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I sigh, watching Kieran stomp his way through the rowdy crowd with a stone-cold expression. I swear everyone jumps out of his way when his eyes look around the room for the threat.
Said problem lurks in a booth at the back of the bar, hiding in the shadows, watching our every move when Kieran locks eyes with him and growls, planting his feet. Rad pushes through people with a grin, setting his sights on me.
“There she is,” Rad proclaims with glee, breaking through the rising tension.
Coming around the bar, he wraps his arms securely around me and squeezes me into his chest. The scent of his body wash filters through my nose, and subconsciously, I know I’m safe. Every ounce of tension melts away when I breathe in his scent and bask in the warmth of his hug.
“Here I am,” I mumble into his chest, gripping the back of his shirt and keeping him there within my reach.
Ashton Radcliffe may be outspoken and unable to hold his tongue, but he was my hero once. My knight in shining armor who continues to protect me from the dangers threatening me.
Tipping my head back, I gaze into his sparkling brown eyes, tinted with concern. With a content sigh, I press my lips to his, savoring the flavor of his tongue dancing with mine. He groans into my mouth, pushing me back into the bar. Warm hands encase my jaw, holding me firmly in place.
“Is that what you needed?” Rad asks breathlessly when he pulls back, cocking his head and examining my flushed face until I nod. “Good,” he murmurs, rubbing his hands over my shoulders, relaxing me even more.
His dark eyes search the bar with predatory intent, finally landing back on me with a frown. “Why is Van here? Fuck. I thought maybe that other fucker had shown up again to harass you.” Worry lines crease on his face when he looks at me for confirmation.
“No,” I murmur, running a thumb over his cheek. “He hasn’t been back since you kicked him out. And hell, that was the first time I had ever seen him here.”
Lakeview residents rarely show up to Dead End unless they’re desperate. They’ve got fancier, nicer bars on their side of town without the crime rates surrounding it. Besides, Van has never come here before. Hell, he practically refused to come and meet me on this side of town unless it was at the record store. So, to see him so out of his usual territory has me on edge.
“Why the fuck is he here?” Kieran questions with a growl, curling his fingers into a fist. Glancing at Van again, he frowns more, baring his teeth at the threat. Van, in return, lifts his beer and salutes the guys tauntingly. “I’ll kill him,” he mutters, tightening his stance and squaring his shoulders. “I’ll fucking murder him if he fucked with you. Did he do anything to you? Talk to you? Touch you?” A wild shift happens in his eyes as his voice raises with every word he speaks, pulling back his lips into a snarl.
“Is this why-why you texted?” Callum asks, blinking rapidly.
Stepping forward with a hardened face, which is so unlike himself, he looks over his shoulder. Every inch of his body tenses up, pulling his shoulders into his ears when his eyes find Van and his friend lounging in a booth, drinking their beers. Callum sighs, slumping into the bar stool. Shaking his head, he runs a hand down his face in frustration.
I nibble my lip and nod, not willing to admit he’s shaken me up as much as he has. It seems like everywhere I go, Van’s face pops up. The cookout. The record store. Just last night, after Callum had settled into bed with me, I swear I heard someone outside my sliding glass door rustling the leaves and tapping on the windows. I thought maybe it was Rad coming for a visit. Through the darkness, I couldn’t make out any shapes lurking outside, but I felt it. The eyes searched me out in the night, sending goosebumps down my arms and raising the hairs on the back of my neck. The only way I could shake off the feeling was by snuggling into Callum more and ignoring it until I fell fast asleep. In Callum’s arms, I felt more protected than ever.
“Is he bothering you?” Asher asks, settling across from us on a bar stool with a deadly expression tightening his beautiful face. If he weren’t such an assface, he’d be handsome as hell.
“No, and yes,” I sigh, shaking my head. “I don’t know, I felt…. Fuck, he makes me feel uneasy, okay?” I spit out, rushing my words together. My stomach turns at my admission, and my eyes fall to the floor, avoiding their stares.
Rad picks up my chin with two fingers, forcing me to face the twinkle in his eyes. “We got you, Pretty Girl, okay? That’s what boyfriends are for. And lucky for you, you have four.”
“You are not my boyfriends. How does that even work?” I say, shaking my chin from his hold. “There’s four of you and only….”
“Three holes? Yeah, we’ve discussed that. But you have hands, too. It’s like a fivesome for all, and we’re all satisfied.” Rad grins, pride puffing out his chest.
“That makes no sense, jackass,” Kieran quips, shoving Rad to the side. “And you are our girlfriend. You have no choices in this discussion.”
I frown. “Again, with the demands, Assface. I am my own fucking woman. I swear to God, you’re asking for a dick punch tonight.”
“The good kind?” Rad asks, wiggling his brows, and then his face falls at our sour expressions. “Okay, so not the good kind?” he questions again with furrowed brows.
Asher huffs. “There is literally no such thing as a good dick punch, idiot. For fuck’s sake,” he grumbles, running a hand through his hair. “I’m surrounded by idiots every day,” he mutters, along with several more unintelligible words.
“I take offense to that,” Rad says with mock hurt, rearing back.
“Shut up,” Callum grumbles with a snort, effectively shutting Rad up, who still grins like an idiot.
“Anyway, we’ll stand guard, Little Brat,” Asher says with a shrug, sitting back on the stool. Looking over his shoulder, his eyes connect with Van’s in a challenge like a dog staring down a perpetrator ready to bite.
“We got you, Pretty Girl,” Rad says with conviction, turning around and grabbing three beers from the fridge, opening them, and handing them out to the boys. “Now, can you make me a Pina Colada? I’m aching for some sweetness, which I’ll get from you later, but I need liquid sweetness,” he says, punctuating his words with a butt slap and grab.
“Sure, just help yourself,” I quip, throwing my arms in the air and promptly shoving my new bodyguards out from behind the bar before they destroy something—like my sanity.
“I got it,” Ode says with a sigh, mixing his drink for him and bringing it back. Rad grins when she sets it down in front of him and hums when he takes a sip. “So, are you boys stepping up and protecting my girl here?” she asks with a grin, throwing her arm over my shoulders and squeezing me into her side. Leaning her head on mine, she sighs.
