28
I push back from the table and watch as Dakota and Ruby cross the dance floor like it’s their own personal catwalk.
I’m tense, on edge. Especially since that text from Dakota.
A pregnant Dakota in a rowdy honky-tonk is enough to give me a goddamn aneurysm.
Leave it to Fallon to pick the most dangerous bar in town.
The same bar Ruby nearly got trampled in last year.
I get that Dakota needed a night out—time with her sister—and I would never stop her.
I planned to lurk in the shadows, watching over her like the overprotective bastard I am.
But I never could steer my brothers away from cold beers and Fridays.
We’ve been doing it since we moved here, and we won’t stop now.
Ford rolls his eyes. “She’s across the room, man. No one’s gonna get her.” He reaches for another beer, looking like he’d like to crack it over my head.
“You want to back off?” I say, clocking how much he’s had to drink. If my twin wants to get a pissy attitude, he can do it on his own damn time.
I glance back at Dakota, tracking her as she pushes her way through the tight crowd.
I don’t know what they put in that pregnant water, but goddamn.
Dakota looks sexy as fuck. Big brown eyes.
Hourglass figure. The tight dress she wears shows off her belly, her hair falling in glossy dark waves around her shoulders. Happiness radiates off her in waves.
Every man’s wildest dream.
But she’s all mine.
I have to fight the urge to storm across the room and brand my mouth to hers. Every eye in the bar follows her. Because she draws people toward her.
Resurrection’s letting her back in. She doesn’t even have to work for it.
“We’re combining tables, Cowboy,” Ruby drawls as Charlie pulls her onto his lap. He kisses her, and she wraps her arms around his neck and hangs on.
“Don’t have such fond memories of this bar, Sunflower,” Charlie murmurs. He has Ruby pulled so high on his lap I’m damn near ready to tell them to get a room. “Not when you’re in it.”
I stand and reach for Dakota. I tug her close, loving how she arches into me, like she’s made for me. My. Perfect. Fucking. Girl.
“Checking up on me, Hotshot?” Dakota says, a smile teasing those full lips of hers.
“Damn straight.” I press a hand against the side of her stomach and breathe her in. “Don’t want you out unprotected.” She shivers as I rough the words into her hair.
“So chivalrous,” she purrs, her cheeks flushed pink.
I pull out a chair and help her sit.
“She ain’t unprotected,” Wyatt says, finally coming up from his beer. “Don’t you got a tail on her?”
Dakota arches a brow, leans away from me. “Excuse me?”
“Wyatt,” I snap. “That’s private information.”
“Not anymore,” Ford mutters.
When I sit down beside Dakota, she’s shaking her head in amusement. “Really, Hotshot?”
“Really.” I scoot her chair closer to me and lean in. “Cupcake, that might be the tightest dress I’ve ever seen.” I give her a grin. “Hope you wear it all the time.”
Her lashes flutter. “For you, I will.”
“You’re makin’ this hard, Dakota,” I say, so low only she can hear. “Making me want to lay you down on this table and fuck your gorgeous brains out. Show you how a real man treats you.”
Surprise and desire flare to life in her eyes. “Davis.” It’s a whisper.
“I want everyone to see us.” I run my hand up her bare thigh, between her legs, and trail a finger over the damp spot on her lace panties. “My name on your lips. My hand up your fucking skirt, making you come. End of the night, this entire town will know you’re mine.”
She whimpers and it nearly breaks me. It takes all my control not to take her outside to my truck and fuck her.
“Drinks?” Beef booms, passing Dakota an ice water. My dick throbs painfully in my pants and I briefly consider using it to cool off.
“More fucking alcohol,” Ford orders.
“Pink drink,” Ruby hoots, sticking her glass up in the air.
“How boring is that water?” I ask Dakota.
She scoffs. “Keep talking. Soon as I give birth, I’m wrestling you to the ground.”
A series of pings from my phone has Dakota glancing at me. She giggles and leans in, her bright smile warming the coldest parts of me. “He’s an eggplant.”
Our gazes meet and I run a hand down the curve of her stomach. “Bigger every day,” I husk.
“Why do you have a fucking baby app on your phone?” Ford cuts in.
“Because it matters to Koty,” I snarl at my asshole brother.
He scoffs, tucks his hands under his armpits. “Y’all livin’ in dreamland right now.”
Dakota’s eyes go wide.
A five-alarm fire licks in my chest. Next to me, Charlie cocks an eyebrow at Wyatt.
“You’re out of line, Ford,” I say, my voice low and dangerous. “Watch your fucking mouth when you talk to her.”
Combustible. That’s the only way to describe the space around us. A Luke Bryan song plays on the jukebox as I glare at my twin. Something tells me I’ll have a boot up his ass by the end of the night.
“It’s fine, Davis,” Dakota says in an unbothered tone. “It’s not worth it.” She shifts in her chair and rests a hand on my arm. Her touch is all I need to unclench my jaw. “Don’t let it ruin our night. Besides, you owe me a dance.”
“Whatever, man,” Ford says, glancing up as Beef returns with more drinks. He takes a shot and opens a beer. “Y’all wanna play house, by all means.”
“Way it’s gonna be from now on,” Wyatt warns Ford. “Get used to it. Broads and babies.”
Ruby glances down at the floor, and Charlie leans in to whisper in her ear.
“Not me,” Ford drawls. “Lifelong bachelor right here.”
I roll my eyes.
That’s when Dakota gasps.
“Baby, you okay?” I ask. My gaze immediately finds her belly.
She doesn’t answer, and I look up, following her eyeline.
We all do.
“Holy shit,” Charlie says.
Fallon’s breezing out of the bathroom. Duffel bag slung over her shoulder, she wears thigh-high cowboy boots and a jean skirt.
Her shimmery halter top, cut off at the midriff, exposes a tan, toned stomach.
Her hair cascades untamed around her shoulders, and the shade of her bright pink lipstick matches her flushed face. She looks like some dolled-up cowgirl.
And Wyatt looks like a hand grenade waiting to explode.
Even Ford’s tongue is on the floor. “So Fallon does own a skirt.” A wicked grin tips his lips.
“What the fuck?” Wyatt blasts. He jolts in his seat, nearly upending his beer onto his lap. “Since when is she dressing like that?”
“Since she met someone,” Ruby says softly.
Wyatt goes stiff.
“Girl’s wilding out,” Ford cackles.
“Well, look at what crawled out of the trash and into our lives,” Fallon says as she takes the seat next to her sister. She squints at me, then looks at Dakota and Ruby. “I leave you alone for five minutes…” A shake of her head. “Traitors.”
“You’re the one going out tonight,” Dakota murmurs with a smile.
I keep a close watch on Wyatt. There’s not enough alcohol in Resurrection to get me through this meltdown.
Ford lines up the shots in front of us, shooting two back in quick succession.
Ruby’s worried eyes flick to Charlie.
“You’re really going out with some random guy?” Wyatt asks hoarsely.
Fallon straightens in her chair. “Not that it’s any of your business…but yeah. I am.”
Ford sails a shot toward Fallon. “Let me tell you something, you’re a little fucking bulldog, but you polish up real nice.”
Fallon floats him a grin, takes the shot. Her smile’s feral. “Thanks, Ford. I’d say the same about you, but I’d be lying.”
“Hell, I feel bad for the guy already,” Wyatt rasps.
Fallon shoots Wyatt a fire and brimstone glare.
“Don’t you fucking start,” I warn him.
But he does.
“Should focus on your horses,” Wyatt mutters. “I saw you ridin’ the other day. Your form’s sloppy.”
“My form is none of your business,” Fallon snaps.
Down goes one shot, then another. By now, between Wyatt and Ford, the bottle of Jack is half empty.
“Christ, the least you could do is put a shirt on, wear a pair of fuckin’ shoes,” he grouses. “Goin’ out dressed like some buckle bunny, that ain’t you, Cowgirl.”
Fuck.
Dakota looks me dead in the eye as if to say, Are you fucking kidding me with this shit ? Even Ruby’s frowning.
“Wy,” Charlie says, settling a big palm on our brother’s shoulder. A signal to cool it.
Hurt creases Fallon’s sharp features, and she blasts out of her chair. “Fuck you, Wyatt.”
“No,” Dakota says, twisting to snag her sister’s hand. “Don’t go.”
I smear my face with my hands. “Fuck.”
“Sorry,” Fallon tells her sister. “I need a twenty-four-hour intermission from this fool.” Eyes blazing, she takes two steps away from the table, then backtracks to wheel around on Wyatt. “And by the way,” she hisses. “I fucking hate you.”
“Feeling’s mutual,” he says hoarsely, but I don’t miss the wince that crosses his face.
After stopping briefly to squeeze Dakota’s shoulder, an action that has Koty’s face softening, Fallon stalks out of the bar.
Ford whistles. “That girl’s a whole lotta outlaw.”
Wyatt just sits there, and Charlie leans in. “You want her to sleep with the guy?” he growls in Wyatt’s ear.
“She’s doing it for him.” Dakota’s soft voice takes me from my watch on my brothers.
I take her hand. “I know.”
Christ. I wish my brother would wake the fuck up.
I don’t know why they can’t get it right, but it has me realizing everything I need to do to make things right between Dakota and me.
Tell her I love her. If I don’t, I could lose my chance, and the past will start over.
She’ll go, move on with her life, and I’ll be the sorry son-of-a-bitch who let her leave.
Not again.
Never again.
True North. Dakota and that baby.
A loud groan has all of us looking over. “Jesus. All y’all lovesick bastards.” Ford drums his hands on the table. “I told y’all once and I’ll tell you again. You gotta keep your head on a goddamn swivel when it comes to a woman.”
“Would you cool down?” Charlie growls, removing the beer from Ford’s grasp. “You’re being a massive asshole.”