The second her feet touch the parking lot, Sawyer's knee goes straight for my crotch again. I expect as much and block it. My hands dig in the pockets of her jean shorts while she punches my arms and back. Her pockets are empty. She isn't even carrying cash.
"How the hell did you get here?" I demand, pissed at how I've been in town less than an hour and already fucked up.
When Sawyer opens her mouth, I do the same to tell her to save the dick threats. We both pause when a camouflaged truck comes barreling into the parking lot at us.
"Shit!" I holler, grabbing Sawyer in the hopes of moving her out of the truck's path.
The truck swings around and sprays mud at us. Sawyer is about to raise hell until we notice the two figures pointing weapons in our direction from the truck's bed. I make a move for my gun while shoving Sawyer behind me. The first shot hits me square in the stomach. Even hurting like a sonovabitch, the wound isn't from a bullet but a paintball. The next shot hits my hand reaching for my gun. I'm nailed in the legs, arms, and gut.
My brain is just accepts they're not trying to kill us when Sawyer makes a run for the truck. One of the figures reaches a hand out and pulls her into the bed. The second figure fires at my feet.
"Go!" one of the figures yells, and the truck speeds off.
Sawyer and the two figures hold on while the truck disappears out of the parking lot and down the road towards the McLaughlin property. Drenched in pink paint, I wonder what kind of people I'm dealing with around here.
"Could have told you that would happen," a woman says, leaving Hidey-hole."
"Why didn't you?" I ask like a dope.
The woman only laughs as she reaches her car. Other people are laughing too from the doorway of the honky-tonk. No wonder they didn't call the cops.
Arriving at a hotel just out of town, I receive laughter from the front clerk. Even after I give my death stare, the guy snickers.
"Could be worse," he says, handing me the room keycards.
"How do you figure?"
"They could have been using real bullets. Last I checked, those aren't pink."
Forcing a grin, I stomp to my room to wash the pink splatter from my hair. After a thirty-minute shower, I sit on the bed and think about my next move. Everyone in this town seems to know everyone else's business. Showing up unannounced at the McLaughlin house likely won't go well, and I'm not looking to be shot with pink paint again.
Rather than going in half-cocked again, I plan to make an appointment by asking just about anyone in Last Dollar to set it up. Sawyer has wild friends here, but she's fooling herself if she thinks I'm returning to Ellsberg empty-handed.
Chapter 5
Sawyer
I Don't Want To Love You (but I Do)
My brother is a dead man. I'm so pissed on the drive back to the house that I nearly fly out of the bed of the truck when we hit bump. Pulling me back to safety, Bodie gives one of her disapproving mom looks. I hold on to the side of the truck and wait to get behind the electrified fences surrounding the McLaughlin estate.
I half expect Jace to follow us, but he's too smart to try the same move twice. The full frontal attack was a bust. Next time, he'll go sneaky.
"I can't fucking believe it," I mutter after I showered off the mud. Now following the twins around the house, I fume. "Cooper sent my ex-boyfriend."
"He's hot. You're lucky for your first lover to be so sexy," Colbie says, wandering down a hallway. "Bodie's first had a baboon's ass for a face."
In the giant house, the siblings share this part of the second floor with three bedrooms, a mini kitchen, and a living room. I wait in the kitchen for the girls to appear. Soon, I shuffle after them downstairs to the indoor pool. Through the waiting, I send angry texts to Cooper. My brother the ass responds in shock that I might not want my ex-boyfriend bothering me here in Last Dollar.
"Wait, are you two not friends anymore?" he asks innocently.
"You're lucky I can't smack you," I send back.
Cooper sends me a frowny face, and I can picture him laughing his ass off back in Ellsberg.
"Dickhead," I say aloud to the twins who turn on a radio while silently arguing over what to listen to first.
The siblings claim to speak psychically. I assume they're lying, but these silent staring contests make me wonder. I guess Bodie wins since she turns on the All Over The World: The Very Best Of ELO album.
"I can't believe Jace is here," I mutter, still trying to wrap my head around how things shifted so quickly at the bar.
"You never thanked us for saving you," Bodie mentions before diving into the deep end.
"Do you think you hurt him?" I ask, refusing to give into Bodie by uttering those two words.
"We were careful not to fire at his face, chest, or crotch," Colbie points out. "You're welcome."
Grudgingly, I mutter a thank you. Colbie flips off her sister before jumping into the water.
"Don't feel bad," Zane says, hugging me from behind. "Everyone has an ex they regret."
Smiling, I realize he's wearing a red Speedo. "Really?"