Page 35 of Something Like Sunflowers

I grab Devyn’s hand and tug it lightly. “Come on, Dev. Have drinks with Lem and me. We’ll catch you up on—”

“I’m sorry, what?” She tugs free from my grip. “You come over here like some sort of caveman talking about crops, like a touch-her-and-die romance, and all of a sudden, I’m not allowed to fuck who I want?”

“Fuck?” Garrison chokes on his drink, and then smirks triumphantly. “Your girl, Isaac?”

I shoot a look at Dev, pleading with her through a mind-channel only she and I seem to share, but she’s got my damn number, twisting her lips into a coy little smile and linking her arm through Garrison’s, even though she knows good and well she’s not going home with him tonight. I see the game she’s playing.

What she’s forgotten is how attractive I find just about anything she does. Including throwing herself at another man who—I clench my jaw even admitting it in my head—looks like me.

I’ll play along. I look her straight in the eyes and turn my mouth up in amusement. Her eyes widen, but the slight parting of her lips when she looks my way and the twinkle lighting up her eyes tell me her anger is thickly coiled in an entirely different emotion altogether.

One I have every intention of exploring.

“You aren’t gonna fuck him, and you know it,” I whisper as they meander back to the dance floor. I try my best to ignore the intentional sway of her hips, taunting me and ensuring my eyes follow her every move.

As much as I hate seeing her within the slightest proximity to Garrison Presley—or any other man, for that matter—I can’t deny how much I love this little game she has going on.

Because I see right through it.

She’s teasing me.

And that means she wants my attention. Whether she realizes it or not, I’ve already won.

I’m still smiling wide like this is the best damn day of my life. And that right there makes her madder than hell, huffin’ and puffin’ like she always does when she’s worked up. I love it. Probably why I fuel the fire.

“You never did like it when someone told it like it was, did you, babygirl?”

Devyn spins on her heel, hair whipping against her face. “Stop calling me babygirl!”

She licks her lips, narrowing those sexy little eyes to dangerously sharp green points.

Come at me, they say.

We find ourselves in these standoffs far too often. Always have. And I’m gonna do now what I always did then.

Fight for my girl.

Thirteen Years Ago

Get home now, or I call Dad.” His voice shakes the floor. So much that people have started coming upstairs and peeking in from the doorway.

Dustin turns away from his sister, who’s tugging on my hoodie like it’s her lifeline. It only makes me want to hold her, but that’s what got me into this. I was right. I shouldn’t have been making my own decisions tonight.

My best friend is solid muscle and force. The fact Shane even thought it was a good idea to try anything when he knew Dustin would find out eventually, is beyond me. He looks at my bloody face, and the hoodie around Devyn’s waist, and his eyes narrow.

I don’t think my secret is a secret anymore.

But he doesn’t call me on it. No, he turns abruptly and gets right up in Shane’s face. Shane looks like he might shit himself, and I would, too. Shane might be older and the best on horseback, but my boy, Dusty? He’s got anger issues and a juvie record. Granted, it was only six months, and the bully he got in trouble for putting in his place had it coming. My man might have anger issues, but he’s fair.

Fuck around and find out, they say. That’s Dusty.

He looks between Shane and Garrison and rolls his neck so every pop is heard by the whole damn room, and then his voice is low. It’s scary. I kind of want to be his sister, too. Nobody’d ever mess with you.

And that’s what he reminds us as he slams his fist down on the bar top and shoves his way to the center, taking his time circling the room and making careful eye contact with each and every one of our teammates.

“If I catch any of you fuckers so much as breathing in my sister’s general direction ever again, mark my fucking words, I will put you in the ground.”

“How could you!” Devyn shouts from across the room. Tears run down her pretty face, washing her makeup off in streaks. But she’s still the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.

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