Page 125 of Sunrise & Serenity

With a nod, she’s gone.

River wanders toward the pool tables to say hello to friends while Quinn dives into a conversation with a guy from the feed store. I shift closer to Sage while we wait for drinks, mostly because the bar’s crowded.

At least that’s what I tell myself.

She glances up at me. “Are you okay?”

“You’re wearing that outfit in public,” I murmur. “So not really.”

She laughs softly.

Allie slides the mojitos over, making sure Taryn gets the virgin one. As Sage takes a sip of hers, I can’t focus on anything but her pink lips. If I were to kiss her now, she’d taste of mint and lime.

Fucking intoxicating.

Once we’ve all been served, the girls follow my brothers to a booth at the back.

Before long, the place is even busier and louder, and I’m glad we claimed the booth when we did. Country music rolls out of the jukebox as pool balls crack behind us and hoots and hollers ring out from the dance floor.

Sage sits beside me, sipping her second mojito. Under the table, her bare thigh presses against mine, and I breathe in her honeysuckle scent every time she shifts closer. And she keeps shifting closer, even with everyone around us. Like she can’t help it either.

She laughs at River as he tells a story, but as soon as he moves on, she drops her attention to her lap, her smile slipping.

She’s been off for the last week. Not pulling back, just quieter at times. Distracted. As if she’s got something on her mind. Every time I notice it, tension builds at the base of my neck. I don’t like not knowing what’s going on with her. But I’ve asked, and she always smiles and brushes it off.

Half the time, the conversation ends with us tangled up in bed or making out behind the barn like damn teenagers.

Sage glances sideways, catching me watching her. “What?”

I take another drink and shake my head. Now I’m the one pretending I’m perfectly fine. But here and now, surrounded by my family, isn’t the time to push for answers.

Her eyes narrow slightly. “You’re doing the forehead thing again.”

“What forehead thing?”

“The broody cowboy forehead thing.”

I frown at her. “I don’t have a broody forehead.”

River snorts into his beer. “Have you looked in a mirror lately?”

The corners of my mouth twitch, even though I’m doing my best to glare at him.

He holds up one hand. “Man, you walked into that one all by yourself.”

Sage bites her lip, smiling down at her drink. And hell, if that little smirk doesn’t make me want to take her somewhere to see if I can make her moan for me instead.

Before I can figure out how to do that, a new song plays from the jukebox, and Taryn leaps to her feet, eyes sparkling and finger pointed at Sage. “This is my favorite. Come dance with me?”

Sage scrunches her nose and squints at the lines forming on the dance floor, then lets out a breath and nods. “Okay.”

After one more sip of her drink, she stands and squeezes past me. It takes effort to tear my gaze away from her barely concealed ass, and I have to clench my fists to keep from touching her.

Watching the woman I can’t seem to get enough of dance in front of me is its own brand of torture, especially when she’s surrounded by men and I can’t do a damn thing about it.

At least being with Taryn gives her a little bit of a buffer. No man here is stupid enough to get too close to the youngest McBride, particularly with four of her five brothers sitting right here.

Still, the guys surrounding her are a lot closer than I am.