Page 26 of Forbidden King (Magnolia Falls)

“Says the dude who tattooedQueenieover his chest.” Hayes reminded him.

“Hey. I’m a sucker for my girl.” River smirked before turning to Hayes. “I saw you getting awfully cozy with Trish Windsor last week at Whiskey Falls. Something going on there?”

Trish Windsor was a woman who’d moved to town last year, and she was hot as hell. A few months back, she’d shown up at the firehouse when Hayes had been working, wearing a trench coat while completely naked beneath. She’d shot her shot, as they say, but it had not worked out the way she’d planned. Hayes didn’t care for women that came on too strong, and he’d turned her down. We’d all given him shit for it because she’d practically thrown herself at him.

He brushed the nonexistent crumbs from his hands and leaned back in his chair, turning to look at each of us slowly.

This is going to be good.

“How many times have I told you that I don’t like when a woman gets pushy with me?”

“Too many to count,” I said, leaning my elbows on my knees because I couldn’t wait to hear what he was going to share.

“Yeah. I should have trusted my fucking gut and not you cocksuckers.” He reached for his drink. “You were relentless about it, and she was all over me at the bar two nights ago.”

“And…” Nash threw his hands in the air.

“And… I agreed to go back to her place. I tried to take control because I’m a fucking man and I like to lead when it comes to that shit. But this woman—fuck me.” He shook his head like he was still recovering.

“By the look on your face, I’m guessing she didn’t fuck you?” River asked, trying to hold back his laughter.

“Nah. I called that shit off after she took me to her bedroom.” He leaned forward, glancing around the space to make sure no one else could hear. “The room had blood-red velvet curtains and bedding, and there were handcuffs on the posts of the bed frame. It was freaky as shit.”

“I like velvet,” I said with a shrug.

“Yeah. Of course, you do. But she had a bunch of cameras set up around the room. I was trying to process what was going on, and she goes to the closet and comes out with all this… shit. Like clamps and whips. I was not down with it. She wanted to tie me to the bed and film me, and I got the hell out of there.”

I shivered. “Damn. I don’t think I’d be down with that either.”

“Really? You don’t like pain?” River laughed, and he didn’t hide the sarcasm before turning his attention to me. “You got stung by a bee and lost your shit. I don’t think you’re going to let anyone electrocute your dick for kicks.”

I flipped him the bird, even though he was right. “I like a passionate lover, but I don’t do pain. Lick some dark chocolate off my body all day long, but you pull out a Taser, and I’m out the door.”

“Well, let’s just say, I’ve never run my ass home so fast.” Hayes shrugged.

More laughter.

“How ‘bout you? You’ve been blowing everyone off the last few weeks,” Nash said, turning his attention to me because I hadn’t been out in a while.

“Just not feeling it lately. I’ve been working long hours to get the bookstore open, and I don’t know, I’m just beat at the end of the day.” It was the truth.

River raised a brow. “Is this a sign of maturity, or the after-effect of nearly having a bee sting you on the dick?”

I flipped him the bird. “It’s called hard work and long hours, brother.”

“Well, we’re all going out for country music night next week, so you better pull your shit together, or Demi will have your ass. She’s looking forward to all of us having some fun.”

“She texted me about it. You know I’ll never disappoint Beans. Of course, I’ll be there,” I said, calling her by the nickname we used and reaching for my soda.

“You’re still okay with cutting out early and picking up Cutler from school today? I’ve got to oversee the beams that are going in later at the Brighton Ranch, so it’ll be a late one for me,” Nash said.

“Looking forward to spending time with my favorite little dude.” I set my cup down. “And we’ve got his first baseball game coming up this weekend, right?”

“Fuck. It’s a good thing I’m coaching the team,” Nash said as he shook his head. “Cutler is a lot of things, but a baseball player is not one of them just yet. He can’t seem to grasp the concept that you swing the bat before the ball makes contact with it. He waits till it passes, and then swings hard, and then celebrates the hell out of missing the ball, like that was the fucking goal.”

Laughter erupted around the room.

“He’ll figure it out. You weren’t born a baseball star either.” River raised a brow at him because Nash had been recruited to play college ball back in the day. “If memory serves, you were a tall, gangly, awkward kid. You didn’t grow into that body until high school.”

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