Chapter 26 #2
Hardin cleared his throat, drawing my attention. The bastard made a face that said you’re so full of shit when Zach wasn’t looking, and I gave him a look in return that promised I’d murder him painfully and slowly if he didn’t keep his mouth shut.
Fortunately, our waitress appeared with my beer and a fresh round for the rest of the guys, and the topic of my love life was all but forgotten.
I quickly shifted the conversation to something safer, asking Zach how Rae was doing as her pregnancy progressed.
From there, we discussed the clinic Connor was putting on for young bull riders and how he and Ivy were preparing for their baby who was due any day now.
My gaze kept sweeping the bar of their own accord every few minutes, seeking Lennix out.
Every time I found her, she was smiling at or laughing with some jackass trying to put the moves on her.
It was taking nearly all my willpower not to storm up to every asshole in the place and beat the holy hell out of them for flirting with my Chaos.
She’d been doing a damn good job of avoiding our table, leaving us to the other waitresses on the floor, and I couldn’t shake the feeling she wasn’t doing it because she was worried about Zach catching on.
“Fuck, man. Can you try to be subtle?” Hardin asked about an hour into this impromptu guy’s night. Connor had left to go home to his wife, and Zach had stepped outside to call Rae and check in.
I lifted my beer to my lips and drank deeply. “I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.”
It was my brother who spoke up then. “He’s talking about the fact you’ve been eye-fucking Baby Paulson over there like you have first-hand knowledge of what it feels like.
” I couldn’t have stopped the heat that scorched my cheeks if I’d tried.
At the flush on my skin, my brother’s eyes went wide.
“Ah, fuck. You haven’t. Please, Christ, tell me you haven’t. ”
I didn’t bother acknowledging that. Instead, I said, “Don’t call her Baby Paulson. She’s a grown ass woman.”
Rhodes threw his hands up in the air as Hardin slapped his on the table. “That’s a yes. Jesus,” he hissed, leaning in and lowering his voice. “You fucked Lennix?”
“It’s not like that,” I started, pathetically.
“Then what’s it like?” he demanded, crossing his arms over his chest and giving me that disappointed big brother face he’d perfected over the years.
“I can’t . . . I don’t know how to explain what’s going on. It’s . . . complicated.” To say the fucking least.
For a moment, I thought one or both of them was going to punch me in the mouth. Instead, Hardin asked, “Have you lost your goddamn mind?”
I absolutely had. There was no point in denying it, so I stayed silent as I sucked back the rest of my beer. The smart thing to do would have been to switch to water to keep my head clear, but if recent action was any indicator, I wasn’t exactly making the wisest decisions.
I caught the waitress on her way by, depositing my empty pilsner glass on her tray and ordering another.
I needed the alcohol to burn off the anger brewing inside me at the fact my Chaos was being ogled by every fucker in here tonight.
Not that I could blame them. She was the most beautiful thing in the room, and the way her ass looked in those jeans was downright criminal.
Once again, I sought her out, and what I saw when I found her had me seeing red.
I watched Lennix throw her head back and laugh at something that fucker, Davis, had just said.
The waitress returned with my drink, and I didn’t hesitate to chug down half of it when she leaned across the bar that separated them and placed her hand on his forearm, smiling that gorgeous, bright smile of hers, I slammed the glass down so hard it was a wonder it didn’t shatter.
Liquid sloshed out, spilling over my hand and across the table.
“Excuse me for a second,” I said quickly, shooting to my feet when I saw Lennix heading for her office.
“Don’t, man,” Hardin warned. “Her brother will be back any second. You think he won’t notice you’re missing?”
“Tell him I had a bad burrito at lunch or something. And do me a favor. Just . . . don’t say anything about this, okay? Be right back.”
I didn’t give either of them a chance to argue, taking off in her direction without a backward glance.
It was harder than it should have been to keep from breaking into a run.
Aside from Hardin and Rhodes, no one else had a clue, and I couldn’t draw any more attention, especially given what I was about to do.
I was playing with fire; logically, I knew that. I just didn’t give a shit in that very moment. I was full of adrenaline, buzzing so hard it felt like the blood in my veins had been replaced by electricity.
I caught up with Lennix as she was pulling her office door open. “Hey!” she snapped when I put my hand in the center of her back and propelled her forward, following her inside and locking the door behind me. “What the hell?”
That was all she managed to get out before I slammed my mouth down on hers.