AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thanks, kid.”
“Thank you, babe.”
She frowned up at me and walked away.
I wanted to reach out and grab her, pull her back against me and shove my tongue in her mouth the way she shoved the lime into mine. But we were in the middle of everyone. Any one of my brothers would have punched me for trying to touch Lily like that. So, I didn’t. And I’ve regretted it every minute of every day since.
My cousin Gunnar was the one to take her home that night, even if he didn’t do anything more than drop her off. Lily was drunk. Too drunk for me to fuck her. But I could at least have kissed her. I would’ve been happy making out with her and going to sleep cuddling her. Then fucking her in the morning when she was sober. But I didn’t do any of it.
Maybe tonight’s my chance to finally get things right? Lily’s here at the Goldrush all by herself. Well, she’s here with a date. But I’m not worried about him. I can’t tell exactly what they’re talking about all the way over there. But aside from the guy putting his hand on her leg, it doesn’t look like they’re getting any closer. They talked a bit. The guy drank too much. And Lily just sat there sipping her wine and looking like she was bored. I’ve never seen Lily drink wine at the Goldrush, so this must be something she only does on dates. And how the hell would I know anything about what Lily does on a date?
As much as I’d enjoy kicking her date’s ass, I don’t think I need to with the way she’s keeping her distance and looking at her phone.
Get rid of him, Lemon. Spend the night letting me fuck you instead. I promise you won’t be staring at your phone then.
When she stands up and starts walking directly to me, I force myself to look away from her so she doesn’t know I’ve been staring at her this whole time.
“Hey, kid,” Lily says, when she’s a couple of feet away.
“We’re a little busy here,” the redhead says, laying her hand on my chest in the universal lady signal for this dude’s mine. Which I definitely am not.
I haven’t moved from my spot leaning against the bar where Lily walked away from me. The redhead followed me over here.
“He’s all yours, sweetie. I just need to borrow him for like five minutes.” Lily holds up her hand, wiggling her fingers.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” I ask, standing up straight.
I will kick that guy’s ass if he so much as looked at her wrong. I don’t give a shit if he’s had four drinks in an hour and I’ve only had one beer.
“Nothing happened. I’m fine. Just in need of some assistance ditching a bad date. And then maybe you can take my phone away from me and delete the TumbleWed app off of it,” Lily mutters, looking miserable.
“Did he do something to you? Did he fucking touch you when I wasn’t looking? And what the hell are you doing on TumbleWed, Lemon?”
“Her name’s Lemon?” the redhead asks, but neither of us answers.
No, her name’s not Lemon. But that’s what I call her, and that’s no one’s business but mine and hers. Actually, it’s not even hers. She has no idea why I started calling her Lemon. I don’t think she likes it, either. And that only makes me want to call her Lemon even more.
We both ignore the redhead.
Lily’s brows pull together as she shakes her head. “No. But he wants to. And I’m not interested. He’s not a creep. He’s just kind of desperate. And way too into fishing. He’s drunk. After an hour, he’s already freaking drunk. But he’s not taking my polite get lost for an answer. Can you just come over there and scare him off? Please, Jameson? Pretend to be my jealous boyfriend or something and get rid of him? And I’m on TumbleWed because how else am I going to meet a guy in a town this small?”
I still don’t like it. “He didn’t touch you?”
Her light brown eyebrows draw together. “No. Well, he put his hand on my leg without asking me or reading the freaking room. And there was a boob graze I don’t entirely believe was accidental. But I’m fine. I just want him gone, so I can get a drink. Maybe see if there’s anyone else interesting here?”
Pushing away from the bar, I put down my empty beer. “He touched your tits? I’m going to kick that guy’s ass.”
She rolls her eyes and presses her palm against my chest over the old t-shirt I’m wearing. “Don’t need you to kick his ass. Just need you to get rid of him for me. Please and thank you.”
As I walk past the redhead, I feel like a dick. I don’t even remember her name. Tina? Tonya? I feel like there was a T in there somewhere. “Have a good night.”
Her eyes are wide, and she looks pissed. “Aren’t you coming back?”
“No.” Wrapping my arm over Lily’s shoulders, I head for her piece of shit date.
Lily leans her head back over my shoulder. “He’ll be right back. I’m just borrowing him. Five minutes, tops. Then he’s all yours, honey.”
chapter three
