Page 46 of Playing for Keeps

Proving my point about insecure men acting like jealous bitches, Mark Elway starts making comments about Val while we wait for our food.

“Lay off, Mark,” Jonny tells the younger man. “Just eat your damn food.”

Val smiles at me. “I get heckled by men a lot.”

“I figured.”

“It’s not personal,” he says and then loses his smile. “Don’t take this personally, either.”

I lose my grin and glance at Mark. Back in high school, he’d talk me up in between classes. He was a grade ahead of me, and our lockers were located close together. I wasn’t particularly friendly since he was a jerk to other people, so I knew he was only faking his gentlemanly bullshit for my benefit. When I was a junior, he got handsy at the skating rink, and the Blood-Red Suns members threw him out.

Mark hasn’t said more than two words to me since then, but he’s currently feeling very chatty.

“Look at the American gigolo over here,” he announces, sounding like he’s trying to do an Italian accent. “He’s got to hurry up to get to the strip club before his next set.”

Mark’s friends chuckle in a way they never would if he tried to make fun of the Blood-Red Suns. Val’s as big as the meatheads in my dad’s club, but his shiny good looks are distracting. He seems like a sports model, not someone who can bury these guys.

“Are you threatening me?” Val demands in a booming voice as he walks over to Mark’s table. “This is a family establishment. If you want to brawl, let’s take it outside where the only thing that’ll get broken is your face.”

Mark shrinks in horror in the same way he did when his grabby hands at the skating rink won the fury of the club guys. I don’t blame Mark for pissing himself right now. Val does look like a beast as he glares down at the jokester.

When Mark looks to me for help, Val snaps his fingers in the asshole’s face.

“Stop harassing Lola. Don’t even look at her. Keep your eyes on me. I’m the one you’re threatening.”

“I didn’t threaten you.”

“You said you could kick my ass. Was that not a threat?”

“I never said that shit.”

“If you want to play the coward, get out of here and let me wait for my food in peace with my fiancée.”

Staring at Val, I suspect this display of aggression is his way of announcing I’m taken. Men in town will soon gossip about the pretty boy biker who went nuts at the sandwich shop and is marrying Duke’s daughter. I bet many of them will fear what Val might bring to Basin Rock.

It’s not a bad plan, especially after Val was dancing around the diner earlier today. People won’t know what to expect from him. Unpredictability inspires assholes to behave, even if those assholes are nothing more than wannabe tough guys like Mark.

I smile at Jonny as Mark and his friends file out of the restaurant. The shop owner reacts with a stiff grin. He’s clearly intimidated by Val who now smiles warmly.

“I can’t have people upsetting my woman,” Val explains to Jonny and wraps an arm around my shoulders. “Love makes a man crazy, you know?”

Jonny nods and hands us our bag of food. He gets nervous and says we don’t have to pay, but Val leaves cash anyway.

Outside at his motorcycle, Val puts the food in his bike’s storage before planting a long, wet kiss on my lips. I’m in awe of this man.

Val’s behavior will be the talk of the town for a day or two. He’s shown he’s fair yet maybe crazy. Also, people will fear hassling me. It never hurts to lay down the law and remind the townsfolk of the local pecking order.

In the same way Val won over the club guys at the engagement party, he’s already started building a reputation in Basin Rock. As I climb on behind him, I can’t stop smiling. Val is better than I dreamed. Not only do I get to keep him, I know he’ll make Duke’s life so much easier.

VAL, AKA THE LEAST FAVORITE SON

After a perfect evening with my dream girl, I’m forced to leave her side so I can ride home and pack up supplies. Lola plans to drop by her dad’s house while I’m gone. We’ll meet up this afternoon to engage in more cohabitational bliss. I’m already missing her by the time I pull my motorcycle into the homestead’s detached garage.

Despite longing for my sexy woman, I’m happy to be home. Familiar scents fill the air. I hear our dogs barking. Lynyrd Skynyrd is playing somewhere. I hear my family’s voices as they fill up Queen Meemaw Christine’s massive back deck.

I’m surprised to find my great-grandparents Zeb and Coretta in the mix. I knew my family planned to do more brunch parties, but I can’t believe they decided to start that shit while I was out of town.

When everyone stops chatting and stares at me, I announce, “I have returned a changed man!”

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