“Which will, of course, make them think they can take more and more and more as they go,” added Kicker.
I stopped listening. The weight of centuries old failures still stuck in my chest, still crushing. That burn sliced right through me again after all these years. A warning.
“You got a plan?” Kicker asked Butler.
Jump grimaced, making a smacking noise with his lips, his gaze bearing down on Butler. “Why don’t you go ask your friend Finger all about it? If we’re gonna move ahead on this new cooperation with them, no better time than the present. Get organized with the Flames, and keep watch on the Blades and that Calderas Group. ’Cause if those spics come up with some sort of formal agreement with the Blades, we’ve got to be ready.”
The fucking plague was in the next village, spreading its poison, and it was only a matter of time until it arrived at our gates.
MINDY GLARED AT ME from her stool at the bar at Pete’s Tavern in town. Even though she was with a sexy blond guy in pressed jeans and a Western-style shirt, who slid a huge pink cocktail in front of her, her sour scrutiny remained on me.
Here we go.
It was nothing I hadn’t seen before, nothing I hadn’t dealt with before, but I hated it.
Boner handed me a tall glass of a berry colored beverage with a wedge of lime. “How’s that?” He sat in the chair next to me.
“Looks great. What is it?
“Cranberry and club soda with lime.”
“Oh, yum. Thank you.”
He grinned and brushed the side of my face with his lips as I sipped on my surprise drink.
Lenore and Tricky sat close together across from us at a table talking and laughing. They’d been seeing each other off and on for a while now. Older woman, younger man.
You rock, Lenore!
Grace and Lock hustled over and settled into the two remaining chairs.
“We didn’t miss Allen’s first set, did we?” asked Grace, hanging her handbag from her chair.
“No, but you cut it close,” replied Lenore, sipping on her beer. “What happened?”
Lock’s smug grin was our answer, and we all laughed.
Grace blushed. “Can I help it if I’m married to a demanding, bossy man?”
Lock let out a deep laugh. “I’m the demanding one?” Grace shoved at his chest.
It was great to be out on a couples’ evening to hear local musicians at the town watering hole. However, Mindy continuing to glare at me was not only deflating my buzz but also twisting the knot in my stomach that had formed with Catch’s phone call.
I sipped on my cool drink, hoping it would provide me with calm, confidence, mettle.
Ha.
I still hadn’t told Boner about Catch’s phone call. I didn’t like keeping anything from him, but I really didn’t want to start more problems.
Finger would never agree to something like that. Maybe Catch was just mouthing off, maybe he was just— “You good?” Boner stroked my back.
“Huh? Oh, very good.”
Boner pressed his lips together, his arm slinging around my neck. “I talked to her. She won’t be a problem.” He tilted his head toward the bar.
“You talked to Mindy?”
“Of course I did.”
“You broke it off with her?”
“There was nothing to break off. We were just a hook-up.”
I shifted on my suddenly uncomfortable wooden chair.
“I wanted her to know from me that it wasn’t gonna happen again, that it was done,” he said.
I leveled my gaze at him. “That’s what you want?”
His forehead furrowed. “Are you kidding me?”
I swept a lock of hair from my face. “I’m just asking.”
“Look at me.” Boner’s sharp eyes studied me, green beams of laser seeking truth not to be denied. He leaned in closer to me. “We fucked the other day, or did you forget? Did you forget the way it was?”
How could I forget?
I was still sore, sore and warm everywhere. Even my nipples now zinged into stones just from the sound of him saying fucked in that rough, harsh tone.
“No, no, I haven’t forgotten.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Then, what? What is it?”
I took in a small breath. “I feel like I’ve disrupted your life, and I don’t want that. I don’t want you to feel like I’m holding you back.”
“And again, are you fucking kidding me? I’m with you. I chose to be with you.”
“Because you felt like you had to, because you’re a stand-up guy. Because circumstances—”
“Because I’m selfish when it comes to you.”
I blinked.
“Get this straight in your head, Jill. I don’t want anyone else. I don’t want to be with anyone else. I don’t want to be inside anyone else. This whole discussion is pissing me off because this tells me that the way I was with you in bed, in the kitchen, on the kitchen table, on the floor has not proven this to you or made it clear.”
His eyes flashed, and the bottom dropped out of me under their force. Even my clit pulsed.
I pressed my legs together. “I-I didn’t mean that.”
“So, I’m wrong in assuming—”
“Yes.”
“I don’t need to make any adjustments then?” he asked.
“Adjustments?”
“In bed, in the kitchen, on the—”