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"I knew you were stupid for letting him go, but I didn't think you were stupid enough to fall for the good old dare trick. Lacey, is it? Whatever, doesn't matter. Listen to me now because the next time this happens, he won't be able to keep me from you. You let him go, and I will never be as stupid as you. You might have a ring he gave you, but it stopped being more than a hunk of metal and a rock the second y'all broke up OVER a year ago. Stop being a pathetic excuse for a woman sniffing after a man who doesn't want you, and move the heck on."
I hear the sirens, but I'm unable to do more than watch Nikki defend herself--and me.
"He'll always be mine," Lacey gasps, winded from her fall.
Nikki throws her head back, her long blond hair shaking down her back. My hands itch, wanting it in my fist while I take her hard.
"He let you go and didn't want you back. If you ask me, he never was yours to begin with."
"He will be back. Mark my words." For the first time, a little of Lacey's confidence cracks, and I see that she isn't as confident as she would like us to believe.
"Wrong. He's got me now, and I won't ever do anything to screw up what we have. Whatever you think it was you shared, we've got that and then some. You ever seen what it looks like when two people find their forever? Well, open your eyes, sweetheart, because it's right in front of you."
Even knowing she's acting, her words hit something inside me that makes my chest warm and my heart pound. I clench my fists when that sensation gets more intense. Nikki steps back at the same time the flashing lights paint the outside of the restaurant. Stepping into my hold, she doesn't look away from Lacey as she rolls and climbs to her feet.
She wasn't wrong; my ex never was the brightest crayon in the box. She shows everyone watching that when she leaps forward and punches Nikki right in the eye two seconds after the officer steps out of his car.
"Jesus." I look up and see the officer, one I recognize quickly from his connection to Nate, as he frowns down at Lacey, and the other officer with him handcuffs her. "You know, Nik, I thought you might be exaggerating when I heard it was you who called this in."
"Would I do that?" Nikki laughs, curling even more into my side. I tighten my hold, not wanting any space between us. Not letting myself question that.
He just laughs, moving Lacey away from us. I tune him out while he says something into his radio then addresses Lacey. My eyes only for one woman. And the crazy woman just smiles up at me, one red eye and all.
"That was fun."
"Fuck," I whisper, pulling her into my arms and pressing my lips to her eye. I move my hand to the back of her head and press her against my chest while I look over her head as Liam puts my ex in the back of his patrol car.
After he finishes questioning the witnesses, he walks back to us and shakes his head with a grin at Nikki. We had moved to lean against my car while he got his statements, waiting for our turn.
"Haven't seen you around in a while, squirt."
"The school year started back up and I've been busy keeping the youth of America from boredom. How are Megan and the kids?"
"They're great," he answers, his whole demeanor changing at the mention of his wife and children. I don't know him too well, but I know enough through Nate that I wouldn't call him a stranger. "You pressing charges?"
Nikki says no at the same time I say yes. She looks up, studies me for a second, and then nods. She shocks the shit out of me when she looks back at Liam and ignores me as if I'm not even there.
"You'll have to forgive Shane; he doesn't like it when someone messes with his girl. My precious, he's like that."
"Your girl," he repeats, looking at me with lips twitching with amusement, but his eyes hold a lot of questions.
"Thanks for coming," she continues, ignoring the two men at her side and completely clueless to the heat in his stare. "If you don't mind, I'm really hungry, and I was promised a meal before a great night of fun at his place. Do you have something where I can write my statement down?"
Who the hell is this woman?
"Yeah, Nik," he says, shaking his head at her with a small smile. He walks away and opens the trunk of his patrol car, returning a moment later with an incident form. "Fill this out and I'll let you know if I have any follow-up questions later so you two can get out of here. I'm sure Megan's going to want more than I can give her when she hears about this, though, so I'd expect a call from her before me."
Thirty minutes later, we're back in my car. Lacey might have lucked out with Nikki refusing to press charges, but unfortunately for her, Liam still placed her under arrest for disorderly conduct since he witnessed her erratic behavior firsthand--not to mention her physically putting her hands on Nikki with the intent to harm. She won't even spend the night in jail; I'm sure Daddy's princess will have him bailing her out immediately, but there isn't shit I can do about that. I make a mental note to let the bouncers at Dirty know Lacey is officially banned from the club, something I should have done sooner. Had I, then maybe she wouldn't be so fucked in the head thinking I would take her back.
I glance over at Nikki, her hair now dry from the drink, but the dressing from the salad still staining her top. She's wearing a small smirk on her lips, not even fazed by the events of the night.
"Hey!" She jerks up straighter and points forward. "Taco Bell?"
"Do you ever do what someone would expect you to do?"
She giggles. "Never, handsome. Never."
Dangerous game, indeed.
"So ..." Nikki mumbles around a mouth full of her burrito. "You were engaged?"
I finish chewing the bite I had just taken and wash it down with a drink before answering. "Not really."
"Explain that."
"I was with her for a few years. She moved here with me when Nate opened Dirty and I took the job he offered. We'd talked about marriage before, but nothing serious and more me entertaining her when she would bring it up. When I gave her that ring, it was more of a one day we might kind of thing because I was honestly sick of her bitching about it. It was never an engagement ring, and she knew that. I think I always knew we weren't right for each other, and it was easier to dust off our troubles with shiny shit than put up with her screaming all the time."
"You bought her a ring with no intention of marrying her? Harsh, Kingston, harsh."
"Not my finest moment," I agree. "But I didn't lead her on. She knew what it was."
"So what happened? You weren't ready to break it off with her then, clearly, but what happened to end things for y'all?"
I lean back in my seat, looking around the empty dining area of our local Taco Bell. None of the employees are paying us any attention. We might as well be in our own world.
