“Guys dig it, too,” Matt offered.
“Definitely not concerned,” I answered.
“You owe me $50,” Jagger whispered loudly to Matt.
I looked up at them over the cards, told Jagger with my look exactly what I thought about that idea, and went back to studying. I had to blink a few times at the jumble of words, so I closed my eyes. Time to break.
“Finished for today,” Matt told Jagger as he sprayed one of Jagger’s pieces down and wrapped him in saran wrap like leftovers.
He settled his bill, and we headed back home. “So how is sharing a bathroom with Sam?” he asked with a sideways look at me.
“Fine.” I was not going there with him.
“Her insane amount of hair stuff isn’t driving your OCD nuts?”
“I don’t have OCD.” I liked things neat. Orderly. In their place. Go figure, I was panting after the one woman who wouldn’t let me keep things that way. She left stuff everywhere.
“Right. Well, I’m glad you’re getting along.”
“I grew up sharing a bathroom with four sisters. I think I can handle some hair crap on the counter.” What I couldn’t handle? The way the bathroom smelled like her after a shower, all vanilla and caramel. I got a raging hard-on just walking in.
“She rattles you.”
I ignored him and stared out of the window, watching the outskirts of Dothan fly by as we reached the edge of the small city. If I couldn’t come to grips with the effect Sam had on me, I sure as hell wasn’t using it as bonding time with Jagger.
“I don’t mean to pry—”
“Then don’t.”
“She’s been through a lot lately.” His hands tightened on the wheel.
“Yeah, and she needs someone to get her back on her feet, not coddle her. She’s stronger than you give her credit for.”
“And you’re her person?”
“I’m not anyone’s person. But I do know what it is to mess up your life.” I couldn’t go back and fix mine. I was too far gone, my path concrete. But Sam’s? Maybe I could help with that, even earn a few karma points.
“Want to talk about—”
“No.” I looked back out the window as we stopped at the red light and—“You have to be fucking kidding me.” My hands morphed into fists, and I sucked my breath in through my teeth.
“Wow. I think I’ve heard you swear like…twice?” Jagger jerked his gaze to me, then back to the road as the light turned green.
“Pull the car over. Now.”
“At the strip club? Dude, I’m not sure now is the time—”
“Now!”
He swerved across the open lane and into the dirt parking lot in front of the small, ridiculously pink building. “Okay, well, you’re on your own, because Paisley will fucking kill… Holy shit.”
“Yeah.”
He pulled into an empty spot. Right next to a bright yellow cabriolet with Colorado plates.
“What the hell do you think Sam is doing here?”
I’m going job hunting… “Nothing good. Go home. I got this.”
My feet hit the ground before Jagger killed the ignition. The Alabama heat matched my temper, both overrunning my senses. I swallowed back the immediate urge to rip the building to shreds and remembered that I didn’t have all the facts…yet.
I opened the door, and the bouncer stood, eyeing me up before stepping back. We both knew I could have destroyed him if I wanted to. “ID?” he asked.
I handed mine over, and he scrutinized it, reading over my name several times while I did the same to his club. A skinny blonde was up on stage, wearing a cowboy hat and not much else, gyrating to a Kid Rock song while a few leering scumbags drooled.
“Here you go,” the bouncer handed my ID back and tried to size me up.
My eyes adjusted to the dim lighting as I swept the club, spotting her sitting at the bar. Her skirt rode high on her thigh, and the guy she was talking to had definitely noticed.