Page 73 of Old Flame

What all he’d had—that was mine. The burning only got worse.

“Rome…” My name came from her lips with a slur.

Yep. She was drunk.

Her brow puckered, and then she shook her head. “No. It’s Tex. Not Rome. Rome is gone.”

The sadness in her tone wasn’t helping things. It only pushed me closer to the edge of my sanity.

I shot Nina and Goldie a glare. “How much did you let her drink?” I demanded.

Nina smirked at me and took a pull from the cigarette in her mouth.

“I’m not a child,” Salem said, bringing my eyes back to her. “I’m an adult. They didn’t let me do anything. I did it.” She placed one of her hands on her hips and wobbled some.

Dammit. She could drown like this.

“Calm down. She was nervous about wearing a bikini. Something about her butt being too big for it, which is bullshit, but she’s convinced. Anyway, drinking calmed her nerves,” Nina informed me.

“I did tell her to take it slow,” Goldie added, sounding apologetic.

“She could fucking drown if she fell in,” I snapped as I reached her.

She tried to move back but lost her balance. I grabbed her wrist with one hand and her waist with the other to steady her.

“She’s not going to drown. I’m here,” Pepper called to me from inside the gazebo, where she sat with Dolly. “Let her have some fun. It’s been a shitty week.”

“Yeah, lemme have some fun.” Her words ran together, and she leaned into me and laid her head on my chest and sighed. “You still smell the same,” she mumbled, burying her nose against my chest to inhale. “Mmm.”

My arms wrapped around her of their own accord and held her there against me. I liked this too much, and the idea of her moving away made me feel violent. My left hand rested just above the swell of her ass, and the urge to slide it further and get a handful was strong, but she was drunk, and we had an audience.

She shivered against me. “You’re warm,” she said. “I’m cold.”

My eyes searched for a towel to cover her up. I’d turned her so the dicks down at the bonfire could no longer see her ass, and that had calmed me down some.

“Where’s a towel?” I asked them.

Nina pointed toward a stack of them just as Salem shook her head.

“No. Don’t go. This is nice.”

Fuck. Yeah, it was nice. It was the kinda nice that fucked a man up.

Pepper came walking out of the gazebo, holding one. “Here, I’ll take her inside.”

Salem’s hands fisted my cut as she held on to me tighter.

I held out my hand. “I’ll do it.”

Pepper raised her eyebrows. “She’s drunk, Tex.”

As if I wasn’t aware.

“I picked up on that,” I replied with sarcasm lacing my tone.

“You take me where it’s warm,” Salem said against my chest.

I glanced down at her, then back at Pepper. “You heard her. Give me the towel.”

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