“Thanks, Stanley. I appreciate you letting me change up times so I could run with my team.” Jordan tenses a bit, also noticing that his friend isn’t even paying attention to him. I smirk when I see he’s also not taking the bait to introduce good old Stan to the rest of us.
He looks at me, and I give him a chin lift. I appreciate that he ain’t offering shit, because the last thing I want is for some ass to come in and try their hand at my girl while I’m standing right here.
But the universe refuses to listen to me, and he does it anyway.
“You’re Bailey, right?” Stanley says with a smile that makes me want to punch his face in.
My beautiful girl looks a bit startled to see a person is standing by her who isn’t Jordan. I feel a sense of pride that she didn’t notice him like she noticed me when I walked up. She practically zoned out on everyone else but me. I saw it in the way her eyes held mine, because I was doing the same thing. Nothing matters when Bailey is around, not a single damn thing.
“Um, yeah?” She offers him a small smile, and I hate it. I want her smiles. All of them. But a sick part of me gloats once more that it’s only a small one when I got a bigger one from her earlier.
“I’m Stanley. I helped put this on.”
“Oh, nice to meet you.” She shakes his hand, but when she starts to pull away, he seems to hold it longer. I grind my teeth to keep from punching the fucker out.
“I have to admit, I was watching you out there. You were really amazing.”
“That’s not creepy at all,” Kitten says a bit too loudly into her Diet Coke.
She was just saying what we’re all thinking, I’m sure, but Stanley doesn’t seem to appreciate it. Especially since he glares in her direction—but he quickly loses the look when Flint steps up behind his woman. We might not be wearing our cuts because we knew what we were getting into, but that doesn’t mean we look like cute puppies either. Each Hound has an aura that exudes the scent of death, just like the Grim Reaper. We can be nice when we want to, but now ain’t that time. And as the guy roams his eyes around the group, he finally sees the vest on Mad Max. Our brother had zero excuse not to wear our colors, so he flashes them with pride.
My face breaks out into a grin that most think is psychotic while I watch his face pale a bit as he takes in who we are. He quickly looks away from us and focuses on the reason he came over her.
On my girl.
“I hope this isn’t too forward, but I was hoping I could get your number and we could go out sometime.”
I don’t miss that he still hasn’t released her hand. Nor that she keeps trying to pull it from his grasp. Or that his eyes keep dripping below the neckline.
When we say we got muddy, it wasn’t an exaggeration. I swear I have mud in places that no man should have it. It’s caked on, and our shirts are clinging to our bodies. And Bailey is no different. She’s just the one with all the curves on display that are begging to be held against a man. And no doubt Stanley thinks he’s just the man for the job.
“Oh, um, thanks, but I’m not looking for anything right now.” She takes a step back, and he takes one forward. The guy must be suicidal if he thinks we didn’t all just notice and also take a step in their direction. Even Mad Max stands up.
Like I said, if a girl says no, she says no. End of story.
“Don’t worry, neither am I. We can just get a bite to eat or something and see how it goes. I know a place over on Fifth Street that you would probably love.”
“How do you know what she would like?” Fairy asks, and the guy finally takes his eyes off Bailey and notices us once more. And that we’re closer.
He drops his hand. “It’s all you can eat.”
I’m either seeing red or a blood vessel popped in my eye.What. The. Fuck?Not sure if he meant it as an insult like it came across, but the fucker is looking for a beatdown.
A cough from Bailey has us all glancing at her. And my troublemaker ain’t looking sad or dejected but pissed and beautiful. And I’m getting hard as hell all over again.
“Thanks, but I’ve got plans.” Her jaw tightens, but I love that she’s strong as shit right now.
What surprises the ever-loving shit out of me, and I bet the rest of the group, is when she marches over and steps in front of me before turning her back to me with a glare on her face.
I don’t think, just react as I drop my arm around her shoulders and pull her back into my chest. Bailey ain’t short, but she’s still a few inches below my height. Her body rests back on me, and I move my head to kiss her forehead with all the ownership I possess.
The guy’s eyes bug out at our display, but I don’t give two shits. All I care about is the tremble I feel from the woman in my arms and the soft mewl she made when I put my lips on her. Not sure if she meant me to take it this far, but I don’t regret it.
I only wish she’ll let me get away with more before the day is through.
Chapter 12—Bailey
“No, I promise I’m fine. I don’t need you to come check on me,” I repeat for probably the tenth time to Jules. I love her, but between her, Jordan, Meekail, and even Miles and Gidget calling constantly, not to mention my own parents, I’m exhausted from their caring.
