Page 41 of Smolder

I liked Teller. He’d been annoying as fuck when he was a kid, always getting into our shit, but he hadn’t seemed to inherit all the bad traits that made Wells hard to like.

“Fuck off,” Wells shot back at him. “At least I wasn’t raised to be a pussy.”

“Could you not come in here with that shit? Keep your family drama at home,” King told them both. The irritation was clear in his voice.

“Sorry,” Teller replied. “Can I have some of that?”

King moved the scotch over to him. “Drink up, little Jones.”

Thatcher nodded his head toward Teller while looking at me. “You know, he could take your current job if you want out of it.”

I stared back at my brother, trying to gauge what he was attempting to do here. I’d come to get drunk so I wouldn’t have to deal with tonight. Not because I wanted to be rid of Royal.

“Are you trying to start shit with me?” I asked him.

“Fuck,” King muttered behind me.

Thatcher cocked an eyebrow. “You tell me.”

“What’s the job?” Teller asked, but I didn’t look at him.

“One you won’t be taking,” I said through clenched teeth.

Thatcher cut his eyes to Teller. “He’s closer to her age. It would make more sense.”

I slammed my glass down on the bar. Thatcher’s lips twitched like he might smile.

Fucking asshole.

“He’s not going near her,” I told him.

Thatcher chuckled that deep, sadistic sound that was rarely heard. “All right then. I was just trying to be helpful.”

“Bullshit! You are never helpful,” I snapped.

“Sebastian, please don’t tell me you went and fell in love again,” Wells said with a roll of his eyes. “Jesus, dude, what is your deal? We fuck the hot pussy. We don’t love it. How many times do I need to remind you?”

I narrowed my eyes as I glared at his smug face. Like he knew shit about anything. “I’m not in love. I’ve never been in love. But Royal is complicated, and I’m not sure …” I paused because I wasn’t saying she was innocent yet. I had to do some more investigating before I announced her innocence in all this. “She’s different.”

Wells laughed. “You weren’t in love with Oakley when you asked her to marry you?” he accused.

I wasn’t the one who had taken his first love from him; that was his cousin, Wilder. I had dated her years after Wilder and proposed. But I now knew it wasn’t love.

“No, I was young and felt possessive of her.” I left out why. I didn’t need to rub that in his face even if it had been another lifetime ago when he was the one in love with her.

“Because you had her cunt first. Popped that cherry,” Thatcher said as he grinned wickedly over the rim of his glass.

“Where is Capri?” I asked him. “Don’t you need to be standing guard over her like the psychopath you are?”

King snorted behind me.

“You took her virginity?” Wells asked me, sounding surprised.

Was he really asking me this? Who the fuck cared?

I took another drink.

“You want to get under Wilder’s skin? Bring that shit up. He’ll get that feral, enraged look in his eyes, and then he’ll probably go and fuck the hell out of his woman, reminding her who’s fucking it now,” King said with a chuckle.

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