Page 35 of Sizzling

I dropped my hands and leaned back on the sofa. Sebastian stared at me while he took a drink from his bottle. He was waiting on an explanation, and normally, I told him everything. Once, that had been Wells, but things had changed when we became adults, leaving our youth behind. Wells was self-absorbed, and the older we got, the more I realized he was never going to care about anything more than his own needs.

Sure, we would always be friends. We lived the same life. We’d grown up in it. But no one would ever be as important to Wells as he was to himself. It was hard to trust someone that was like that with your secrets. When life got real and our biggest problem wasn’t stealing our dad’s whiskey or getting laid, Sebastian and I had become tighter. If I was going into a dangerous situation and I had to choose, it would be Sebastian I wanted at my side.

“I’m messed up in the head about some shit. I’m working it out,” I finally said, knowing he wasn’t going to let this go.

He raised an eyebrow and took a sip. “That shit happen to be a smoking hot redhead?”

I cut my gaze from the bottle in my hand to him.

He shrugged. “Good guess?”

I shook my head and stood up. “No.”

“Ah, denial. That’s not gonna snap you out of beast mode. Admit it. Face it. Then figure out how to get over it or … not.”

I swung my eyes back to him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Sebastian grinned. “Exactly what I said. Whatever happened on your little jaunt to Miami fucked with you. Accept whatever it was that happened and move on. If you can’t move on, then go get some more.”

He had no idea what he was talking about. He meant well, but he read too many fucking books. Life was more complicated.

“Nope,” I replied as I started for the door again.

If I went to get some more, I wasn’t sure I could stop. The image of Briar coming on my hand as her tight cunt squeezed my fingers with her orgasm was burned into my brain. The taste of her pussy was taunting me. Reminding me how much better it would be straight from the source. There was nothing as fucking beautiful as that woman getting off.

I was tense all over again. Thinking about her seemed to do that to me. The craving to go back to her, tie her up, and get my mouth all over her body was getting stronger with every breath I took. She’d probably point her gun at my head, and that image only made my cock harder.

Once I stalked outside, I took several deep breaths, trying to think about anything other than those blue eyes looking up at me, full of want. Hearing her sexy little cries and moans. MOTHERFUCKER! I closed my eyes tightly, fisting my hands at my sides, and willed myself to think of anything else.

Horses, knives, Maeme’s fried chicken …

“Excuse me. Storm, right?” a female voice asked.

My eyes snapped back open to see the new jockey, Capri, I thought Sebastian had called her.

“Yeah?” I asked.

She jumped, and I realized I’d barked out the word. I hadn’t meant to, but she needed to get tougher if she was gonna work here. I didn’t have time to worry about some shy, soft-spoken minister’s daughter.

“I, uh, I was wondering if you, knew, um …” She was stammering, and that just annoyed me more.

“I don’t have all fucking day.” The words came out before I could stop them.

Her eyes widened, and she paled. Sighing, I started to apologize when my entire body was shoved back against the wall with enough force to take my breath. My defense instincts immediately kicked in, and my hand was on the butt of my Glock when I realized who had just body-slammed me into a brick wall.

The unhinged gleam in Thatcher’s eyes wasn’t new. He always seemed a little unsettled, but right now, there was a feral threat in his expression that I’d never witnessed before.

What the fuck was wrong with him?

“Leave,” he ground out in a hollow tone.

“You’ve got me up against the fucking wall, man. Where the hell you want me to go?”

“Thatch!” Sebastian’s voice didn’t mask his alarm.

No one wanted to set Thatcher off. We were never sure about what triggered him. When he’d been a teenager, he’d broken a guy’s neck, and to this day, we didn’t know why. He refused to tell anyone, and because of Stellan and the family, he hadn’t gone to prison. But for a moment, he’d been real close to being put behind bars.

His hold on me eased, and I watched him closely, making sure he wasn’t about to pull his gun or knife next.

---