Page 2 of Rumble of the Crumble

I scowled at them. “I don’t know what you mean.”

After the recent run in, which I wasn’t ever thinking about, I’d hoped they’d all get with the programme and just drop it.

Apollo chuckled smugly. “You look like you’ve stuck your finger in an electrical socket.”

I snarled at him and stomped toward the door as they all laughed at me. As I reached for the handle, the door flung open and smacked me in the face. I staggered back, ending up on my butt, staring up at a gruff stalk in a baseball cap I didn’t want to see. One who wasn’t getting the message. This would not work.

Liar!Of course I wanted to see him, the mating pull was undeniable, despite how much I refused to acknowledge it.

Sheriff Butch regarded me with dark, smouldering eyes, framed by really long inky-black eyelashes. He wasn’t pretty, far from it. His features were too strong and his jaw too square for that. He was ruggedly handsome with a drool-worthy body. The T-shirt he currently wore hugged him like a second skin, revealing not an ounce of unwanted flesh.

Some folks had all the luck.

My gaze dipped to what he was packing, but his chuckle brought my gaze back to his dark, bemused eyes. “Why’re you on the floor?”

“Because you put me there,” I groused back, working on making it sound like he was stupid for asking.

I held out my hand because the urge to touch was too much to resist, and he hauled me to my feet. I gasped and staggered back. It was as if I’d received a bolt of electricity from my hand to my cock. Sheriff Butch grabbed me before I butt-planted once more.

He looked amused and I flushed, knowing I was making an idiot of myself. “Thanks,” I muttered.

“You’re welcome.”

“Could you guys just get on with the mating instead of staring at each other? It’s painful,” Tim said from across the room.

“We’re not all dancing queens,” Drew said as he wandered into the kitchen. “What is that smell?”

Drew was the biggest drama llama going, but no one was stupid enough to say it, especially with his huge alpha stalk right behind him. I swear Goliath was so huge, he could make mincemeat out of Maximus.

“What smell?” Tim questioned, going back to the question Drew asked.

“I can’t smell anything,” Apollo said.

I wasn’t focused on the smell. Butch was still holding my hand. I tugged at it, but he didn’t let go. A warm, disconcerting feeling was creeping through me.

“We need to talk,” he said, breaking the spell. From his somber tone, that wasn’t a euphemism for ‘let’s get jiggy’.

“I don’t want to talk,” I muttered. “I’m done talking.”

I’d had no choice but to bare my soul to the stalk that was supposed to be my mate, and I hated it.

“You two need to go on a date,” Drew said brightly. He leaned back against Goliath, who wrapped his arms around him and buried his face in Drew’s hair.

“Like you two did?” I snarked back, knowing they’d done no such thing.

Goliath had declared Drew was his and llama-napped him from the doorstep. I didn’t see any dating involved.

“It’s a good idea,” Maximus said. “Take Leonidis out.”

Butch looked as happy as I did about being ordered to date on command. But then he turned to me and pressed my hand to his heart. “Would you like to come out for dinner with me?”

I gave him a dubious look. “This is a small rhubarb town. The only restaurant is vegan.”

Butch grinned at me. “Let me cook for you. I have a grill.”

He still didn’t let go of my hand.

“Say yes,” Tim hissed.

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