Going Hard: Boys of Fall

by Cari Quinn

  He lifted his beer to his lips and she couldn’t stop watching his throat work. A quarter of his beer was gone when he put the glass back down and licked his lips.

  Please tell me I’m not drooling over this man.

  Oh, please. She’d gotten him out of her system months ago, hadn’t she?

  “Sitting still doesn’t seem like your M.O. either, Librarian.”

  She shrugged. “Too true. I’d rather read.” But not lately. Nothing seemed to capture her attention. Not her favorite books, not the new ones that came in weekly, not even the reams of advanced reader copies she received to entice the library to buy.

  Nada.

  She fished out an ice cube and popped it into her mouth. And that was why she was at Pitchers mid-week. She was so damn antsy and restless. Flirting with a few of the ranch hands didn’t even hold her interest. Of course, she’d known most everyone in town since the beginning of time, so it wasn’t like there was any new blood to salivate over.

  So why was she perking up because of Mr. Stick-in-the-Mud?

  Obviously there was some sort of secret ingredient in the Purple Rain. She’d make sure she got the same drink when she went out tomorrow night. She was going to try the next town over in the opposite direction. Surely Tidal Junction had a better class of clientele.

  So many Junctions around these parts. One of them had to deliver, right?

  “You’re going to crack a tooth.”

  “I crunch on ice all the time.”

  “They say that’s a sign of frustration.”

  “Well, you are standing next to me, killing my buzz.”

  “Not that kind of frustration.”

  She gave him a side eye. “Why do you care?”

  “We’re friends, aren’t we?”

  “Aren’t we?” she parroted.

  He sighed. “Did anyone tell you you’re cranky when you’re drunk?”

  “It’s only because you’re in my airspace.” She jabbed her finger into his biceps. “You’re harshing my buzz.”

  “You’re past buzzed. And on a school night, too.”

  “I’m not in school anymore, thank you.” Other than continuing education classes, which she’d have to take forever. Thank God for doubling up when she was younger and had no social life.

  As much as things change, so they stay the same.

  “Thank God,” he muttered.

  “What was that?”

  “Nothing.”

  She waved to Sadie.

  “You’re cut off, Lady Jane.”

  “Aww, come on.”

  “You’re weaving,” Rafe grumbled.

  “You’re my DD. I don’t have to be a good girl. I’m so tired of being a good girl. Do you realize I’m turning twenty-five soon? Twenty-five.” When he winced, she rolled her eyes. “What?”

  “That’s young.”

  “Not in this town. Around here, people are preparing to pop out a prodigy by then, if not sooner. I’m not ready for that. I’m dying to live.” She leaned into Rafe. “Dying—wilting on the vine. I’m not ready to be table wine, Rafe.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  She dropped her head on his shoulder. “I want to live a little first before I start taking care of anyone else. I don’t want to wake up next to some guy with hips yay wide from birthing out a dozen babies before I even turn thirty.”

  “Considering that’s impossible, I think you’re safe.”

  “Stop being literal. You know what I mean. I was born to be champagne.”

  “I’m trying to follow your analogy, but I’m having a tough time. What’s with the wine and champagne thing?”

  Sometimes her brain full of information made talking to people very difficult. She hated when they didn’t follow her train of thought. “Never mind.”

  “No, I honestly want to know.”

  “Vines that are cultivated for years, that truly live through cycles of beautiful growing seasons, become the perfect conduit for champagne. I’ve got no knowledge. No life. I’m barely table wine.”

  His brow furrowed. “Your head is full of knowledge. Your trivia ability is unparalleled.”

  She transferred her forehead to her arms on the bar. “You don’t get it.”

  “What exactly do you want to do?”

  “Have fun. Experience more than what I know. I’m just so tired of doing the same thing with my life. I get up at six, feed my cat, get ready for work, go to work, come home. Lather, rinse, repeat.”

  “Just like the rest of us, babe.”

  She lifted her head. “You’re old.”

  “Thanks.”

  Did he just call her babe? Best to just push that aside. She peered up at him. “Aren’t you thirty?”

  “Twenty-nine,” he muttered.

  “Same difference.”

  “So, what, when you’re twenty-nine, it’s okay?”

  “Sure, after I sow my wild oats. I’m not saying I never want to settle down and have a family. I just need to do some planting first.” She sighed. “Serious planting.”

  “How many oats are we talking here?”

  “More than the three that I’ve sown.”

  His jaw dropped open a little. Kinda cute actually. He was always so serious. She’d put that face in the dictionary under gobsmacked.

  “Three?”

  “I know. Pathetic, right?”

  His jaw tightened. “No.” He took a healthy swallow of his beer.

  “Well, I’m a modern woman, and should know at least a quarter of the Kama Sutra before the year is out. That’s my goal. Intimately, that is. I’ve read the book, and seen most of them in video form. But you know, participation. That kind of thing.”

  He choked and snapped the glass down on the bar. “Jesus, Hol.”

  “What?”

  “That’s dangerous.”

  “Well, if I find an adventurous guy then I can have some fun and do these things.”

  “Are you just going to keep going through them until you find one?”

  She turned on her stool and propped her head on her hand. It was starting to feel a little heavy. “I’m pretty discerning. It’s not like I’m going to just hike my skirt for anyone. I want to put myself out there and let a guy know that I’m ready for some sexcapades.”

  “Sexcapades?”

  “Yeah. You know…experimentation.”

  “I got it.”

  She perused the room. “I’m thinking that I’m never going to find a guy that’s willing.” She popped another ice cube in her mouth and met his gaze. “Or able, for that matter.” She reached out and poked his chest. His very firm chest. She knew that chest was very impressive under there.

  Not only had she seen it and touched it, but she’d seen him grow from gangly teen to muscular man, and most of the process in between. He was a perfect specimen of male. Too bad he sucked at the follow-through.

  Some guys were just pretty.

  Maybe it was hard to have both. Darwinism. Couldn’t give the hot guy looks and prowess. Had to give something to the Average Joes in the world.

  That had to be it.

  He grasped her finger. “That’s dangerous, Hollie.”

  “You sound like my brother.”

  “That’s what brothers do.”

  “Well, I have enough of them. That’s why I’m in this predicament to begin with. No guy wants to come near me for fear of what the Bennett boys will do to them, though Colt’s oblivious half the time anyway. Still, when he clues in, he acts as overprotective as Wade. And that’s why I have to go to Tidal Junction tomorrow to test the waters.”

  He let go of her finger and curled his tighter around the bottom of his glass.

  “Got a problem with that?”

  “Yes,” he bit out.

  “Then why don’t you show me a good time?”

  His knuckles went white around the glass before he finally relaxed. “Looks like I need to.”

  She grinned. “Right. Sure you will.”

/>   He reached into his back pocket and pulled out two bills and dropped them on the bar. “I’m taking you home to get some rest.”

  “I don’t want to.”

  “You’re falling asleep on the bar, Hol.”

  Her eyes did feel heavy, but he wasn’t going to give her orders. She was so tired of taking orders. “It’s too early to go home.”

  “You need your rest. I’m taking you out tomorrow.”

  She slid off her stool. The alarm really was going to suck in the morning. A drink or two, no big deal. Five? Was it five?

  Yeah, if she couldn’t keep track then it was definitely time to say good night, Gracie.

  “Thanks, Grandpa, but I’ll be fine on my own.”

  “I insist.”

  She swayed a little and used his very impressive triceps to steady herself. “Did I, or did I not just convey that I was tired of overbearing men in my life? How am I supposed to find a man if you’re growling around me?”

  “Women who don’t look available are invariably more attractive than single women on the prowl.”

  She tipped her chin up to try to focus on his thickly fringed dark eyes. “Are your standards that low when you look for chicks? Single or not, no problem?”

  “I don’t go looking for chicks.”

  Maybe if he did then he would have been better in the sack, but that wasn’t really her problem.

  He stepped closer to her, until she bumped up against the bar. “And I didn’t say anything about my standards. What I said is that if you don’t look like you’re on the hunt, then men are more likely to be interested.”

  “I’m pretty sure you did, but my faculties are slightly impaired so I’ll give you that one.”

  “It’s time to go.”

  She rubbed her aching forehead. “I shall concede to you at this very moment.”

  “One time without an argument. I’ll take it.”

  She teetered around him and headed for the exit. “Don’t get used to it.”

  “Heaven forbid.”

  3

  She fluffed her newly fringed bangs in the rearview mirror of her little Mazda Miata. It was an older model, and completely impractical, but she loved it. The bonus of a mild winter in Texas was that she could put the top down even in February.

  She’d left work an hour early after she’d begged her stylist to squeeze her in for a color. An hour under the hood to bleach out her chestnut hair had been worth it. Courtney had given her a fabulously different cut and taken the time to use a few different levels of bleach on her hair to make a fashionable ombré hue out of her boring cap of brown.

  No more bowl cut. She’d left herself in Courtney’s capable hands and told her to go crazy. She felt lighter and freer already. The perfect way to start off her date with Rafe.

  Well, not really a date. More like a mutually beneficial night out. She could find herself a guy to flirt with, and maybe she could find a girl for Rafe. He needed to let loose.

  He could follow her lead for once. It would be good for him.

  And best of all, that silly teenager’s crush she’d once had on him? Totally banished. Lackluster sex had a way of doing that to a girl. So she could put aside their frenemy status and happily help him choose someone to break out of his architect mold with.

  Hopefully while she was breaking out of some molds herself.

  She parked, grabbed her shopping bags, and took the side stairs two at a time. She’d converted the back half of the house to a pseudo-apartment for herself.

  It wasn’t much, but at least she had her own space. It had been more important to hoard her money to rent one of the new apartments being built on the edge of town.

  Quinn had been growing in the last few years. Instead of pushing people outside the town limits, they were finally getting a little new construction to go with the new businesses sprouting up.

  She was impatiently waiting for her number to be picked from the lottery system the complex had devised. However, she’d plundered her savings account for tonight. Hair and clothing were an expense she didn’t often allow herself.

  Tonight she was going all out.

  She wiggled out of work-appropriate skirt and blouse, the sensible pumps and pantyhose. All but the shoes went into the hamper. She took a super quick shower, using the handheld attachment to save her hair.

  She slathered herself in her favorite pineapple lotion. It was summery and had a tang to it. Sure, it was February, but she didn’t really care. It made her feel strong and attractive. And hell, it went with her blond hair. Makeup was a bit trickier. Her palette fit a brunette, but she made it work.

  Her perfectly broken-in jeans from her first year of college made up half of her outfit. They hugged her ass and thighs and fell in a perfect cut to jam into her favorite boots. They were knee-high and oiled to the perfect level between worn and cherished. The three-inch heel would give her a little help when it came to the towering Rafe.

  She walked to her bed and looked over her shoulder into the mirror. From the back, she wasn’t so bad. She had a pretty nice ass thanks to all the stairs she did in the library, as well as the ladder she climbed up a few hundred times a day.

  Up top, however…not so much.

  She upended the bag on her bed and found the offensively expensive bra she’d purchased. Water bra, to be exact. It would give her a whole cup size increase. And when a girl barely filled a B-cup during the bloat of shark week, she needed all the help she could get.

  She fastened it and fiddled with the straps until they were just right. “Wow.” She cupped her breasts and turned to the mirror. “So that’s what boobs look like. Well, fake ones anyway.” The lavender print was pretty, at the very least. Even if it felt like she was wearing beanbags over her nipples.

  Hollie snapped the tag off the shirt she’d specifically bought a size too small. “Let’s show off these babies a little.” She buttoned the cherry-red plaid shirt and wrapped the ties around her midsection. She tugged at the thin material until she made sure the bra didn’t show.

  “Hollie?”

  “Yeah?” she called downstairs.

  “You have company.”

  He had to come to the front door? Couldn’t he be like any other guy and beep the horn or text? Cripes.

  She grabbed her phone and shoved it in her back pocket. She stuffed cash and her license in her front pocket and called it good. If she brought a wallet, she’d lose it. That’s just how she was.

  She went down the hall to the front of the house and down the stairs to the family room. Her mother and father were talking to Rafe. For once, he wasn’t dressed for work—or even half dressed for it. He never went completely casual.

  Until tonight.

  Gone were his dress pants and shirt. In their place were well-worn dark-washed jeans and a tan shirt that showed off his perpetual tan.

  Gosh, he was beautiful. It really was a huge shame that the spark had snuffed out so completely when they’d gotten naked. It really didn’t seem fair. She’d had the hots for Rafe since she knew what hormones were.

  Talk about cruel twist of fate that he was actually her worst lay to date.

  Her boots hit the hardwood floor and Rafe turned around. “There you are. All ready to…” His voice trailed off.

  “What?”

  “Oh my gosh!” Her mother rushed forward and touched Hollie’s hair. “Wow, that’s a change.”

  “Like it?” She smoothed the flyaway pieces she’d tucked behind her ears. The layers were cut so they hugged around her ears and softened her strong jawline, where her other cut had made her face look boxier.

  “I love the cut.” Her mom tipped her head. “I’ll have to get used the blond.”

  “I needed a change.” She looked over her mother’s shoulder to where Rafe stood, still speechless. Whether that was a good thing or not remained to be seen.

  “What do you think, Dad?”

  “Is there more to that shirt?”

  “Dad,” she huffed.r />
  Rafe’s brows lowered and his jaw tightened.

  Okay, maybe not a good sign. She shrugged. “We’ll be back later.”

  “Where are you two going?”

  She opened her mouth to answer and Rafe beat her to it.

  “Westerville.”

  Westerville? That was three towns over. She thought they were going to Tidal Junction. She grabbed her army-green jacket off the coat rack. “Ready?”

  She wasn’t expecting Rafe to fawn over her, but a small compliment would have been nice. He walked to his truck and opened the door for her.

  “Thanks.”

  He kept looking over her shoulder.

  “Is there a problem?”

  “No.”

  “Then what’s with the attitude? You don’t have to come with me. I’m perfectly fine going to Tidal like I’d planned.”

  “Not in that you’re not.”

  “In what?” She looked down at her outfit. “I’m perfectly covered.” She swiped her hand over the inch of belly she was flashing. “This is nothing.”

  “Get in the truck.”

  “No.”

  Rafe crowded her into the door. “Guys will be all over you in that outfit. Did you get the memo that it wasn’t summer yet?”

  “Do you have an inner temperature gauge? It was almost seventy degrees today. If you’d been with me when I almost got arrested—” She cut herself off at his glower. “Okay, that was a bad example, but the girls at the bar were wearing even less than I am right now. I’m positively modest.”

  “Get in the damn truck.”

  “You’re going to scare guys off with that face you’re making. Why would I want to go out with you?”

  He yanked her into him. Her chest slammed into his and her belly met with a very prominent ridge at the front of his jeans. “Does this feel like I don’t like how you look?”

  She did remember this particular part of the equation. Rafe had been fashioned after a stallion for sure. “Oh.”

  He glanced at her breasts and frowned. “Yeah. So, get into the truck.”

  Did he like them? They were markedly larger now. Maybe he liked women who were more than a pair of perky nipples.

  Dammit, she was more than them. He should know that.

  For that matter, she needed to get over her hangups, boob-induced and otherwise. But one psychosis per day, please.