Page 10 of Unruly

“Therapy,” she replies, deadpan.

The guy next to him laughs and the grip I have on my beer bottle loosens at her rejection toward him.

Because Halle belongs to me. She can fight this all she wants, but one day, she will let me have her. So fuck mister ex-Hollister model.

The guy laughs. “Damn, you’re still feisty.” His eyes rake over her, and I want to carve them out of his skull.

I could kill him.

I could saw his body up into pieces and bury them in the Ozarks.

No one would find him.

I shake the thought away instead. My brothers and I promised my mom no one else would catch a felony.

Halle places her hand on the counter and the other one on her hip, tilting her head to look at him, waiting for him to order.

“Gotta say, you filled out real nice,” he says.

Nope. I think I may, in fact, catch a felony tonight.

I want to walk over there, grab the guy by the back of the neck, and slam his face into the bar until he learns to keep his eyes and mouth to himself around what’s mine. I go to stand, but watch Halle lift a finger, stopping me.

“Drink…order one, or leave, Tyler.”

He lifts his hands. “Relax. I’m just messing around.”

“Yeah.” She nods. “And I’m just doing my job. So unless you want to turn tail and leave when I pull out my aunt’s shotgun, I suggest you pick something with alcohol in it.”

There’s a beat, then Tyler laughs, shaking his head. “All right. All right. Two beers for us.”

She smiles sarcastically. “See?” she says, pulling out two beers from the cooler. “Not that fucking hard.”

Halle slides the drinks over and moves on without another word, and a slow, proud grin spreads across my face. She handled herself and it only makes me want her more.

Before I decide to punch the guy for breathing her air space, I pick up my beer and walk back to the pool table. Dawson’s leaning against the rail, watching me approach with that lazy, all-knowing smirk he gets when he’s already read me like a book.

“What took you so long?” he asks, chalking his cue.

“Ehh…some asshole was giving Halle a hard time at the bar,” I say, grabbing my stick and eyeing the table. “Had to make sure I didn’t need to knock his lights out.”

“And?”

“And nothing,” I grunt, lining up my shot. “She handled it. Told him to order a drink or get the hell out. Was funny, honestly.”

A low chuckle rumbles out of him. “Course she did. That woman doesn’t need saving, Cash. She’ll eat a man alive and use his bones to stir her next drink.”

Dawson was too young to really remember the summers Halle would spend on the ranch as a teenager. She would watch over my brothers and I to make sure we didn’t get into trouble.

So…does that mean I want to fuck my babysitter?

Ha. Nice.

“Still doesn’t mean she has to,” I mutter, sinking the stripe.

Dawson shakes his head, grinning. “You’ve got it bad, brother. Real bad. You follow that grown-ass woman around like a puppy. Just ask her on a date.”

Colt walks back up right as the new songs kicks in. “I was so sick of that shit playlist. Someone tell Hank he can’t keep playing hits from old guys.”