Page 22 of Faking it with the Bad Boy Bikers

“You shouldn’t have had a boyfriend in the fourth grade.” He was back to scowling.

“Everyone had boyfriends.”

“Youshouldn’t have.” He grumbled under his breath and then let me have another few inches. “Did you do anything back to her?”

I let his weirdness slide. “Did I do anything back to the girl who stole my boyfriend? Why, of course, not, Seth. What kind of girl do you think I am?”

His scowl turned into a sensual smile that ruined my panties. “You’re the kind of girl who exacts revenge. The kind of girl who publicly flirts with the idea of being in a reverse harem like her sister to piss her brothers off. Only, you know what, Nellie? There was no sign of your brothers or their ranch hands around a few minutes ago when you ran up and pressed your tits into me.”

My jaw had come unhinged, I was pretty sure. There was a lot to break down. They definitely knew I was flirting with them to mess with my brothers. And Seth had called me out for the way I was pressing against him like a cat in heat, despite there being no one around to get pissy about it. I stared at his chest, trying to think of the best way to answer him.

Of course, the answer I chose was humiliating. “I went to a sleepover at her house and when no one was looking I peed in her shampoo bottles.”

Seth’s face was blank as he blinked once, twice, three times. Then he threw his head back and let out a big laugh which shook his entire body. It rattled me right along with him and I knew I would’ve given my left kidney to hear it again and again.

“I’ve never told another soul that. If you tell anyone, I’ll be forced to take you out.” My face was on fire. “I’m serious. I can’t believe I said that. You threw me off with that comment about my tits and I just told you my most embarrassing secret.”

His face was lighter than I’d ever seen it as he grinned down at me. “Maybe I’ll just tell Henry and Woodrow.”

My shoulders slumped. “Waylan’s going to miss me when I die of shame.”

He slid his hands around my waist and held me. “Wanna know my most embarrassing secret?”

I nodded eagerly.

“Too bad.” He tapped my nose. “One of us understands how secrets work.”

CHAPTER 18

Nellie

After a week of feeling turned on and embarrassed, I decided I needed a drink. Vera had begged me to allow Waylan to have a sleepover at her house so I was alone for the night for the first time in a long time. Even Ms. Vivian had gone out of town for the night to visit a friend. Everyone had a life but me. I had a pretend, slash, maybe not so pretend, flirtation with my neighbors and a cat who stared at me like I could be his next meal if I didn’t move fast enough.

Deciding to spend my solo night acting like I was a normal, modern woman in her mid-twenties, I went through my clothes and stressed over what to wear for half an hour. Then, after I tried on four different outfits, I settled on my favorite pair of vintage jeans that flared out at the bottom and a lacey white halter top. The outfit made my body transform from the reality of my diet consisting of too many sweets to dangerous curves made to lure men in.

“The miracle of well-made clothing.” I stared at myself in the mirror and shook my head. I’d looked like a blob of woman five minutes earlier. It was magic.

My hair did its thing and I didn’t try to step into its space. I knew my place. After applying a little makeup, I slipped into my vintage clogs and then grabbed my phone and credit card. I was going to the bar and I was going to have a beer and maybe even a good time.

It was already dark out but I still chose to walk to the bar. With Hammer behind bars, Devil’s Den was the place I felt safest in the world. The bar,Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Bar,was busy when I got there. A twangy country song that would’ve pissed Papa Jack off played loudly and hit me in the face as soon as I opened the door. The smell of beer and sawdust filled my nose and I had a moment of awe that it was the first time I wasever stepping foot in the bar. That didn’t happen often in Devil’s Den. Most things hadn’t changed in the decade I’d been gone.

I pushed my shoulders back and walked across the room to get to the long bar being manned by a single woman. Meredith. She noticed me when I leaned against the bar and grinned.

“Well, well. I wasn’t sure this place was your kind of hangout.” She pushed me a beer. “I’m down two bartenders and this is all I’ve got the time and mind to serve tonight, honey. I hope it’s okay.”

“I was going to say that this place is my kind of hangout if it has ice cold beer and no interfering brothers.” I took a long swig from the bottle and let out a sigh of relief. “Perfect.”

Meredith slung beers for a few minutes and then came back to me. “I heard you had a mishap while walking home with your basket the other night.”

I gasped. “Who the hell told you that?”

She threw her head back and laughed. “You really want to know?”

I hesitated. Was Henry a gossiping busybody? “Yes.”

“Sugar saw it happen and she told Bianca. Bianca thought she would get away with telling Vera and not me for some reason so when Vera told me that Bianca told her, I ripped her a new one. Bianca. Not Vera.” She shook her head. “I’ve tried my best to train her but she really thought I didn’t need to know something that juicy ASAP. It’s terrible.”

I couldn’t help laughing. “I really thought you were going to tell me Henry goes to the diner first thing in the morning and gossips with the early morning senior club.”

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