Damaged and the Outlaw (Damaged #4)

“Or you’ll hook up with some random blonde chick. Makes sense,” Judd said, smirking at Tawny.

Even rolling my eyes at their hinting, I had been thinking about Raven when I imagined those blond beauties running around Ellsberg. Our kids would be more beautiful than the sun and people would secretly hate us for having better kids than them.

Made sense to me, but I wasn’t having any kids and I certainly wasn’t having them with Raven. Hell, forget the Devils shit. Raven hadn’t even texted me back and I knew she must be up by then. After all the hot sex and laughs I gave her, she was just blowing me off.

“Why do you look like you’ll cry?” Tawny teased me and Judd smiled.

“You two are annoying.”

“I love Judd and he makes me happy.”

Crap. I knew I might as well disappear at that point. Judd’s gaze locked onto Tawny’s and they shared a silent conversation. Normally, I would interrupt and remind them the world existed outside of their little love match. Tonight, Tawny looked tired and a little lost. She needed something chitchat wouldn’t offer.

The two of them said nothing for the rest of the meal. Not to me or each other. I knew Judd could go hours, hell days, without talking. I’d always done all of the talking while he brooded. Now, I had to brood too and I didn’t enjoy it half as much as Judd did.

My boredom became so intense from their silence that I focused on the various awful karaoke renditions in the bar area. I couldn’t see who was singing, but I pictured them. A senior citizen serenading his woman to Kenny Rogers, rednecks remembering Skynard, and college girls pretending they had the pipes of Christina Aguilera. By the time Judd and Tawny bailed on me, someone decided to be the billionth loser to sing Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing.

Figuring I might entertain myself with heckling, I walked to the bar. I never made it through the door. Instead, I leaned against the doorway, crossed my arms, and enjoyed the spectacle of Raven, Bailey, and Sawyer singing horribly along with Steve Perry.

The three blondes sang their talentless hearts out with Sawyer on a stool in the middle. Bailey wasn’t singing as much as yelling to the music. Sawyer was talking the song. Raven though was really trying to sound good. Unfortunately, her sexy voice didn’t translate well into song.

The few people in the bar clapped when the song ended. Mainly because Bailey and Raven were hot. Sawyer ran to the bar and ordered a beer. The bartender nodded and gave her a big glass of root beer. She winked at him and told Bailey to pay the man. The kid was going to rule the world one day.

Raven walked over to me with a strange frown on her face. “I feel like I know you. Vaughn, was it?”

Grinning, I leaned forward and whispered, “I could make you remember it the way I did last night.”

“When I woke up alone, I assumed you needed space,” Raven said, pushing me away. “There. Enjoy it.”

“Someone’s getting clingy.”

Raven shared my smile then punched me in the arm. Hard too. I was impressed.

“Fuck you, asshole,” she muttered, glancing at Bailey who looked irritated. When Raven looked back at me, her expression was pissed. I still thought she looked hot though. “You were the one talking about getting dinner together and fucking me to sleep tonight. You were clingy then you ditched me. Why talk about all that shit if you didn’t intend to stick around?”

“What can I say? I’m a flake. Call it a blond moment.”

“Which part? Where you said you wanted to hang or where you bailed?”

“Both and neither. Why are you so upset if you aren’t clingy?”

“If I wanted to have a guy jerk me around, I would date for real. I thought the cool thing about fuck buddies was that we could enjoy the fucking and hang out without all the damn games.”

Rubbing the back of my neck, I sighed. “I dig you, okay? I like you more than some random chick, but I’m not looking to get involved.”

Hands on her hips, she glared up at me. “I don’t want to get involved either. We’re on the same page, so what’s the fucking problem?”

“I don’t know how to be buddies who also bang.”

“What about you and Judd?” she asked without missing a beat.

“You’re never letting that go, are you?”

Shaking her head, she smiled. “Well, it was good seeing you.”

Before she could return to Bailey and Sawyer, I grabbed her around the waist.

“Let’s hang tonight. I’ll make it up to you.”

“You sound like a boyfriend who cheated or forgot my birthday. Ick. Go away,” she muttered, breaking loose.

Slipping a finger in the loop of her jean shorts, I tugged her back against me. “I’m still hungry after dinner.”

“I don’t want to eat,” she grumbled, struggling weakly.

“I don’t mean for food,” I said and whispered in her ear, “I still remember the way you taste and I crave it.”

Raven glanced at Bailey then sighed. By the way her body relaxed against mine, I knew she was on the hook.