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CHAPTER 1
BAM
Trouble. That's what the guy was. I saw it the minute I stepped into the bar. I should have turned and walked right back out again. I would have if it wasn't for the way Chantel tugged at my arm and turned those big puppy dog eyes on me.
"C'mon Bam, I need a drink. Don't be a spoilsport."
"No ones ever accused me of being one of those," I said. A shit ton of other things, but not a spoilsport.
My baby sister smiled.
You know the look. It's the one where she knew all along she was going to get her way. If anyone was spoilt, it was her. She knew what to say and do to twist me in knots around her little finger.
And didn't I love it?
Mostly. Sometimes, like now, it gets me into trouble.
Speaking of trouble, his eyes were still on her. They were from the moment we stepped through the door.
I did my whole big-brother-trying-to catch-the guy's-eyes thing to warn him off. I don't think he even noticed I existed. That happened sometimes, when Chantel was around. I'm six foot three and made of muscle, but she's cuter than me. Only a little bit, but it's enough apparently.
Honestly, it was better this way. If I get noticed, I usually get recognised. Then everyone wants a selfie with me, or to have me sign their boob.
Yeah, even the guys.
As a running back for the Storm Valley Rapids, I was a bit of a big deal, if football is your thing. If it's not your thing, you might have seen me model in the spring fashion parade at Lacey's department store.
I'm an all-rounder kinda guy, especially when an event is for charity. What can I say? I live to give.
"I have a bad feeling about this place, Chantel." I almost had to shout to be heard over the music.
"You said that about the last place," she shouted back. "It's only because no one knows us here." She poked me in the chest and turned away to order a drink.
The man at the bar with the beard and the eyes which followed her all the way over, smiled at her. The nerve of some guys.
She smiled back.
That, right there, is how trouble starts.
"My name is Erik," the guy said. "Can I buy you a drink?"
"She can buy her own drinks," I told him.
She looked at me over her shoulder. "Or you could buy them." Did she really flutter her eyelashes at me?
"Or that," I agreed. I gave Erik a smirk. Not one of my nice ones. More like a warning, just this side of pleasant. "See, she's sorted."
"Seems to me that she can speak for herself," Erik pointed out. "What are you, her bodyguard?"
"As it happens, I am," I agreed. "And her brother. She's not interested."
Chantel swatted my arm. "Maybe I am."
I grimaced and jerked my thumb toward Erik. "In him?" I'd suggest she had better taste, but I met guys she dated in the past. None of them were even close to good enough for her. Okay, no guy would be. That was why I bought her a dog for her last birthday. I didn't want her to be alone.
Erik got up from his stool and took a step closer.
He was almost as tall as me, and as muscular. I think maybe he used his size to intimidate other people. No way that shit was working on me.
