“Me and ...” I pause, getting what’s going on here. “You did that? You put her on me, didn’t you? What the fuck, Rayna.”
“I knew she’d like you, and that you’d like her. I mean, what’s not to like?” She smiles, apparently pleased with her cupid skills. “She’s awesome.”
“She’s a fucking virgin!”
“Oh.” Her eyes widen. “You, ah ... never mind.” She waves a hand at me. “That’s okay.”
“No. It’s. Not.” I take a deep breath, trying not to go all motherfucker on her ass.
“No, really,” she says, shaking her head, somehow about to defend what she’s done “She’s−”
“Stop.” I lift my hand and Rayna’s mouth snaps shut. “Keep her away from me, Rayna.” I point at her and again her mouth goes to open. “I mean it.” I lean down and look her straight in the eyes. “You keep that fucking girl away from me.”
“Zeke!” Her eyebrows dip together. “Why are you acting like this? What happened between you two?”
“Nothing, and that’s exactly the way I plan to keep it. Unless you want to see your friend get hurt,” I say, walking away. “Leave it alone, Rayna.”
“Zeke!”
I make my way up the stairs. Unlike her usual nonstop meddling self, she actually lets me go.
A few hours later, Rayna apparently didn’t adhere to my warning. When I walk into the bar, I find her, Emmie, and Lurlene huddled around a table. Rayna sees me, smiles, and gives me a half-assed, five-finger wave. I sneer at her, and then I catch Lurlene’s glistening emerald eyes. I hold on to them for a few seconds but can’t read what they’re saying. And I’m a good eye reader. Shit. The woman fucks me up. I’d like to say it’s been a slow, gradual slip, but damn, the fall was fast and hard. Like nothing before, I want her. Just looking at her my chest gets heavy. She’s my game. She’s my win. Like when I’m in the ring, something flips on and everything lights up inside of me, and that’s when I know that I got the fight. She makes me feel like that, makes me feel the lightning. It’s the best damn feeling in the world, reminds me of my dad, of my childhood, of everything that I once loved. All those things that I cherished that are now gone because of me.
Fuck, what I have to give, she doesn’t deserve any of that shit, and I gotta make her see it.
“Hi,” I hear and look to my right to find fuck-me-now eyes.
“Jenny.” I slowly smile down at my cute little savior.
“You didn’t forget my name.” Her glossy pink lips spread.
“No.” I wrap an arm around her shoulder and pull her to me. “Told ya before, you’re hard to forget.”
“Well,” she places a small hand on my chest, “you did run out on me the last time I saw you.”
“Yes, and I’m sorry about that.” I bend down closer to her.
“Maybe,” she bites her lower lip, curling into me, “you can make it up to me later.”
I glance up and catch Lurlene watching us. Expression blank as a slate, I have no idea what she’s thinking. Well, hell. It’s time to shut this shit down. Without breaking from Lurlene’s watchful eyes, I lean in and kiss Jenny. Lurlene’s eyebrow arches and a lopsided grin yanks at the corner of her mouth. What the fuck? Not the kind of reaction that I was looking for. I pull away from the kiss and whisper into Jenny’s ear, “Find me after the fight.”
“Oh,” she smiles, “I will.”
I release her and walk over to the bar. I glance back at Lurlene. She picks up her drink and lifts it in a cheer before taking a long sip. This time, her eyes holding mine, she sets the empty drink back on the table and heads my way.
Fuck.
I twist around, rest my forearms on the counter, lean back against the bar, lower my eyelids, and smile at her.
She slides in beside me. I get a strong whiff of her sweet scent. Damn, I’m a sucker for pretty smelling chicks. Placing her arm alongside mine, she leans in. “You can do better than that, can’t you,” she whispers into my ear. Just like her girly scent, her warm breath breezes through me. I turn slightly to my left and look at her from the corner of my eye. “Really Zeke,” her brow arches, “you are the best damn lay in Galveston County. Haven’t you come up with a better way to brush a girl off? Kissing another girl? Honestly, that’s so high schoolish. I mean, that is what you’re doing, isn’t it? You’re telling me that you don’t want me, you’d rather have her,” she tips her head in Jenny’s direction, “right?”