AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“They sometimes offered,” replied Bailey. “I said no.”
“Why?”
Bailey shrugged. “I saw no point in pretending that we had something we didn’t.”
“And you were managing their expectations. Right?”
“Well, yeah.” It had seemed better to do so. And most of them had annoyed her snake anyway.
“You didn’t say no to Deke. Why not?”
Bailey lifted her shoulders. “We have an arrangement complete with an approximate end date.” One she did hope would be given an extension. “There’s no chance of anyone getting muddled about where they stand.”
“It’s more than that.”
It was, yes. He’d said something that made her chest go tight and warm and, more, caused her snake to melt a little. The words had taken Bailey so off-guard that she hadn’t been able to think of an argument. She shifted in her seat. “He said he likes having me around.”
“Aw,” drawled Aspen.
“I knew he did,” claimed Havana, smug. “I just knew it. A guy like Deke was never going to let a little goading hold him at arm’s length.”
“I’m sure your snake is delighted, considering he passed her test,” said Aspen, a smile in her voice.
Bailey flicked her a sideways look. “What test?”
The bearcat sighed. “Bailey, you’re a huge pain in the ass in just about every way possible. Your snake is no better—she’s aggressive to just about everybody, even if she likes them. You push people to encourage them to give you space. She does it to see if they have the balls to get closer. If they don’t, she decides they’re useless.”
“She did it to my devil and to Aspen’s bearcat,” Havana added. “Many times, actually. And when we didn’t let her scare us off and she saw we’d accepted you as you are, she relaxed with us and let us in. So did you.”
Bailey opened her mouth to deny it … and realized she couldn’t. She hadn’t given it any real thought before—self-reflection wasn’t something she spent much time on, and she didn’t much reflect on her snake’s behavior either. “I didn’t realize that’s what she was doing,” she mumbled.
“I know,” said Aspen, her voice soft. “I take it she’s not as determined to resist his charms anymore.”
No, the mamba wasn’t. She’d given him her silent approval … illustrating that, yes, he had in fact passed her little test.
“And neither are you.” Havana gently poked Bailey’s shoulder. “I think you pushed Deke so much harder than you do others to keep him away because you knew it would sting if he wrote you off and proclaimed he couldn’t deal with you.” She paused. “Has he hinted at keeping your little arrangement going?”
Bailey shook her head. “He hasn’t mentioned the arrangement at all.”
The Alpha let out a low hum. “So there have been no subtle ‘remember this is only temporary’ messages?”
“No. But Deke doesn’t do subtle.”
“True,” Havana conceded. “And if he hasn’t verbally reminded you that you two will soon part, that’s pretty telling. I’ve seen how he is with you. Not lovey-dovey or gentle by any means, no, but Deke is not cuddly. What I’m getting at is … he gives you his full attention. He stays close, as if to leap between you and any threat if need be.”
“And he spars with you in a way he doesn’t with others,” said Aspen. “He’s full-on. He doesn’t tone himself down. Like he lowers his guard with you; trusts that you’ll take him as he is. You do the same with him.” She reached over and tapped Bailey’s thigh. “You’d like if he offered you more. Admit it.”
Bailey cast her a brief, foul look. “Don’t wanna. You can’t make me.”
Havana chuckled. “You don’t need to be spooked by this, Bailey. It’s a good thing, it—”
A crack split the air a mere millisecond before something slammed into the tire. The car juddered and then tilted downwards, the now-burst tire screeching as the vehicle swerved abruptly.
Her heart slamming against her ribs, Bailey yanked on the wheel with a shocked curse, struggling to regain control of the car. But its left side dipped off the edge of the narrow road, unbalancing it … and then the vehicle flipped.
For excruciatingly slow moments, it was as if they were suspended in the air. Like time itself had paused. And then the world went tumbling.
The breath slammed from Bailey’s lungs as the safety belt snapped taut, hauling her against the seat with a vicious yank. Again and again the car flipped, whacking her body into the door, whipping her head from side to side. A billow of white bashed into her front, shoving her against the seat. But still, she was jerked and jostled.
There was an explosion of sounds—grinding, smashing, banging, crunching, startled female cries. All kinds of crap bounced around like pinballs and smacked into her.
Abruptly, the world stopped spinning. Her body stopped moving. The explosive sounds came to a halt.
