I did. “True enough.”
“If you want a beer, Cal has some in the fridge.”
I grinned down at her disgruntled expression. “Milk’s good.”
That earned me a smile that made my gut tighten. Then I said what was playing on my mind, what I was desperate to know. “You’ve come to a decision. About me.”
“How’d you guess?” she said, head tilted to the side, all that thick auburn hair sliding to one side and tickling my arm.
It smelled amazing. “I’m sitting here beside you, not kicked to the curb.”
She took a sip of her drink, leaving a milk mustache, and I grinned wider.
“What?”
“You got something on your…” I touched the top of her lip as her tongue slid out, lapping it up. That little pink tongue brushed the tip of my finger, and all my efforts to get my dick under control were blown to shit.
I dropped my hand and tried to act unaffected but wasn’t sure I was pulling it off. If she’d looked down at my groin, she’d have known exactly what was going on in my sick fucking mind.
“So?” I croaked out. “What did you decide?”
Her eyes came to mine, and this time she wasn’t trying to hide them from me. They locked on with a confidence that had my heart pounding faster.
“You said you’d do anything?”
“I meant it,” I said without hesitation. “Tired of being without you. I thought leaving you alone was the best for you, but we both know I was wrong. So yeah, I’d do anything to get back what we had.” I wanted that more than anything.
She licked her lips again and leaned back, pulling something from her pocket. A folded piece of paper. “Two things,” she said.
I quirked a brow.
“Read it.”
I took it from her and unfolded it.
Go to a party.
Sleep under the stars.
Slow dance to a fast song in a crowded bar.
Skinny-dip.
Ride on the back of a motorcycle.
I looked back up at her. “What is this?”
“My list of things I’ve never done, things I want to do, things I’ll be doing…with you.”
I skimmed over the list again, my eyes going back to one in particular: Skinny-dip. Seeing Everly naked might actually kill me.
“Everly, these are, they sound like…” Things you’d do on a date.
“You said you’d do anything.”
I had.
“I’ve lived a pretty sheltered life. Yes, living with Wayne and Sonya was an eye-opener, in a really crappy way, but before that I had extremely strict parents, then I had my aunt who was even more so, and I also had you, my protector. I didn’t do a lot of things my friends did. I tried alcohol for the first time when I took the job here at the ranch. I feel like I’m behind, trying to catch up.”
How could I say no? If this list had included eating roadkill or pouring lemon juice into a paper cut on the end of my dick I would’ve said yes. I’d have done anything she wanted to get her back in my life like she used to be.
I folded the piece of paper and shoved it in my pocket. “And the other thing?”
She looked at me, her big brown eyes sucking me into their depths. “That list, it’s a way for us to have some fun together, rebuild trust, get to know each other again, because we’re not the same people. We’re not…”
“Okay,” I rasped, throat tight as fuck. “And?”
“And I want you to teach me how to date while we’re doing those fun things.”
“What?” I barked.
“I’ve been sheltered, controlled, and restricted most of my life, Dane. I’m lost here.”
Sheltered, controlled, and restricted by me. That part went without saying.
“I’m awkward and clumsy around guys. My lack of experience makes me feel like an idiot. I want you to…instruct me, give me lessons on how to date.”
What the fuck? “You want me to…”
“Help me…you know, what you like, teach me how to make a guy feel good…” She shifted on the seat beside me. “In bed.”
My fucking head exploded. “You want me to teach you how to fuck?”
Her delicate throat worked. “Well, yes. But I don’t think…you know, not us physically…doing it?” Her brow scrunched.
Why the fuck did she just pose that as a question?
“I think maybe you could just share what works.”
Okay, so not actual fucking?
Now it was my turn to shift in my seat.
And why the hell did I suddenly feel disappointed?
Chapter Five
Dane
I leaned on the bar, still nursing the beer I got half an hour ago. The Thirsty Mule was full. A band was playing covers, and apparently they were kicking ass going by the way the locals were getting into it. The dance floor was packed.
I’d barely noticed the place filling around me because my head was so full of Everly. It had been so damn full of her and what she’d asked me since I left the ranch the night before, I didn’t know which way was up.
Talking about that stuff with her. I didn’t know if I could do it. But if I didn’t, I could lose her for good. I still wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted from me. She didn’t seem sure herself. Did she want me to sit down and draw her a fucking diagram? Bullet points on how to suck cock? Or hand her mine and tell her to have at it?
My balls drew up tight.
A crash came from behind the bar, and I glanced up.
Bull stood there frowning, looking out onto the floor. I followed his line of sight. Quinn was working…and dancing, which seemed to distract my big cousin from what he was doing. But then, when Quinn was in a room, Bull only had eyes for her. Made things difficult for him and entertaining for the rest of us.
I took another sip of my beer. Jesus, why the hell was I even here?
Riff downed his own beer beside me and ordered another. He’d decided to hang in Rocktown a few more days, which was fine by me. But as much as I liked the guy, I’d rather have been with Everly.
I needed to sit down with her and discuss what she actually wanted, didn’t I?
And if she decides she wants hands-on lessons?
Nah, there was no way that’s what she wanted.
When I’d texted her earlier—because, yeah, there was a lot we needed to talk about, and I was fucking desperate to talk about it—she’d said she was busy. Now all I could think of was with who? Where the hell was she? And when could I see her again?
I lifted my beer to my lips right as Riff elbowed me in the ribs.
I scowled at the guy, and he smirked. “What?”
He tilted his head to the door. “It’s our lucky night, brother.”
I turned to see what he was looking at and nearly swallowed my fucking tongue. Everly was standing at the door with her friend, the brunette Riff wouldn’t shut up about. And my girl looked—fuck—she looked hot as hell. I straightened. Shit, I wanted to tear off my shirt and tug it over her head.
Everly and her friend were smiling, laughing, and bouncing to the music as they scoped the bar out. The bouncing made my blood pressure spike.
“Fuck me,” Riff muttered beside me, and I spun toward him, ready to knock the fucker out if he was looking at Eves, but his eyes were on her very curvy friend and her very short skirt.
That’s when Everly spotted me and her smile fucking lit up the room. She grabbed her friend’s hand and headed for us.
Riff tapped my arm, eyes widening comically when I turned to him.
“What?”
“Bro, quick, do these jeans make my dick look big?” Riff said, expression serious.
Jesus.
“What? I want to make a good impression.”
“Then pretend you’re normal.”
He chuckled. It was dark and dirty as fuck. Christ.
I watched Everly approach. She was wearing a tiny green skirt and a white tank, and they clung to her from chest to ass, hugging her
insane curves. Her auburn hair was down and wild, and she had on makeup, her lips glossy and full. Shit, inviting.
I wanted to blind everyone in the room.
“Hey,” she said when she stopped in front of us. “I didn’t know you’d be here tonight.”
I reached out and took a strand of her hair between my fingers. “Didn’t know you’d be here either.” There was more growl in my voice than I’d intended.
“I thought I should give you some time, after what I asked you,” she said, pink coloring her cheeks.
“You gonna introduce us or what?” Riff said, his neon green eyes sliding from Eves to her friend and locking on.
“Everly, this is Grifter.”
“Riff,” he said to Everly. “Heard a lot about you, babe. Who’s your friend?”
“Nice to meet you,” Eves said to him. “This is Lila.”
The curvy little brunette beside Everly blushed from her chest to the roots of her hair.
“Lila and I met not long after I moved to Springhaven. She works at the library and lives on one of the neighboring ranches.”
Riff took the ball cap that he always wore from his head, flashing his overgrown dark blond hair, and put it on again backward, like he was trying to get a better look at her. “A ranch, huh? You like to ride, Bambi?” he said to Lila, that fucking smirk firmly on his face.
She blinked up at him. She wasn’t wearing her glasses tonight, and the girl had big brown eyes, soft and round and innocent, and was looking up at Grifter like a startled doe.
“I love it,” she said breathlessly, a tentative smile on her lips.
Riff went rigid, his throat working convulsively as he stared down at her.
“You girls want a drink?” I asked, because shit was getting weird.
Everly and Lila both nodded.
“Beer?”
“Sounds good,” Eves said.
The bar was hammered, so I slipped around and grabbed the drinks myself.
“It’s a good thing you’re here,” Everly said when I handed them over.
I smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Why’s that?” Though I was thinking the same thing. Thank fuck I was here, because these two were like baby seals in shark-infested waters, and there was no way one of these assholes was getting close enough to take a bite.
Her smile turned wicked. “You can hold our purses.” Then she thrust them both at me. “Lila and I are here to dance.”
I watched as they took off, weaving their way through the crowd and onto the dance floor.
“Nice purse,” Riff said. “Matches your eyes.”
I grunted, headed back behind the bar to stash their shit, and came back around. The pair of them were a sight to see, both petite and curvy, all hair and bare legs, and both seemed completely oblivious to the hungry looks aimed their way.
I wasn’t, though, and I wasn’t a fan of the feeling it gave me.
“Quit eye-fucking the girl and put your dick to work already,” Grifter said.
I glanced at him. His gaze was aimed at Lila. “Christ, I’m looking out for her. The girl’s my best friend.” My best friend who wanted me to teach her how to make guys feel good. I gritted my teeth.
“Yeah? Then I’m gonna best friend the fuck out of little Lila. Repeatedly.”
“Christ. Those women, they’re not for us, Riff.”
He turned to me, beer stalled midair on the way to his mouth. “Are you asking me not to fuck Everly’s cute horse-riding friend?”
“Yeah, I’m asking you not to fuck her.”
His eyes went wide. “You’re serious?”
“Deadly.”
“Huh, didn’t think you’d actually say no.”
“I’m saying no.”
His gaze slid back to Lila. “Fuck, man, but look at her,” he said, voice dangerously close to a whine. “Just look at her.”
“Get a hold of yourself.”
He muttered something under his breath.
I stayed where I was, watching Everly, torturing myself through three songs and about to drag her off the dance floor and back to me when they returned.
Both were laughing and talking, and Eves barely looked at me as she grabbed her beer and took a sip. Lila leaned in and said something to Eves, and I watched my girl turn around toward a group of guys. When she turned back she was blushing.
No.
Hell fucking no.
Did she know those guys? Was she interested in one of them? What the actual fuck was going on?
I opened my mouth to say something, to get her eyes back on me, right as another song started.
“I love this song! Come dance with us,” she said to me and Riff.
I chuckled. It sounded as forced as it felt. “You’ve seen me dance. You really think that’s a good idea?”
She laughed, humor reaching her beautiful brown eyes, obviously remembering the time she tried to teach me. “Okay, maybe not.”
The two of them rushed back to the dance floor, and I barely resisted grabbing her and keeping her from leaving my side.
Riff slapped my arm. “What the fuck? Let’s go before some other assholes get in there.”
“You wanna dance?” I said to him in disbelief.
Riff shrugged. “Why not?”
“You’re serious?”
He shrugged again, took a chug of his beer and, ignoring me completely, headed for the dance floor. I stood there pissed and kind of shocked as he walked toward the girls. One of the Ramblers’ most ruthless brothers, wearing his MC cut, tatted from his neck to his damned feet, was hitting the dance floor.
He held his hands out to Eves and Lila when he reached them, and I shit you not, they both took one. Riff twirled them, making them laugh, then proceeded to dance like a fucking idiot with both of them.
“What are you doing standing here?” Bull said, leaning over the bar behind me, brows low, lips turned down.
“I don’t dance,” I said.
Bull motioned across the bar to the group of guys Eves had been so damn interested in. One of them was watching Everly, a grin on his face. Tanner Rogers, the motherfucker. I’d seen him at the gym since I’d been back. He’d been a year below me at school and was a fucking prick.
Nope. No fucking way. Not going to happen.
The song changed. It was faster, had a heavy beat, the kind of song I’d cut an arm off listening to before dancing to it.
But I could sway from side to side if forced.
Slow dance to a fast song in a crowded bar.
I guess I could cross an item off Everly’s list. I mean, how hard could it be?
Tanner took a step toward the dance floor.
Time was up.
I strode toward Eves before he could take another one.
They were still dancing like idiots, in Eves’s case a beautiful little idiot who was apparently trying to kill me. I moved up behind her. She was on one side of Riff, while her friend stood on the other.
Grifter grinned when he saw me, obviously fucking pleased with himself.
Eves hadn’t seen me yet, so I moved up close, and slipped my arms around her waist. She stilled, her head dropping to look at the hands on her hips, then she turned to me and smiled.
Fuck me.
Okay, let’s do this.
I glanced up, and Riff gave me an exaggerated wink before he pulled Lila into his arms, like I’d just given him the go-head to pounce on Everly’s friend.
This was going to be a long night.
How had I thought holding her like this wouldn’t be a big deal? I’d assumed since I’d hugged her and held her plenty of times before that this would be no different. But it was.
And when Everly’s warm curves hit my front from waist to chest, I forgot all about the other idiots beside us.
I also had trouble remembering how to breathe.
Everly
I’d known who was behind me as soon as I’d seen those inked hands on my hips. Then his scent had hit me, a scent that was uni
quely Dane. I looked up at him, into his gorgeous eyes and smiled, pretty sure I knew what was happening but asking anyway. “What are you doing?”
He leaned down and his mouth brushed my ear. “Crossing something off your list.”
I shivered and hoped like heck he hadn’t felt it. I glanced over at Lila to make sure she was okay on her own, but she was dancing with Grifter, looking up at him, eyes wide, like she might faint while he grinned down at her like a wolf about to take a bite out of her.
“She’ll be fine,” Dane said against my ear once again, making me shiver a second time.
He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against him. I’d hugged him a million times, had felt what it was like to have Dane’s arms around me, had slept in the same bed as him almost every night we’d lived together, and this was—nothing like that. Not in any way.
We’d been kids then, and when I wasn’t anymore, I’d been living with my aunt. The greeting hugs we’d given each other when he’d managed to get to Rutherford to see me after I’d moved didn’t resemble what we were doing right now.
He started moving from side to side as people danced and sang to the faster beat around us. Our bodies touched from knees to chests—well, my chest was closer to his abs with our height difference, but yep, we were touching everywhere.
I moved with him, and every tiny shift of our bodies had us rubbing together. My breasts were smooshed against him, and the heat of his body soaked through me, making my skin tingle.
I inwardly winced. My nipples were getting tight and hard. I bit my lip, face heating. Could he feel it? He was only wearing a T-shirt. Oh my God, he had to feel it. How could he not? They were like freaking pencil erasers down my bra. They had to be digging into him.
I quickly rested my head on his chest so he didn’t see my embarrassment.
That just brought us closer, of course, and I could hear—feel—his heart pounding under my cheek. I was aware of every part of me that touched every part of him. The way his belt buckle pressed against my belly, his rigid abs, tight corrugations that felt hard as stone, the way the muscles in his lower back, under my hands, moved under his shirt when he did.
I shifted against him, and he made a rough sound that moved from him through me. His arms tightened. His hands were on my back and they started moving, one going lower, just above my butt, and the other coming up, sliding under my hair.
Meant For You: Rocktown Ink, Book 3 Page 5