Where Voss comes from, there’re real cowboys. Not the fake wannabe ones you see from around in the city sometimes. Listening to him tell stories about his hometown is always fascinating. The way our upbringings were so vastly different, yet we both ended up here.
“Well, shit, let’s go,” Wade beams, passing me the blunt.
I laugh at his enthusiasm, bringing the marijuana to my lips and inhaling a deep hit. The earthy smoke dances down my throat, expanding my lungs as I hold it in as long as I can. Between the alcohol and now the weed, my head’s feeling nice and fuzzy. “I’m down,” I say, blowing out the smoke.
My phone’s sitting face down in my lap, and it buzzes with a notification. Flipping it over, I’m not in the least bit surprised to find Josiah’s name branded across the screen. I can’t say what it is that has me opening this time, when I’ve ignored all the others, but I do.
Josiah: It’s a little childish if you ask me to just ignore me after everything we talked about the other night.
I can’t help the smirk that tugs on my lips, reading the message and imagining him saying the words out loud. The scowl that would be on his face, and the gruff tone of his voice.
Me: That’s funny, Josie. I don’t remember asking you.
His reply is instant.
Josiah: Josie? And about fucking time you answer.
Me: Yeah, Josie. I kinda like it. Don’t you?
Josiah: …No?
Me: Too bad.
“What the fuck’s got you smiling like that, bro?”
Glancing up, my gaze connects with Voss’s, confusion in his eyes but a grin on his lips. “What? Nothing,” I reply in a hurry, sounding completely unconvincing as my phone vibrates in my hand. I fight the urge to look down at his response.
“Who are you talking to?” he presses, arching a thick, dark brow.
“No one.”
“Probably the same guy who was in his bed last week.”
I snap my head to the right, Augustine walking up to us from the direction of the gym, my eyes narrowing into slits as I shake my head.
“What guy?” Wade sits up in his chair, excitement coating his question.
This fucking asshole.
“Thanks a lot, dick,” I murmur through a smirk as Augustine grins, taking a seat in one of the empty chairs around the fire. He’s such a shit starter sometimes.
“Yeah, Segan,” Voss taunts. “What guy? Do tell.”
Heaving a sigh, I run my fingers through my hair. It’s getting long, I need to get it cut. “Just a guy I ran into who I used to know.”
Voss eyes me, downing a sip of his drink. “The ghost from your past?” he asks, throwing my own words from the night of the show at Uncle Nick’s back at me.
“That’s the one,” I grit out.
“Wait,” Wade chimes in, setting his beer down. “What guy?” He turns to Voss. “How do you and Augustine know about this, but not me?”
“I don’t know shit,” Voss chirps right before Augustine adds, “I only know what I walked in and saw. That’s it.”
Glaring at Augustine, I say, “See what you’ve started, big mouth?”
The fucker just smirks and winks at me.
Giving in, I peek down at my phone, reading Josiah’s response.
