Page 70 of Dirty Dancer

“We’re not gonna get shit out of him like this. She gave him too much.”

“Like you could fall and no one would hear,” I said with a sigh. But they weren’t listening. Nope, they were arguing and fuck that, I closed my eyes to shut them out. I didn’t need to hear that shit when I liked people, sure as shit didn’t want to listen to a bunch of spotted dicks fight.

You know—unless they were gonna beat the shit out of themselves…that would be sweet.

The minute I closed my eyes though, I saw Boo-Boo’s face. Fuck. I was supposed to get Boo-Boo something to eat and I’d totally gone to get her something special and then…yeah, then I got lost cause that was what I did.

The song burned in my chest cause the louder the fight grew the more it harshed my buzz. I needed the buzz. The buzz was the good stuff.

Yeah I was high.

Flying high, like Boo-Boo.

And yeah, when the dark came shining in—I’d be found.

The lyrics didn’t make much sense, but I loved the fucking song so I just sang it for all I was worth. It warbled and bounced off the walls. I got popped a few more times, but it just made me sing louder.

“Fuck my life,shut him up!”

Okay, I cackled at that. Funny as hell, but even as they hauled me out of the chair and dragged me next door and up some stairs, I kept singing. I even gave the big bruiser hauling me a smacking kiss on the cheek.

He all but threw me in the room and rubbed at his face like a maniac. So fucking funny. Taking a deep breath, I wheezed and coughed and waited—where was I with the song? Shit. I forgot.

Oh, I knew—I channeled my inner Anne Hathaway and sang about when I had a dream and it wasn’t long before the guys with me slammed the door on their way out. Head back, I stared at the cracked ceiling and tried to picture Boo-Boo doing that silk dancing to the song.

That would be cool.

I could fly with her like this.

But the song had one thing right—they tore our hopes apart.

INKED (BONUS POV)

VAUGHN

Dove’s harsh breath and the slam of a door knocked some of the glorious haze off my release. Hers too apparently because one moment she was wrapped around me and the next she pushed those tiny hands to my chest to get me to move. With a groan, I dragged myself to the side. Leaving her slick cunt was not my idea of something to hurry, but she slipped out of bed and hurried to the door.

Dammit.

I hauled myself up, but she was already out of the room naked with my cum dripping down her thighs. No way in Hell was she rushing out there alone so I got my shit together and was a half-step behind her.

“Easy, Sparrow,” Kel said as he caught her. While he didn’t drag her back, he did pick her right up off the ground and turned her from the door.

“Jasper—”

“I know.” He used his soothing voice, one he would rely on when Jasper was too close to the edge but Dove’s crushed expression shredded my fucking heart. Yeah, I came to apologize and yes, we’d had sex. None of that was something that should ever make her feel bad. “Let him go for the moment.”

“He’s right,” I told her and ignored the brutal look Kel shot my way. Yeah, he blamed me for some of this. While he wasn’t wrong, I didn’t actually care what they all thought right now. Dove was the important one. Those doe eyes cut to me and a glimmer of tears flashed in them. Yeah, I couldn’t handle the crying right now. Especially if we were the ones making her cry. “C’mere, Dove.”

“Vaughn…” That was misery. Pure and simple. I hated hurting my brothers too, but Jasper needed to calm the fuck down. His possessiveness had gotten out of control.

“I know, c’mon.”

When Kel set her down, careful of where he’d put his hands, I just scooped her up. Ignoring Kellan for now, I carried her right back into her dark room and kicked the door closed. First, she was already shivering from the cooler temperature out there. Or maybe it was just a reaction to the overwhelming emotion.

We needed to dial this shit back before we really scared her off.

“Put me down,” she ordered as soon as I had the door closed.

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