Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
“I can’t believe you paid a thousand dollars for Linc, Grand,” Jake told his grandmother after the auction had ended.
“Neither can I,” Jessa said.
Neither could Linc. When he hadn’t been able to get out of participating in the auction, he’d reached out to Grand.
She was Jake and Jessa’s grandmother, but no one dared call her that for fear of ending up in a shallow grave.
According to her, “grandmother” was a term for old people, not her.
Never mind she was in her eighties; they all valued their lives too much to point out that fact.
Ever since Jessa and Emery had become friends, Grand had not only “adopted” Em, but Linc, as well.
He couldn’t deny, he had a soft spot for her.
And even though she was sarcastic as shit, she could also keep a secret…
for the right price. That’s why he’d talked her into bidding on him at the auction.
Okay, maybe “bribed” was a better word. Not his fault the woman was obsessed with slot machines and was able to be bought for a free trip to Wendover.
A town with under five thousand residents, West Wendover, Nevada was on the border of Utah and Nevada, about three hundred miles from Boise.
Grand had been known to take the “fun bus” charter to hit the casinos mid-week and was a players club member at three of the five casinos.
Once Linc offered up an airline ticket, along with a few nights in the hotel and some spending money, she was all over becoming his accomplice.
Regardless of the fact his wedding to Zana wasn’t planned and they were talking divorce, as of right now, he was a married man. Going on a date with someone other than his wife wasn’t something he was willing to do.
God, his wife! He still couldn’t wrap his head around that fact. Oddly, it didn’t induce the knee-jerk anxiety it had initially.
He’d instructed Grand to bid, if none of his friends did.
He had no idea if any of them would take mercy on him, but when Britt had raised her paddle, he swore his heart had stopped.
He was sure she’d only done it to save him from the drunk chick who had appointed herself his “number one fan” last year and had been soft-stalking him ever since.
Still, it was a nice fantasy while it lasted.
Regardless, it hadn’t hurt his ego any to have women fighting over him.
Then Grand went and jumped the bid straight to one thousand dollars. What the hell was that about? Yes, he’d told her to win at all costs, but did she have to bankrupt him in the process?
“What are you even doing here?” Jake asked Grand.
“What do you think?” she tossed back. “I came to watch the hotties.”
Jake snorted. “Then why did you pay money for Pierce?” He smirked at Linc.
“That’s none of your beeswax.” Grand glared up at her grandson, who towered over her by well over a foot. “I don’t have to explain myself to you, Jacob.”
Linc returned Jake’s smirk, receiving a sneer in return.
“You hear that, Jacob?” Jessa asked, obviously enjoying her brother being taken down a peg by their grandma. “None of your beeswax.”
Chuckling to himself, Linc started buttoning up his shirt.
Before he’d pushed the first button through its hole, however, Grand reached up and slapped his hand away.
He was taller than Jake by a couple of inches and would be shocked if Grand topped out at five feet, but her take-no-prisoners attitude could undoubtedly make Shaq cower.
“No covering up the merchandise!” Grand snapped. “The view comes with the price.”
Linc bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. He’d like to say Grand was playing her part, but she was like this all the time. “Yes, ma’am.”
“You’re lucky my grandmother is hard up, Pierce,” Jake said, “or you’d be stuck with Stalker Barbie.”
Whack.
“Ow!” Jake whined. He rubbed his arm before glaring down at his grandmother. “Stop hitting me!”
“Who?” Linc asked.
“Stop using that word,” Grand ordered.
“What word?” Jake popped a brow before signing his own death warrant. “‘Grandmother’?”
Grand kicked him in the shin.
“Fuck! That hurt!”
Grand beamed up at him. “Good.”
“You brought it on yourself,” Laurel told him.
“Some fiancée you are, taking her side.” Jake sounded annoyed, but there’d be hearts popping out of his eyes if this was a cartoon. He was so in love with Laurel, it wasn’t even funny.
Ignoring the WWE match a la Grand, Britt addressed Linc. “You know who,” she said, then batted her eyelashes so quickly, she was either having a seizure, trying to take flight… or perfectly imitating his “number one fan.”
He knew exactly who she meant. The woman apparently now known as “Stalker Barbie” wasn’t someone you easily forgot, and not for any reasons that were good. “Thanks for trying to save me.”
She threaded her arm through his, and leaned closer to whisper, “It’s the least I could do for my husband.”
The punch of arousal came out of nowhere. Britt had never called him her husband before. He knew she was playing, yet hearing her call him that had heat sparking through his veins. And when she touched him, every cell in his body begged for him to kiss her.
The realization he was so close to giving in to that impulse made him take a step back.
He’d always been attracted to Britt. What man with a pulse wouldn’t be?
He’d fantasized about annihilating the friend-zone boundary with her on multiple occasions.
But almost initiating a kiss in front of all their friends? That was next-level losing it.
Clenching his teeth, he took another step away from her for good measure, effectively breaking her hold on his arm.
Just the simple act of her calling him her husband had the power to unsettle him.
That was dangerous. If she touched him again right now, it could trigger a chain reaction.
One that started with him kissing her senseless and ended with either a slap in the face or an arrest for public indecency.
Confusion, and something he sure as hell hoped wasn’t hurt, moved like a shadow across Britt’s face before quickly being covered by a mask of indifference.
Shit.
“Zana.”
She tucked her hand into her pocket before he could grasp it.
“I’m going to take off.” She’d addressed the group, not him.
Dammit. She was hurt.
Way to go, Pierce.
He needed to talk to her alone and somehow fabricate a plausible explanation for his reaction without revealing too much. “Okay, let’s go.”
“You don’t have to leave,” she told him. Told, not suggested. “I drove my own car.”
“We can get it tomorrow.” They needed to talk. “You’ve been drinking. I’ll take you home.”
“I’ve had two drinks in three hours, plus water. I’m okay to drive.”
Even though he knew she was, he wasn’t going to back down. Not until he’d had a chance to explain his reaction… right after he figured out what the hell to tell her. “Better safe than sorry.”
Britt exhaled heavily. “Fine. I’ll call an Uber.”
Skye frowned. “You’re leaving already?”
“The hell you will,” Linc told Britt. “I’ll drive you.”
“The night’s still young,” Skye pointed out.
Apparently realizing she wasn’t going to win—which she wasn’t—Britt narrowed her eyes at him before addressing Skye’s comment. “It’s ten-thirty.”
Grand waved that argument away like it was a bad odor. “Ten-thirty is when it starts getting good.”
“I want to be you when I grow up, Grand,” Skye told her.
“She needs to grow up first.” Jake’s insolent remark earned him a swat from his grandmother. “Dammit, Grand. Stop abusing me!”
“When you stop acting like a horse’s patootie, I will.”
“Yeah, Jake,” Jessa taunted. “Stop acting like a horse’s patootie.”
Never let it be said that Jess didn’t take every opportunity to slam her brother.
Linc loved the Lockwoods. The entire family was sarcastic, but their gibes never crossed the line into maliciousness; they always came from a place of love.
As Jake once explained it, “We tease each other, but never about anything touchy. Stuff that really bothers someone is off limits. Everything else is fair game.”
Linc envied their easy rapport and obvious affection toward one another. It was a welcome change from the way he grew up.
Right now, however, their back-and-forth insult-fest provided the perfect opportunity for him to hook Britt’s elbow and usher her a few feet away from the group before she could protest. He needed her to know his pulling back had nothing to do with her calling him her husband, while managing not to reveal that it had everything to do with wanting to kiss her.
Piece of cake.
Before he had a chance to smooth things over, a sharp smack on his shoulder made him flinch. Turning, he found Heath-fucking-Valentine smirking at him. The petite redhead who had won him in the auction wasn’t so much clinging to the goalie’s arm, as she was salivating on it.
“Pretty smooth, hiking up the price by having your wife bid on you,” Valentine said.
“Didn’t peg you for the open-marriage type.
” He turned to Britt. “Call me if you want a pro athlete to show you what you’re missing.
” Britt’s jaw dropped the same time Valentine lifted his chin at Linc. “You’re welcome to watch.”
Linc didn’t know he was going to hit the asshat until after his fist had already made contact with the guy’s jaw.
“Linc!”
The commotion, along with Britt’s shouting, drew the attention of their friends. Within seconds, Jake was at his side, pulling him back.
“Stay the hell away from her,” Linc warned, taking morbid pleasure in the fact he’d drawn blood.
Valentine licked the cut on his lip while the woman he was with fawned over him.
“Babe, are you okay?” the woman asked. “You’re bleeding.”
Good.
“This scratch?” He looked at Linc and scoffed. “I’ve gotten worse cuts shaving.”
“Let me take you home and kiss it better,” the woman purred.
Valentine threw his arm around her. “I’d rather have you kiss something else.”
The woman howled like a drunken hyena and let him lead her toward the door.
“What the hell, man?” Jake asked Linc.
He didn’t respond, keeping all his attention on Valentine until Britt stepped in front of him, blocking his line of sight.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Are you okay?” Linc countered.
“I’m fine, but your hand…”
He hissed in a breath when she touched it.
Shit. He must have caught a tooth because his knuckle was split. That was going to hurt like a sonofabitch after the adrenaline wore off.
“I’m good, Zan.” He shrugged off Jake’s hold while comments from the rest of their friends flew at him rapid fire.
“What happened?”
“You’re hurt.”
“Damn, man.”
“Rein it in.”
“What did he do?”
“Are you crazy, picking a fight with a goalie?” Skye asked. “They make appetizers out of guys like you.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Skye.”
Emery pushed Jake out of the way as she made a beeline straight to Linc. “What the hell was that?” she demanded, poking him in the chest. Hard. “Since when do you get into fights? Especially when we’re representing the station.”
He probably should feel bad about it, but he’d do it again in a heartbeat.
“The guy insulted Britt,” he said simply.
“Oh.” Emery’s entire demeanor changed. “He deserved it, then.”
“He insulted you?” Skye asked.
Britt glanced at Linc before answering cautiously, “He made a crude proposition.”
Linc knew she’d chosen her words carefully. They couldn’t tell their friends the guy wanted in on their “open marriage” when no one even knew they were married.
“Dickhead,” Grand grumbled.
Jessa’s eyes practically bugged out. “Grand!”
To be fair, Jess’s reaction was understandable. It’s not every day you hear an octogenarian call someone a dickhead.
“What?” Grand challenged. “Am I wrong?”
Linc looked at the door Valentine had exited through moments earlier. “No, Grand, you’re right on the money.”
“Do you think you need stitches?” Britt gingerly pressed a napkin onto his knuckles, making him flinch. “I can drive you to the hospital.”
Well, at least she wasn’t trying to run from him any longer.
“I don’t need a hospital, Zan. It’s just a cut.”
“You still need to clean it and put on some antibiotic ointment,” she argued. “Do you know how many germs are in a human mouth?”
“No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me. Ow!”
“Sorry. Did I press too hard?” Britt asked, innocence personified.
She knew damn well she had.
“It’s ‘just a cut,’ right?” She tossed his previous statement back at him. “Can’t hurt too badly.”
“It doesn’t.” Actually, it stung like a mother.
Jake threw Linc under the bus. “She’s not wrong.” As a firefighter, Jake had gone through mandatory E.M.T. training. “The human mouth is a dirty place.”
Skye smirked. “That’s what she said.”
“I’ll take care of it when I get home,” Linc promised.
“That’s also what she said!” Skye cackled.
“No. Go wash it now,” Britt ordered, ignoring Skye, who was amusing herself way too easily. “Or I’m driving myself home.”
Linc narrowed his eyes, then swiped her purse before she could stop him.
“Hey!”
“Nice try. I’m not falling for it. You’d take off as soon as I went in there.” He motioned to the bathroom. “Stay put. I’ll be right back.” He swung the purse strap over his shoulder and headed for the bathroom.
“That clashes with your shirt!” Jake called after him.
Linc flipped him the bird without slowing his stride.