Page 64 of Drawn Blue Lines

Besides, drunk me was a hell of a lot more rational than sober me.

With eighty-proof logic coursing through my veins, I could devise a plan on what to do about the shitshow my life had become without all the useless guilt getting in the way.

Men like Val and Mateo were born in this life possessing the ability to compartmentalize their conscience. I wasn’t wired that way. I felt like Jekyll and Hyde molded together and stuffed into the same suit. The constant conflict between fighting to hold on to the honorable man I was and fighting the monster clawing inside my chest was wearing me down. I wasn’t sure how much more I could take before Hyde turned on everyone.

Of course, that was provided I lived long enough for it to be an issue. Letting out a huff, I turned the bottle up again. Val knew I went against a direct order and contacted Ronan Kelly personally to set up the Chicago port. And if that weren’t damning enough, when the Muñozes hijacked my shipment, not only did I not come clean, I let myself get backed into four different corners by Leo Pinellas and Adriana Carrera. Luckily, he hadn’t said shit about going through another Colombian distributor yet. Dragging Carlos into the mix might send him over the edge.

Dropping the bottle between my legs, I scrubbed a hand over my face, unfamiliar stubble raking across my palm. “What a fucking mess.”

“You’re just now realizing that?”

I rolled my eyes to the side, ready to tell her to go back into whatever hole she crawled out of when my mouth went dry and every drop of blood in my brain free fell straight to my groin.

Adriana leaned against the kitchen counter with her arms crossed, wearing Leighton’s Texas State University T-shirt.

Wearing only her Texas State University T-shirt.

It hit her mid-thigh, leaving the rest of her long shapely legs to spill out of the bottom. My eyes went all unfocused, and all I wanted in life at that moment was for her to bend over.

My hand fell from my chin, almost knocking the bottle off my chair.

Cocking a hip, Adriana traced the pad of her index finger around her bottom lip. “Everything okay? You look a little flustered there, counselor.”

That’s the understatement of the year.

I didn’t have to look down to know my cock was about to punch its way through my pants, so I dragged the bottle tight against my crotch. “Did you need something, or did the rats get tired of your bullshit too?”

“Funny.” Pushing off the wall, she pulled out the chair beside me and flopped down, legs splayed.

Fuck me.

Her T-shirt rode up her thighs, and my dick leaped with a battle cry, fighting against the constraints of the bottle. I looked everywhere but directly at her, and when she leaned forward with her hand extended, I wondered if it was possible for a human penis to shatter glass.

I pushed my chair back. “Whoa, what are you doing?”

Whatever it is, do it fast.

And hard.

With both hands.

Jesus, where did that come from?

She paused, her hand hovering over the bottle. “I’m shoving this bottle up your ass if you don’t let go.” When I didn’t move, she sighed and wrapped her hand around the neck. “Brody, it’s been a shitty day, and I want a drink. Are you going to make me beg, or not be a giant dick for once?”

“You said you didn’t drink.”

“Forget it.” Shoving the bottle against my chest, she stood to leave when I grabbed her arm. It went against everything common sense told me to do, but I didn’t want to be alone. “Fine, sit down. I’m the last one who should be casting stones here.”

Her eyes narrowed, but she didn’t argue, slowly sinking back into the rickety chair. “Hand it over,” she demanded, holding her hand out for the bottle, but I shook my head and dug around in my backpack until I found what I was looking for. She lifted an eyebrow as I slid a crystal shot glass adorned with a golden crowned skull clutching a rose in its teeth. “You stole one of Val’s personal shot glasses?”

“Correction,” I said, pulling out an identical glass. “I stole two of Val’s personal shot glasses.”

I filled them to the top and threw my shot back immediately while Adriana wrapped her fingers around her glass, the corners of her mouth turned down as she stared into the liquid. I recognized the look on her face. I saw the same one etched across her face last night.

“Do you want to tell me about your dream now?”

“It was nothing.”

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