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I let out a breathy laugh.

Ryder cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered, “That’s it, Hattie! Show it who’s boss!” Hattie whooped in response, leaning into the motion like the bull was an extension of her own wild joy.

Sterling’s hand slid to my waist possessively, as if he didn’t trust the crowd not to sweep me away. He muttered something under his breath that I couldn’t quite catch and then steered me toward the bar.

Babs was planted behind the bar like a general holding the line, her arms braced on the counter, and her eyes unimpressed as she surveyed the room. A guy lingered too long in front of her with an untouched drink, clearly there to gawk, and she snapped her towel against the bar. “Either drink your beer or move along,” she barked. “I’m tired of looking at your face.”

The guy scrambled away, muttering apologies as he took a frantic swig and disappeared into the crowd.

Babs’s gaze flicked to me then, taking me in from head to toe, and her mouth twitched. “Well,” she said drily, “you look like you’re surviving.”

Sterling’s hand tightened at my waist, just a fraction.

“Barely,” I said, and somehow that made her smile.

A second loud whoop rang out, followed by a chorus of cheers, and I turned just in time to see Hattie get launched clean off the mechanical bull. She flew with impressive airtime before landing in the padding in a tangle of limbs and laughter.

I winced. “Yeah…me getting on that feels like a recipe for disaster.”

Hattie popped right back up, her glasses crooked and her hair even wilder than before, as she threw an arm in the air and soaked up the applause like she’d planned it that way.

We’d barely gotten our drinks when a gorgeous brunette appeared at Sterling’s side, all glossy hair and confidence, wearing a corset top that looked more decorative than functional. She leaned in with a sultry smile, pressing her heaving breasts against his arm like it was familiar territory.

I wanted to throat punch her. My mind immediately started going wild places, like wondering if the inside of her vagina had also seen Sterling’s horn.

Which reminded me once again that I really needed to make sure I got clean down there.

Sterling jerked back from her breasts immediately, the reaction so violent there was no mistaking it. “Don’t,” he said coldly.

She blinked, clearly startled, then tried to laugh it off, her manicured hand brushing his sleeve as if to recover. “Relax. I was just saying hi.”

Sterling didn’t respond. Instead, he turned to me, and his hand slid up to my jaw as he tipped my face toward his. The kiss he gave me was slow and consuming, his tongue sliding against mine like he owned every breath I took, claiming my mouth with a hunger that drowned out the bar’s chaos until there was nothing left but him.

When he pulled back, his forehead rested briefly against mine. “This is Sienna,” he said calmly. “My girlfriend.”

The brunette’s smile froze, then cracked. “Oh,” she said in a thin voice.

Sterling finally glanced at her, his expression cool and utterly uninterested. “So no,” he added. “I don’t need you to say ‘hi.’”

I was frozen in shock, but I still had the sudden, visceral certainty that I never wanted to be on the receiving end of that kind of look from him.

For a second, no one spoke. Then Ryder popped his head into the space between us, a sexy, annoying grin on his face. “Wait,” he said. “Did you just say girlfriend?”

Sterling’s intense gaze was back on me. “I did.”

Ryder grinned. “Well. I’ll be damned. I never thought I’d see the day.”

I finally remembered how to move and opened my mouth immediately. “I’m⁠—”

Sterling’s hand came up at once, covering my mouth before the rest of my sentence could escape.

My eyes snapped to his, and I growled under his warm palm.

He leaned in so that his breath was brushing my ear. “I know exactly what you’re going to say,” he murmured. “And you can say it.” His thumb pressed lightly into my cheek. “Just not here.” His gaze dropped to my lips beneath his hand, then lifted again, darker. “Unless,” he added softly, “you want me to start convincing you in front of everyone right now.”

Sterling held my stare for a beat longer, daring me to challenge him, and I bit down against his palm. He rolled his eyes and huffed out a breath like he hadn’t even felt my teeth.

When he finally moved his hand, I didn’t soften. I couldn’t afford to. Softening was how things got tangled and how promises started sounding real. It was how I forgot the lessons of the past and got hurt all over again.