Hellbent (Pine Bluff #3)

Chapter One

September

I had three goals. One, to get through my best friend’s wedding without blubbering. Two, to make sure as the maid of honor I was, you know, honorable and shit. And three, to not punch a certain groomsman in the face—or sit on it.

If I was being completely honest with myself, I could manage maybe one out of three.

By society's standards, I should hate weddings. I was unconventional, freshly thirty, and newly divorced. All three of those should put me firmly in the wedding-hating column, but that wasn’t the case. Nothing was more revealing than a big event. They were ripe petri dishes for me to examine humanity. I might not be a blushing bride, but I was a nosy Nancy, that was for damn sure. Consider my popcorn already popped.

“Do you want another Diet Coke?” the bartender asked, ripping me from my worry.

“Yes, that’d be great.” I smiled at him as he slid a plate of French fries in front of me as I shifted my bony ass on the maroon cushion, hearing it deflate slightly.

I was told to visit Tilly’s Tavern before leaving Pine Bluff, and now I knew why: the service was quick and the inside looked like something out of Middle-earth. I glanced over my shoulder, spotting a roaring fireplace that should have Aragorn sitting beside it, but instead had a bunch of blue-collar guys inhaling French dip sandwiches.

Yep, I was in Maine alright.

As the bartender returned with my second Diet Coke, I heard the front door scrape open behind me. I flashed another look over my shoulder and there he was. Dane motherfucking MacCloyd. The dreaded groomsman in question. We’d met last night at the engagement party, and things had ended with me literally kicking him square in the chest. His best friend, Harley, was marrying my best friend, Kaylee, next spring, so unfortunately, we’d be spending lots of time together.

I couldn’t romanticize the idea that we could be something more. I couldn’t wait around for a man like my mom had with my dad. I’d seen the absence of him eat her alive and ruin my childhood. I knew I had to get out before the pattern repeated.

Waiting on a man to change was like going to Vegas sober—useless and maddening.

When he spotted me, Dane’s mouth pulled to the side in a cocky grin. I rolled my eyes and turned back to the bartender. “Hey, if a girl tips you fifty bucks, can you refuse service to a certain local?”

“Sorry, can’t,” he said, drying a glass with a rag as he left.

Dane purposefully dragged his wide chest against my arm as he settled onto the stool next to mine. I leaned away, refusing to acknowledge his shamelessness.

“Hey, Maisie.” His low voice covered me like warm honey. He was one of the few guys who hadn’t butchered my name by calling me Macy the first time we’d met. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, the slow rasp of May-zee escaping his mouth made my blood jolt.

I shot him a glance, trying my best to look unbothered. His light skin with golden undertones was still clinging to the tan he must’ve earned from being outdoors all summer. The backlight from the windows darkened his sandy brown hair, which was buzzed short along with the scruff framing his jaw. He was in jeans and a gray shirt with a camel-colored Carhartt jacket over it. I knew underneath it all, he was jacked from wrenching as a mechanic, with tattoos filling his arms clear up to his thick neck.

“Hey, dude.” I loved calling grown-ass men dude . It was my petty way to humble and friendzone them.

It didn’t work on Dane though. His smoky green eyes scanned my tousled, neon-pink pixie cut. “I dig the pink hair. Did I mention that?”

I picked up a French fry and offered it to him. “No, you somehow left that out yesterday between laughing at me and grunting.”

“I didn’t laugh at you. You know that’s not how things went.” He plucked the fry from my hand with calloused fingers. The sight of them brought back the memories of how sinful they were dragging down my body.

I hid a shudder as my nipples pebbled in my bra. “Did you come here just to harass me?”

“No, I came here to talk. I don’t like how things ended last night.”

“That won’t be necessary. You showed me exactly what kind of man you are.”

A wry smile brightened his face. “So you’re just going to act like nothing happened? Like there isn’t something here?” He looked away, nodding. “Okay, darlin’, we can play it that way.” I snorted into my Diet Coke as he rounded his gaze back to me, his expression more intense than before. “But we both know it’s just a matter of time.”

“A matter of time until what?”

“Until you’re crawling into my bed at night, pulling off some little sundress you’re wearing and begging for it.” His nose wrinkled slightly when he hurled the word begging at me.

I fought an uncomfortable laugh. “You’ve really thought this out. I mean, the whole sundress detail and everything.”

He shrugged. “I just have a feeling, that’s all.”

“That’s cocky.”

He stole another fry. “Last time I checked, you were perfectly okay with my cock.”

I shoved at his beefy arm. “Fuck all the way off!” I slid off my stool, making eye contact with the bartender while gesturing at Dane. “Sir, he’ll pick up my tab, thank you!” Looking back at Dane, I grabbed his stubbled jaw, leaning in close. “If you breathe a single word of what happened in that forest, I will make your life a fucking nightmare. Do you understand?”

His stupid face crumpled in a grin around my fingers. “I love it when you’re pissy.” With his proclamation, he planted a kiss on my forehead.

I scoffed, releasing his face as I slung my purse over my body to leave.

Before I could fully retreat, he slapped my ass. “See ya next May!”