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He looked like he belonged in an ad for Abercrombie & Fitch, not hanging out at Rowdy’s with Lynyrd Skynyrd playing in the background. What kind of person, a soon-to-be mother, hung out at a bar, flirting with random men? It took her a moment, but finally Christa turned her head toward Jane and glowered. The bar was packed with a lot of regulars, but also some newbies crammed inside, taking the night off to relax.
“What the hell do you want?” Christa crossed her arms, pushing her ample breasts up to spill over her barely-there tank top. It was no surprise Christa wasn’t wearing a bra.
A lesser woman might have cowered under the look Christa was directing her way, but Jane cocked her shoulders back and returned the stare. This was her life, and no one, especially Christa Martine, who had no right to judge others, was going to intimidate her.
“I want you to admit you’re a lying bitch.”
Christa’s lip curled up. “What the hell are you talking about?” She stepped around the group of guys to stand a few feet from Jane. “And don’t call me a bitch, bitch.”
Jane refused to back down. “I want you to admit to everyone that you lied about Rys being the father, because you and I know you were lying.” For one tiny moment, Christa looked startled, but that shifted to anger.
“I’m sorry you don’t get to keep your little threesome, but it is what it is. Rys is the father, and you’re just going to have to get used to it. He’ll come around, and when he does, we will be a family. There isn’t anything you can do about that.” She looked smug as hell, and Jane wanted to smack the look off her face.
Obviously, this was going to take a little more coaxing on Jane’s part. “I think, in your best interest, you’ll just admit the truth.” The guys around the table were staring at them intently. Christa took a step forward, and that was when Jane smelled alcohol on her breath. A sadness washed through Jane at the thought that the innocent child growing inside Christa was suffering. “Christa, you have a baby inside you. The life you’ve been leading has to stop. Think about your baby.” She didn’t mention the drinking, because she knew Christa knew exactly what she was referring to. A red hue coated Christa’s face, and she reached out and pushed Jane. The crowd was thick, so Jane didn’t have much room to fall backward.
“Catfight!” some idiot hollered.
As if that one word had the power to stop a freight train, everyone around them stilled, and the noise lowered. Good, this was what Jane needed to get her point across. “Free Bird” played loudly and clearly, and Jane looked over her shoulder at the bar. Brooklyn dried his hands on a white rag slung over his shoulder and nodded at her.
“Christa, please, I’m asking you nicely to just admit the truth.”
“You know what, Jane? Rys and William deserve a lot better than a piece of white trash like you.”
Okay. It was clear Christa wasn’t going to do this of her own accord, so it looked like Jane was going to have to go to Plan B.
Jane looked behind her and nodded at Brooklyn, who in turn pulled out his cell and disappeared in the back room. Nothing was said for several long minutes, as if they expected Jane and Christa to start a full-out brawl right in the middle of Rowdy’s. The front door squeaking open had everyone turning and staring as Rys and William dragged Trevor inside. The twins flanked Trevor, and Jane’s throat clogged when she saw the split lip, swollen eye, and trickle of blood coming from Trevor’s mouth.
They led him over to the makeshift stage that housed karaoke on Wednesday nights and live bands on the weekends. Brooklyn and Jaxx were already standing on the stage, a microphone in Brooklyn’s hand. Rys and William hauled Trevor up and pushed him toward Brooklyn, who held out the microphone. Trevor glanced at the four big men surrounding him and begrudgingly took it. The music ceased, and everyone in the bar was watching the spectacle. Jane glanced at Christa, saw her frantic look, and almost felt a twinge of sympathy for how things were going to play out. Almost.
When Trevor didn’t say anything, Rys nudged him with his shoulder. A fierce look was on William and Rys’s faces, and although she didn’t like that they had beat the shit out of Trevor, deep down inside, she knew that no matter what she said or did, it was bound to happen. Jane saw Trevor glance at Christa and wondered what was going through their minds at that moment.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” Christa hissed at Jane between her teeth. “Mortifying me in front of half the town is bad enough, but now you have to bring Trevor up here so he can call me a slut too?” Jane looked at Christa and expected to see sadness, or maybe even remorse, but what she saw was bone-deep hatred.
