“He’s not pulling the moves on her, D,” Braxton assured from beside me.

God, I hated when he read me like that, but there was no bullshitting him. I tried anyway. “Couldn’t care either way, Brax.” I pinned my sights on Karla, one of the local barflies; she saw me look her way and pushed her fake-ass tits up higher. I immediately regretted looking her way. She wasn’t just the town bike; she had an irritating high-pitched voice that was damn close to the sound of a cat being swung around by its tail.

“Oh, you’re on now, bro.” Brax disappeared quicker than lightning when she started walking over; I didn’t even have time to cuss him out.

“You waitin’ on me, sweetie pie?” The slurred way her words came out on top of the bad booze breath was enough to have me sliding out the other side of the table.

“Good to see you, Karla, but I need another beer.” I skirted around her grabby octopus tentacles and glared at Austin, who was mid laugh at my situation.

“Austin said he was lookin’ forward to seein’ you again.” I smiled smugly at the bastard as she turned and hightailed it to maul him. Serves the asshole right. He could consider it karma for trying to get my back up over Amelia. Taking my seat again, I signaled for another beer and set about keeping my eye on the girl who had me all out of sorts.

I hadn’t been sitting there for more than a half an hour when Amelia walked over to the table, and much to my amusement, stole my beer right from in front of me, smirked and downed it. She slid the empty back toward me; my hand shot out and caught it before it could slide off the table.

“Thanks, cowboy.” She signaled the waitress for two more and slid into the booth beside me. “You trying to play the dark and broody badass in the corner, or you gonna come show a girl a good time?” she asked, leaning forward on the table, giving me a nice view of her cleavage. With every breath she took, her breasts rose and fell, reminding me of earlier in the night. My jeans became a little uncomfortable, making it necessary for a discreet shift.

“Pretty sure I showed you just how it was done earlier tonight, darlin’.” Two could play her game; I knew how much she enjoyed it, regardless of her bullshit attempt at rejection when we’d left.

She opened her mouth—no doubt to hit me with a snappy retort—when the waitress walked up and handed us our beers. Amelia skulled hers and stood back up, adjusting the pathetic excuse for a skirt.

“Your loss.” She shrugged and sauntered back to the crowd of dancers. Braxton moved in front of her as Ryder came up behind while she moved her hips in a seductive sway. She had the attention of everyone in the damn place and had since she’d strolled in the front door.

“Who’s the bird?” I whipped my head around when Jake Richards flopped down beside me. The guy was bad news all round, an asshole who thought he was much more than the trailer trash he was.

“Keep walking, Richards.” I tried my best to stay out of his way for the most part. We’d had more than a few run ins back in our school days. He was a jackass then and an even bigger jackass now.

“Whatcha gonna do, boy wonder? Lay me out?” This was his normal MO; he’d pick a fight with anyone, and every damn time, he took it far enough that he did get laid out.

“Not lookin’ for trouble tonight. Go home to Judy.” His wife Judy was the sweetest girl you’d ever meet, drop dead gorgeous and a real good girl who’d fallen for the quarterback and gotten knocked up young…same old story you heard everywhere. Jake didn’t deserve her at all; he was a notorious drunk and cheated on the girl every opportunity he got. I was also damn certain he was beating on her too.

“I’m lookin’ for a hot piece of ass, and I reckon the girl there might like it a bit rough.” The blood roared in my ears as I clenched and unclenched my fists, trying to get a handle on the sudden flash of rage that hit me like a train. “She’s clearly a city bitch and you know how much I love a good bit of city pussy, especially if they have anything to do with your sorry ass.”

“Don’t,” I ground out through clenched teeth. My adrenaline kicked in and I was dangerously close to losing my temper. I breathed in hard through my nose and focused on the stack of napkins in front of us.

“I reckon she’d chuck it up like a little whore.” My tightly reigned-in temper snapped. “Bet she’s got a sweet cu—” With lightning quick reflexes, my hand shot behind his head and smashed it down onto the chipped wooden table.

Blood pouring out from his new nose job, he screamed like a bitch and cupped his face. I loomed over him and snarled, “Don’t be disrespecting any lady like that again, or next time, it’ll be more than a busted nose.” I nodded to Rach; she just shook her head, rolled her eyes and picked up the phone. I stood by him, waiting on the sheriff to arrive and took the opportunity to get a few words in. “I catch wind of you putting your hands on Judy again, and we’ll be havin’ words, Richards.” He was smart enough to keep his big mouth shut this time, and lucky too, because Ryder took that moment to walk over and pull a pair of cuffs out of the back of his jeans. Ryder also happened to be one of the few deputies in town, and he’d seen his share of Jake’s crap.

“You’d think you would have learned not to piss Destry off years ago, you fucking dick head. Why didn’t you just piss off to the city too?” He pulled Jake up by his arm and took him outside. “Catch y’all later,” Ryder called out over his shoulder.