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My mouth dropped open in shock just as the chick we were talking about set my beer down on the bar.
“Thank you,” I said politely, grabbing my beer. It really wasn’t her fault Tommy was an asshole.
I turned back to Tommy and shoved at his stomach just as he was taking a drink, making him cough and choke. “You know, you’re kind of sucking at this whole marriage thing right now,” I informed him. “Get your shit together, Hawthorne.”
I stomped away, but I wasn’t really sure where to go so I ended up walking out front where there were more groups of people congregating. Everyone was joking and laughing like they’d done at our wedding, but the entire club had a totally different feel. Tommy’s party was a celebration, but it had a darker edge.
Everyone was getting a little more drunk, wearing a little less clothing, and were talking a little louder. There was a fire burning in a big barrel in the forecourt, and there were at least fifty motorcycles lined up along the front edge of the building. Wives and girlfriends hadn’t brought their family cars with the booster seats and airbags; they’d ridden in on the backs of their men’s bikes.
I watched a woman climb onto one of the picnic tables and start shaking her ass and snorted. Then I realized it was Farrah.
I laughed as I walked closer to the table and tipped my head back to look at her.
“You’re gonna break a hip,” I called up to her, laughing and dodging as she tried to kick me.
“Little brat,” she huffed, kicking at me again.
“Why the hell are you dancing on a table?”
“Because it pisses my husband off,” she replied easily, giving Casper a little wave as he came walking outside.
“Like to do that a lot, huh?” I joked, watching as Casper stomped toward us.
“Aw, he loves me,” she told me quietly, swaying her hips from side to side. “But he’s been busy as hell, and if I don’t piss him off he won’t let loose tonight.” She looked down at me. “Boys that don’t let off steam once in a while end up dead from a heart attack.”
“Is that your medical opinion?” I asked as Casper reached us.
His hand shot out and grabbed Farrah’s wrist, and before I could blink he’d yanked her off the table and over his shoulder. He didn’t say a word. Then they were moving across the pavement and disappearing inside the clubhouse.
I looked around but didn’t see anyone I knew. Some of the guys were wearing vests, but they weren’t Aces. I couldn’t see the patches clearly enough to read them, but they were the wrong colors and shaped differently than Tommy’s.
“Hello, beautiful,” a guy said, swaggering toward me. At some point he’d probably been hot, but hard living had given his face a slightly sunken look that reminded me of a skeleton.
“Not interested,” I said in amusement as he stopped and shifted his weight like he was posing for me.
“You seem interested,” he said, looking me over.
I scoffed. “I’m not, Night of the Living Dead. Go away.”
“You hear this chick?” Skeletor asked no one in particular. “You need to learn some manners.”
“My manners are just fine,” I replied, taking a step back as he took a step forward. “I told you I’m not interested. You just can’t seem to take a hint.”
“See, you keep talking shit, but your body, mmm…” He shook his head from side to side. “Your body is telling me you want it.”
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” I asked dubiously, taking another step backward. I realized way too late that I didn’t know anyone in the dark forecourt. There wasn’t a single face I recognized, and most of the people out there weren’t even paying attention to us. “That’s the most idiotic thing anyone has ever said to me. Ever. And I know a lot of stupid people.”
He made this weird noise, almost like a growl, and then he was hurdling toward me. I let out a startled scream and scrambled backward, but my sandal got caught where the grass met the pavement and I wobbled for a second before I fell hard on my ass.
He caught up to me before I could get back on my feet. His hand came down hard on my shoulder, but before anything else could happen something moved in the corner of my sight and the guy was tackled to the ground with a loud thump.
I crab walked backward as the two rolled around on the ground, then let out a little shriek as I realized what was happening.
Tommy.
At our wedding, I’d thought I’d seen Tommy in a rage when he’d seen my cousin, but it was nothing compared to what I saw when he kneeled above Skeletor and punched him hard in the jaw. The man I was looking at wasn’t anything like the Tommy I knew. His eyes were blank as he wrapped one hand around the guy’s throat and used the other to punch him over and over again.
