Page 60 of Corrupting Ivy

I frowned. “And how am I supposed to do that?”

“First, can I get another beer?” I reached down as he spoke and cracked the top, took his money and put it in the till. He took a long swig, then finished. “Second, I told them you have a great aim. It’s easy-peasy. Just score less than fifteen.”

I laughed. “In darts?”

He nodded while taking another swig.

I wiped up the sweat mark on the counter from his bottle, then shrugged my shoulders. “I’ll give it a go, but you’re pretty much guaranteed to lose that hundred.”

“We’ll see.”

I joined him on the other side of the bar as Luke Bryan started singing about margaritas.

Otis grabbed my hips and put me in behind the line, then handed me three darts. “Good luck,” he whispered in my ear.

I raised my brows and shook my head. His loss here. I threw the first dart, and it veered to the left, landing in black.

“That’s eight,” one of them yelled out.

I took a deep breath, fixed my posture, moved my hand back and forth, then tossed the next one.

“That’s one.”

Okay, that’s okay. I can get the others. I aimed for the nine, adjusted my posture again, then lobbed it with some power behind it.

“Awe man, that’s two, boys,” another one called out.

Otis held his hand out to his friends. “Pay up, gentleman. I believe that was eleven.”

His friends threw cash into his hands, grumbling.

“Wait, you bet against me?”

He stuffed his money in his pocket, then cupped my cheeks. Fermented barley tickled my nose. “It’s nothing personal. It was an easy buck.” He tapped my nose with his finger just as a hand landed on my shoulder, spinning me around.

Rachel, with her perfect updo and make-up, snarled at me. “Stay away from my boyfriend,” she shrieked as her fist slammed against my jaw, my teeth jarring together. A dull ache settled in my mouth as Otis wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Rachel, what the hell are you doing?”

She freed herself from his drunken hold and grabbed my hair, yanking my head back. I grabbed hold of her wrists as she pulled, trying to lessen the pain from my bun.

“You fucking psycho. Get off me.” I bent over and shoved my shoulder into her belly, slamming her back into the barstools and bartop. Beer toppled over from the impact, spilling all over the floor. She screamed as she let go of my hair. It gave me a split second to pick her up and slammed her into the ground. “Stupid bitch.”

Remy was nowhere that I could see as I scanned the room, searching for help as all the men sat back, watching the girl fight as entertainment. I walked away while she rolled on the floor, coughing, her hand wrapping around my ankle, tripping me. I went careening towards the floor, my hands bracing for the impact.

Rachel dropped on top of me as I rolled over, clawing at my face. My forearms stung as she landed cat scratches down my skin until Otis pulled her off of me. She looked rabid as she flailed, kicking and screaming. “I’m going to ruin that pretty face of yours, Ivy.”

I laid on the dirty bar floor when Randall stood over me. His jeans tight hugged his hips, his black shirt defining all the muscles I needed to study in great detail when I got him alone again. He held out his hand, and I took it. “Can’t seem to stay out of trouble, can you?”

“You know me. I’m a magnet for basket cases, I suppose.”

He chuckled and walked me back to the bar, safely planting me behind it. Randall cocked his head to the side and rubbed his thumb on my bruised jaw. “You should ice this.”

Jake, his friend, sat on the stool at the bar, bent over laughing, thoroughly entertained by the catfight I had no desire to take part in.

Something must be in the water here. There is no way so many people could be so viciously crazy in one town. But then again, Greenville was worse… much worse. So why am I surprised when the batty people come out of their caves?

I grabbed a clean towel, dumped a scoop of ice, twisted the ends, and then placed it against my face. It took a moment for the chill to seep through, but when it did, my angry jaw calmed.

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