Page 36 of The Bluffing Game

The guy with the long, stringy blond hair calls out to me, “Nice Mercedes, bruh.” He chugs down his Coors and turns to his friend. “Pity if that beauty got scratched up, huh?”

“It’d be a pity,” his friend says.

Then his eyes widen, and he lets out a low whistle as Sage gets out of the car and heads over to me.

“Now, she’s a beauty,” Stringy-Hair Guy says to Whistler.

“Wouldn’t mind her with some mac and cheese.” Whistler looks Sage up and down. “What’s your name, sexy mamacita?”

“Sorry, what?” Sage answers them, and I look at her in disbelief.

“What are you doing?” I hiss at her.

I’m grateful to see Roman pull in and park next to me. I don’t want to have to take these guys on alone, even though I’m more than capable of handling them myself.

“I didn’t hear what he just said, so I was asking him⁠—”

“Really?” I cut her off.

I wave to Roman and Brett as they get out of the car. I groan inwardly as I see Lucia, Izzy, and Rosie sashaying over to us, like they’re on the catwalk in Paris.

“Shit, Benny, this must be our lucky day. There are four of them. I call the blonde.”

“You can have the blonde, and I’ll have the other three.” He cackles loudly.

I give Sage a look as if to say, Now do you see what I’m talking about? This place is not for you.

She looks up at me with pursed lips, but I can see from her eyes that she’s nervous.

“Fellas, why don’t you move it along?” I say in a deceptively simple voice as I step in front of Sage and then tap my hip. “We don’t want any trouble here tonight.”

“What trouble, man? We’re just looking for some fun.”

“Is there a problem here?” Brett makes his way over to me and assesses the situation. “These men giving you trouble, Dalton?”

“No. I think they were just about to leave.”

“We live here, bitch. We ain’t going nowhere.” Stringy-Hair Guy stumbles forward, beer still in hand, and stares at me. His face is full of pockmarks, and his eyes look dazed. Great, pretty sure he’s on more than just beer. “We’re just trying to have a good time.”

“I expect our cars to remain scratch-free.” I offer them a pleasant smile and step forward. “And no more comments toward our ladies, you hear?”

“I don’t see no rings. Benny, you see any rings?”

“Not a diamond in sight.” Benny chuckles and makes his way over to Lucia, but Roman stands in front of her. “Lady, you wanna⁠—”

“She wants nothing to do with you,” Roman growls at him, and I know he’s ready to pounce. I know he’s just waiting for a signal, but I don’t want to do anything in front of the women. Especially not Sage and Rosie.

“Why don’t we ask her that?”

“Why don’t we not?” Brett steps forward, grabs Benny’s arm, and twists it behind his back until the man is whimpering like an injured animal. “Leave the ladies alone. My friends asked you nicely, and you didn’t listen. Unlucky for you, I’m not so nice.”

“Let me go, man. We was just joking,” Benny pleads with him while Stringy-Hair Guy takes a step back. When Brett finally releases his arm, Benny eyes him for a moment, clearly debating whether he wants to take a swing or not, but he steps back. “What are you, military or something?”

Brett looks back at the women instead of answering, and I notice that Rosie is looking at him with admiration and maybe lust. Never let it be said that a woman doesn’t like a strong man coming to her rescue.

“Are we going to check out this place or what?” Brett looks over at me, and I nod.

He and I both know this is not the place for Sage and Rosie, but I also know Sage won’t listen to reason or appreciate me making her stay somewhere else.