Page 58 of For Fillies and Monsters

I smile at her, and she winks, making Stetson groan.

“We have to get him out of here; take him to a fucking hospital.”

“Bitch, he needs to learn to rub some dirt in it. Might make him less of a prick, and less pretty,” Dale sneers, and I nod in agreement.

“No.” Stetson looks back at me, panic blooming across her face. “You’re going to be in enough trouble as it is. If we don’ttake him to a hospital, who knows what will happen. Maybe he won’t press charges. Besides, I thought you liked Nathan, Dale. What happened to that?”

Dale walks farther into the room, her hands resting on her hips. She notes the small space between Stetson and I, her smile growing. “Maybe, at first, I thought he’d be good for you. But now,” her eyes ping between us, “I think he’s served his purpose.”

I snort at that. “Charges, Stetson? He’s the one who assaulted you.”

“Assaulted, Gus? He kissed me, and then you freaked out. You assaulted him, and he didn’t even fight back or defend himself.”

Dale laughs again, stepping closer to me, and extends her hand to help me up.

“Honey, that doesn’t surprise me at all. He’s always been too weak for you. I’m just sad I missed this.” I stare at her hand as she shakes it in my face. “Come on, big guy. Stetson is right. We gotta sort this cluster fuck out if you guys have any hope of figuring outyour cluster fuck. Hopefully, by starting with fucking.”

Stetson groans again, stomping her foot in that cute way she does when she’s mad, making Dale and I laugh in unison. Gripping Dale’s hand, she helps me up, and as I step past her, she slaps my ass with a cackle. Stetson and I freeze, causing Dale to shriek maniacally.She’s fucking crazy.

“Someone needed to tell you good job!” Dale howls, her face alight with mischief.

“Dale, you really need to get laid,” I grumble, trying to hide my smile. Shaking my head, I notice Stetson glaring at the offending hand, and that makes me smile wider.

“Offering?” Dale asks, her voice lacedwith mock interest.

“Enough. Help me get him up,” Stetson snaps, her face turning red once more.Oh, she is pissed.Dale winks at me.

I watch them prop him up. He groans and cries out. He’s not fully conscious, and I’m glad for it. If he was, he’d no doubt be filling this happy little moment with screaming and crying and whining like the little bitch he is. And then I’d have to beat his ass all over again.

Not a bad idea.

“Get his truck,” Stetson grumbles at me, and I reluctantly step away. I don’t want this moment to end. But I also know Stetson has retreated back behind that wall of ice and there’s no hope of reaching her. Not tonight, anyway.

Running outside, I fire up his fancy truck, wondering if I should wreck it while I’m at it. Now that would teach him a lesson about messing with other people’s girls. Sighing, I know that would only piss Stetson off more, and I feel like being nice tonight. We have, after all, made some real progress between us.

Heading back inside, I hoist the now blubbering sack of bones into my arms and carry him to the back seat of his truck. I dump him onto the black leather and smile when I notice blood leaking from his face, sticking to the seat—score.

As we head into town, Stetson and Dale in her truck right behind me, I grumble to myself. Stetson is right, there’s no way Nathan and his daddy are going to let this slide. But it’s nothing worse than what I have faced before.

And seeing Stetson beginning to cave to her inner demons?

Fucking worth it.

TWENTY-FOUR

AUGUSTUS

April 26th, 2024

I finally letthe beast out to play, and now it refuses to fold back into its cage. The need to tell her, claim her—mark her—is too much. My skin crawls with my pent-up rage and desire, and now that the monster has created a crack in my mask, there’s no more pushing him away.

The only thing I can do to protect this fragile bridge Stetson has offered me is retreating from her. It’s the last thing I want to do, but I don’t trust myself around her.

Not right now; I’m completely out of control.

She has yet to utter a word to me since we dropped Nathan off, which is just fine by me. Even Dale seems to sense the growing inferno inside the small pickup cab and keeps her rambling to a minimum. It’s eerily quiet—the kind of silence that happens right before a big storm, or an exploding bomb.

Which is a good analogy for this moment, because if I have to be around Stetson a moment longer, everything will come out—for better or worse. Even if I won’t let her go, regardless of how she responds, I’d rather she accept me from the beginning.

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