouldn’t negate the fact that little girl had been different this week.
Less withdrawn.
Happier.
Not close to the way she’d once been.
And here was this woman, shooting daggers at me like I’d stolen some of her happiness, too.
We froze under the weight of that blazing connection for a second that felt like an age, before she snapped away, turning her back to me in a clear fuck you.
Her dismissal made me cagey, too.
I didn’t even realize the girl Ryder had been talking to had walked away until he swiveled around in his chair to find where I was staring. Then he cracked a giant grin when he shifted back. “Speak of the devil.”
And a little devil she was.
One that looked like a country angel, a cascade of white rolling down her back, sporting another pink fucking tank, this one trimmed in lace and hugging her tits.
“We should go say hi.” Draining his scotch, Ryder stood. “Cody’s baby sister, Dakota, is over there, plus a couple others who work at the café. These are people you’re going to know.”
“Not a good idea.”
“And why’s that?”
“We’re celebrating Ezra.” Easy excuse that was not going to fly.
Ezra heaved out a low laugh. “Don’t worry about protecting me, bro. I see these people most days, and Dakota and her crew are cool as shit. Always a good time, and it’s my birthday.”
He gave me a wink as he pushed to his feet.
Fuck.
Could this get any worse?
Fucking small towns and the fiery girls who lived in them.
“Let’s go.” Ryder took the lead, all dark swagger, tatted head to toe, smooth and sinuous as he cut a path through the crowd.
Ezra grabbed his pitcher and followed behind.
Against all sound judgement, I did the same.
I should know better. Should recognize this girl made me insane. That she got under my skin. An irritation I couldn’t scratch.
It didn’t help that my dick wanted to do a little scratching of its own.
“Well, look who’s here,” Ryder called when he got close enough, spreading out his arms like he was welcoming their table into his home.
“Ryder, Ezra!” A bunch of hellos went up around the table, though Paisley refused to look up from where she was staring at her drink sitting on the table in front of her like it was a wishing well.
