Chapter 11
Iwatch West from across the room. The way his thick corded muscles of his arm flex every time he shoots the cue. The way his jeans hug his ass every time he leans over the table.
My skin heats and desire sparks through me every time our gazes meet. He’s shaved since yesterday. His jaw is sharp and smooth, free from the scruff.
I’ve gone so long without being interested in anyone or having the desire to date, but somehow in such a short amount of time, West has come in and put fissures in the walls I’ve put up. It both excites and terrifies me.
“Jade, you’re drooling,” Sarah teases me with her brows raised.
My cheeks flush, and I look at Wren, who’s scrunching her nose.
“You guys have been making googly eyes at each other all night,” she notes. “Just go over there already.”
“Yes! I mean, Harper’s already left, so maybe we can call it an end to girls night and go get ourselves some fine looking men?” Sarah suggests, waggling her brows. “There’s a cute cowboy sitting at the bar that I’ve been eyeing up for the past hour.” She giggles, fanning her face.
“I think I’m good on the man front, but I’ll go with you to see my brothers,” Wren tells me.
I shake my head. “No way.” Having West come up to me is one thing. But me going up to him? I am nowhere near that confident.
Sarah and Wren share a look and then both slide out of their chairs and begin pulling me up.
“Come on, Jade. You know you want to,” Sarah says, trying to convince me this is the right thing.
I look around nervously and try to think of any excuse to protest, but the truth is, I would like to go over there. “I don’t know about this. He’s having fun,” I say gesturing over to the guys, biting my lip.
“Trust me. He wants you over there. I’ve been watching the man stare at you all night. I guarantee if Wren wouldn’t have told him this was girls’ night, he would have been over here the entire night,” Sarah tells me, giving me a look.
Wren nods in agreement. “Honestly, it’s sickening, I have never seen my brother infatuated like this before.”
I don’t know why her admission makes me feel as good as it does, but it gives me the encouragement I need. “Okay, fine,” I tell them, breathing in an air of confidence. “I’ll go over there, but only if Wren goes with me.”
“You got it, babe. Now let’s go!” She grabs my hand, and the butterflies in my stomach start to stir.
Sarah slaps my ass and wishes me good luck. “I’m going to head over to the bar and see if I can get a good make out session in with that cowboy, but I’ll meet up with you guys in a bit and then we can head home. Okay, Jade?”
“Sure,” I tell her before following Wren through the now mostly emptying bar. The earlier crowds have died down, but conversations still lull and music still pumps through the speakers.
As we curve around tables and make our way to the pool area, I reach up to feel for any loose strands that may have fallen from my hair and run my hands down my body, smoothing my dress.
“You look hot. Stop worrying,” Wren whispers into my ear as we approach her brothers.
West looks up, and our eyes meet. I smile and feel my palms start to sweat. I don’t know why I’m so nervous. We had such a great time last night. Maybe it’s the setting. There’s just something about a bar. It speaks of one-night stands and late night promises.
“Hello, brothers,” Wren singsongs, locking her arms around her brothers’ necks.
“What’s up, Wrenley cakes? You girls wanna join?” her brother, who I think is Cade’s twin, asks.
All the Donovan siblings look alike. They all have rich dark-brown hair, golden-brown eyes, and similar facial features.
Each of the brothers have the same thick corded muscles from years on a farm, but they all differ in builds and height.
While Cade is the tallest, West is the one with a thicker build.
Their hair, while the same in colour, are all different styles and lengths.
Hayes is definitely the smaller one of the four, but his arms and thighs are almost as thick as West’s.
I’ve never met their dad, but I know their mom is a small delicate woman.
“Sure,” Wren tells them. “Teams or turns?”
“Teams,” West says, his eyes on me. “Jade will be with me.”
I shake my head. “Oh no. I’ve never played before,” I tell the group.
“No worries. I’ll teach you. Colter set it up,” West tells his brother.
West wins what they called a lag and chooses us to go first. “Jade. You start for us,” he says, passing me the long stick.
“What do I do?” I ask nervously, looking at the table and feeling unsure.
“Just shoot,” West says. “You want to sink a ball to determine if we’ll be stripes or solids.”
Huffing out air, I bend over the table, copying the way I’ve seen people do before, and line up for a shot.
Taking a deep breath, I concentrate on the white ball and push the stick forward, sending the balls scattering across the table.
My hit wasn’t strong, so only a couple slowly roll towards what West called pockets.
I watch intensely as one striped ball slowly tips over the edge and into a hole.
“So that means we’re stripes,” West tells me, and I nod, acting like I know what that means.
After a few attempts, West comes up behind me.
His scent of wood and whisky enveloping me.
“Here. Can I help you?” he asks, leaning over me and placing his hands over mine.
I can feel every rock-hard, solid ridge of his body as he pushes against me, and I can’t focus on what I’m supposed to be doing.
His hands cover mine completely, and the size difference is staggering.
His heat wraps around me, and I can hear my blood rushing through my ears.
Trying to calm my breathing so he doesn’t know how much this is affecting me, I take a deep breath and focus on the way he pulls our arms back and shoots the cue forward.
“You want to thrust it hard. Just like that,” he says, his warm breath ghosting over my ear, making me shiver. My core clenches at his choice of words, and all I can think of is him thrusting hard into me.
Our turn is over, but we don’t move from the position we’re in. Our chests rising and falling together.
Someone clears their throat, and I look up, feeling flustered.
“You guys, uh, good over there?” West’s brother asks with his eyes wide, Wren next to him with her nose scrunched.
West steps back and clears his throat, scratching the back of his neck. “All good. Your shot.”
We finish the game, and my body is still on edge from having West over me while I was bent over that table.
Colter and Wren celebrate their win, and I scan the crowd for Sarah, trying everything in my power to avoid looking West in the eyes.
I’m sure he could feel how fast I was breathing and how much I liked having him over me.
Swallowing a breath, I tell Wren I’m going to use the bathroom, but really I just need to wash the sweat from my hands and splash water on my overheated face.
I enter the dark hall at the back and push into the women’s bathroom.
The lighting in here is as dim as it is in the rest of the bar, but surprisingly, it’s a lot less sticky in here.
The stalls have solid wood doors, offering more privacy, and the walls are a mix of brick and wood planks.
The sinks are raised tin bins on a smooth marble surface.
Each sink has its own mirror with black trim.
The bathroom just might be the cleanest and fanciest part of Buckles.
I force myself to use the bathroom and then stand at the sink, taking a few moments to just watch myself in the mirror, waiting for my pulse to slow down.
My cheeks are still flushed, and my pupils are dilated.
My core clenches with need, and I shake my head and sigh.
I splash my face with water and then step back out into the hall.
“Well, hello, beautiful.” I jump as an unfamiliar voice and man step into the little bit of light the hall offers.
My hackles rise, and my heart starts to race in fear.
I know I shouldn’t have anything to be worried about, but I don’t like being in the back of the bar where there isn’t much light, with some male I don’t know.
Ignoring the man, I keep my head down and try to walk past him, staying as close to the wall as I can.
When I go to pass by, he reaches out and snags my wrist. I yelp and try to pull my arm free, but the man is much stronger than me.
He pulls me closer and cages me in, and I fight the urge to cry.
He places his free hand on my waist, holding me against the wall as I try to squirm and get loose, but with his tight grip I begin to panic.
I’ve never had a problem at Buckles before.
“Remove your fucking hand before I do it for you.”
My body instantly relaxes at West’s deep, familiar voice. When the man lets go and backs away, I dart around him and run straight for West. Shielding me behind him, he steps towards the man making him cower.
“Sorry, man. Didn’t know the pretty lady was taken.”
“Taken or not, you don’t fucking lay a hand on a woman unless they want you to, and from what I saw, she didn’t fucking want you to touch her,” West all but growls.
“Oh come on, man.”
“Get fucking lost before I deck you,” West snarls, and the guy turns around, muttering under his breath.
“You okay?” West asks, turning around to face me and placing a hand on my cheek to get me to look at him. My body is still shaking with fear, and I try to concentrate on West.
Swallowing, I whisper, “I’m, okay.”
“You sure?”
“Mhm,” I say with little to no conviction.
West continues to rub his thumb along my cheek, watching me with concern, and I can’t bring my eyes to meet his. I’m afraid he will see through me. Being cornered like that reminded me of being defenseless against Adam, and I don’t ever want to feel like that again.
“Let’s get you out of here,” he says, and all I can do is nod and follow him down the hall.
We walk side by side back to Wren and Colter, where Sarah has now joined them.
I scan the room but don’t see the man from the hall.
My racing heart finally starts to slow down, but I must look pale and out of sorts because I watch as Sarah puts down the drink she was holding and comes our way meeting us between tables.
“Hey, are you okay?” she asks, pulling me into her arms.
I nod against her, taking in her familiar scent, and finally let myself calm down.
“Some fucker was trying to pin her against a wall,” West tells her, still an edge of anger in his voice. If I wasn’t so shaken up right now, I would find his protectiveness really sexy.
She pushes me back, keeping her hands on my shoulders, and looks at me with wide eyes. “You’re okay?” she asks me again, and I let out a breath. I’m starting to feel embarrassed over how much this has affected me.
“I’m fine,” I say. “Just a little shaken up. I was lucky West was there when he was.” I turn to finally meet his eyes and give him a grateful smile.
“You wanna get out of here?” Sarah asks.
I hesitate for a while, not really ready to say goodbye to West, but I know it’s for the best. “Sure. Let’s go home,” I tell her.
We say our goodbyes to Wren and the guys and then begin our walk back to my place. The night is still warm. The sun has long since set, but dozens of stars in the sky light our way home.
Sarah loops her arm through mine. “So, were my eyes deceiving me or did I see a certain sexy cop have you bent over that pool table?” she says, bumping my hip.
My cheeks flame, and I shake my head. “It wasn’t like that.”
“Huh. Cause to me it looked like he wanted to rip your clothes off. And I definitely saw him readjust himself after.” She giggles.
“What about you?” I hip check her back. “Did you get your make out session with the cowboy.”
Tipping her head back, she lets out a laugh. “I did. But he was most definitely not a cowboy. I let him pretend he was, though, because he was still hot.”
We continue our walk, talking about Mrs. Ira and the knitters.
When we are just turning into my neighbourhood, I feel a sense of unease.
My skin prickles like we’re being watched.
It’s late, almost midnight. The streets are quiet and most houses dark.
I look around, scanning the shadows, and my first thought that the guy from the bar has followed us.
I begin to panic and walk a little faster.
“Jade, would you slow down!” Sarah yells, trying to keep up.
We turn onto the street that leads to my house, and a figure pops from the back ally and bumps into me.
I jump back, letting out a scream, but the figure doesn’t even flinch.
In all black, the person keeps their head down.
“Sorry,” the man says, and shivers snake along my skin.
I’ve heard that voice before. The man continues walking while I stand frozen in fear.
“Well, that was creepy,” Sarah comments, looking back towards the man.
It can’t be him. It just can’t.
But I know that voice.
Swallowing the lump of fear in my throat, I reach for Sarah’s hand and pull her up the street. “Come on. Let’s get home.”
As we get ready for bed, and even when Sarah is fast asleep, I can’t shake the feeling of knowing that voice.