Page 13 of Tony

He begs with his hands. “Please.”

All around me women are smirking and giggling at adorable Vann Vaughn. The state university is just a couple blocks down. So there are dozens of girls who would love to have the full attention of a Sick Boy.

Then all their eyes are on me.

I slink back to the counter, grab Vann’s coffee, then make my way over to the other side of the room.

I want to come up with a logical reason for why I’m doing this, but there isn’t one.

I just can’t help myself.

Tony Dumas is like a magnet. He is gravity. And I am unable to resist his pull.

Of course, everything about this is a bad idea. Vann openly flirts with me every chance he gets. Tony is a jealous asshole.

Nothing good can come from my decision to make this a party of three.

But I do it anyway.

“Thanks, babe,” Vann says, taking his coffee from my hand. Then he pulls out a chair. “Sit, Belinda. Take a load off and enjoy your coffee.”

“Umm… I gotta get to work.”

I turn to leave, but Vann grabs the sleeve of my hoodie and tugs me back. “Come on. It’s Tony. Did you know he was in town? We need to catch up. And besides, we don’t open up for hours. There’s nothing to do at work.”

I glance at Tony. His expression is flat. Almost unreadable. But I can read him. I don’t need to notice the way he’s working his jaw to understand what’s going on inside that head of his.

“Yeah,” Tony says. “Sit, Belinda. Enjoy your coffee.”

Vann takes a seat, pulling me into the chair next to him. “When did you get into town, Tony? Let me guess, you came for a world-famous Sick Boyz tat. I saw some ink on you back in Florida. It’s not bad”—Vann says this in a way that clearly indicates he’s seen better—“but we can certainly fix you up with something spectacular.” Vann looks at me. “We have room on my schedule today, right, Belinda? Fit Tony in.”

“Uh…”

“Sure,” Tony says. “Yeah. I’ll take you up on that offer, Vann. Do I get a family discount?”

“Are you family?” Vann asks. His grin never falters. But it’s very clear to anyone who knows Vann Vaughn that this statement is really a challenge.

“Close enough,” Tony says. He nods his head to me. “Belinda and I go way back.”

“I’ve heard,” Vann says. “How long ago did you date the fisherman, Belinda?”

“Uh…”

“High school,” Tony says. “We were high-school sweethearts.”

“Really?” Vann says.

“That’s not really accurate—”

“Well, that’s too bad,” Vann continues.

“Why’s that?” Tony asks.

“You know, high-school sweethearts? That’s just a practice run, right?”

I stand up. “OK. We have to go now.” I pull on Vann’s hoodie sleeve the way he was just pulling on mine. Thankfully he gets to his feet.

“We do. We have work,” Vann says, contradicting himself from just a few moments earlier. “But you stop by this evening, Tony. I promise to fix you up.”