I shot Cleo a grin, ecstatic because I wasn’t ready to go home. There was a restless energy coursing beneath my skin. I wanted to set it free, to see where it would take me.
“Don’t you think we should probably cut our losses and go home?” She pulled away from me, fidgeting with her fingers like she had earlier.
I reached out and grasped her hand and gave it a quick squeeze. Her eyes met mine, verging on panic or hope. I couldn’t tell which. “Do you want to go home, Cleo?”
“I don’t know, Len.” Her voice was little more than a whisper. I barely caught her words over the din of the crowd.
I pulled her in tight, aware of Bishop’s curious gaze bouncing between us. “You say the word, and we’re gone, okay?”
“Sure,” she said, nodding slowly. “But maybe we could get a few shots?”
I clapped my hands together. “Fuck yes, we can! That’s my girl. What’s your poison? Whiskey is my personal favorite, but there’s also tequila?—”
“Tequila,” she blurted out. “Lots of tequila.”
Bishop groaned. “This is gonna be a long fucking night.”
I turned toward him, standing taller as his eyes slowly raked over my body. He dragged a thumb across the bottom of his lip, shaking his head.
Yup. The alcohol was getting to me, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t have fun with it.
“Oh, you have no idea.”
bishop
. . .
I hated this goddamn bar.It was too bright, too bold, too mainstream, too fucking loud. Or maybe it was the two girls standing in front of me, shooting tequila like it was water and chasing it with beer.
Since Josie and Lincoln had said their goodbyes and driven off in my truck, I’d been sitting here, regretting my choices as I watched Lennox and Cleo get more drunk by the minute. They were giggling and laughing and screaming out the lyrics to every song played. At one point, A Bar Song by Shaboozey came on and they sang so loud that the entire bar joined in.
“Y’all are gonna regret this in the morning,” I muttered, taking a long sip of beer.
“Liquor before beer, you’re in the clear!” Lennox yelled, laughing even louder.
Goddammit.
Cleo turned to me, blushing. She and I were closest in age, only five years apart. I’d never known her to come out of her shell often—she was the quietest of the three Hayes sisters. Always dependable, always taking on more than she should ever have to.
I guessed even the most strait-laced people needed an outlet for whatever they were running from.
But the hellion beside her? The twenty-seven-year-old who was trouble wrapped in a pretty fucking bow? Yeah, this was par for the course with her.
Lennox Hayes and I were like fire and ice. She burned hotter than a thousand fucking suns and had the temper to boot. I was the dick who acted unaffected but was anything but. That woman had a way of getting under my skin like no one else had. She drove me crazy, slipping further into madness with each moment we spent together—which was way more than I liked.
When Lennox wasn’t out on the road, she earned a paycheck at the ranch. We didn’t agree much, especially not when it came to work. Most of our conversations ended in one of us shouting at the other that they were an idiot before storming off.
I loved my job, loved living on the land I worked my ass off for, but it had its downsides. No matter how hard I tried to escape a particular blonde pain in my ass, I couldn’t. She was there wherever I went, pestering the fuck out of me.
If she could make it a career, she’d be a millionaire.
“What time does this guy go on?” I asked, cursing as the bartender brought another tray of shots.
I swore I was going to be the responsible adult and stay sober, but I couldn’t do it. Not anymore. Not when Lennox just licked a line of salt off the rim of a shot glass before tipping it back. My eyes remained locked on her throat as it moved, swallowing the liquor in one go.
Guess I was adding “lookin’ too hot” to the list of offenses against the Lone Star, too. Christ Almighty. Getting drunk should never look that fucking sinful, and I suddenly found myself wondering if I needed to go to church.
I looked at my watch. Yeah, I really should have insisted on leaving. It was already ten, and the band was just getting readyto play. I was going to hate myself in the morning, but I was starting to wonder if lack of sleep would be my only regret.
