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For now, I do shots and shoot darts and try like hell not to cry. This is no place for tears, not when the men are in trouble every time they set foot off the compound. Not when there are women here who have been put through physical hell by the Iron Kings.
There’s a new baby around, and she’ll need her mom and dad to get her through this fucked up world. What right do I have to cry and fall apart now?
I swallow down my tears and shoot darts with more speed and intensity than I’ve ever done anything before—including shooting darts.
A low whistle sounds behind me, and I ignore it, assuming it’s something else going on that doesn’t involve me. “Who’s heart are you imagining sending those darts through?”
A small smile forms on my lips at the sound of Joaquin’s voice. It’s deep and he has a slight gangster accent that tells a girl he’s much more than a pretty face. I go to the board and remove the darts before I turn to him with the flirty smile he expects. “Do I have to choose just one?”
He laughs and slips the darts from my hand in a move far too smooth for a gangbanger, and I like it, dammit. “Up for a game?”
I shrug. “Sure.” Things are so fucking fucked up right now that I can’t even enjoy being up close and personal with a hot biker giving off big dick energy. I don’t dwell on it. I enjoy being with Joaquin now because he’s fun and makes me feel better.
We play a few rounds without exchanging any words. We’re neck and neck on the score, and my shoulders start to relax. Maybe it’s Joaquin, or maybe it’s Señor Patron.
“Willow, what’s wrong?”
I turn to Joaquin, half-tempted to tell him, but in the end, I just shrug. “Nothing.”
He laughs. “I know what that kind ofnothingmeans. It means it’s something, but you don’t want to talk about it.”
“Yet, here you are, asking anyway.”
He gets all up in my space, his masculine scent as potent as the tequila coursing through my veins. “Maybe I don’t like to see a pretty girl with sadness in her eyes.”
“Does that line work for you, ever?”
He shrugs. “Only matters if it’s working for you.”
His words make me laugh, and I shake my head, turning away to yank the darts from the board. “It’s working. A little.”
Joaquin’s smile is wide and bright, so white his skin looks even darker than its usual sun-kissed tone. “I’ll take it. Let’s do a shootout. Three darts each, high cumulative score wins.”
“Okay.” I fold my arms and lift my chin. “What does the winner get?”
“Whatever he—or she—wants.”
“Intriguing.” I hand him the darts. “You, first.”
“If you insist.” He flashes an innocent smile that sends a shiver down my spine, shrugging as if the order is of no consequence to him. His body is relaxed, but I can see the look of determination burning in his brown eyes as he lines up his first shot. “Bullseye.”
“Horseshit,” I say without any heat.
Joaquin laughs and sends a sexy wink in my direction before he sends another dart flying at the board. “Shit. Triple twenty.” He shrugs it off, and with laser focus, sends the third dart right into the heart of the bullseye. “Your turn.”
I take the darts and ignore the satisfied smile lighting up his face. There’s no way in hell I’m going to beat his score, but I’m not a quitter, and I really want to dictate what I get from Joaquin tonight.
“You got this,” he says in a low, supportive tone. It really shouldn’t make me hotter, but holy hell, it does.
I look over my shoulder at the heat in his eyes, and my pussy pulses so wildly between my thighs, I have to squeeze them together until my kneecaps ache. With my gaze on his, I shoot the first dart, relying on Joaquin’s reaction to see what I hit. “Good?”
He nods toward the board. “See for yourself.”
“Bullseye!” It’s a lucky shot, but it makes me happy, and I lean into it since there’s not much to be happy about right now. The next two shots, a double twenty and a triple five. “Son of a bitch.”
My shoulders sag in disappointment, but when I turn toward Joaquin, he has a full shot glass in his hands, shaking it temptingly. “Drink up and tell me what’s wrong.”
I take the shot and knock it back quickly, letting the feel of the burn flood my veins and my extremities. I shake my arms out and nod for him to pour another shot as I prepare to do something I rarely do, tell my inner thoughts to a man.
