Page 50 of Never Kiss and Tell

If I saw Drew, I would do a lot more than break his nose. I know places out in the swamps where they’d never find him again.

I don’t have a chance to say anything, as Bianca brings out our food. She sets the dishes down in front of us and Bailey eyes the bowl of crawfish.

“What the fuck is that?” she asks, pointing to the bowl.

I chuckle, darkly, picking up a crawfish and holding it out to her. She jerks back and the color leaves her face.

“It’s not going to bite you.”

“Are you punishing me?” she asks, ducking from my hand into the side of the booth.

“Bailey, take the damn crawfish.”

“It has eyes,” she argues, looking away from it.

“You can’t say you live here until you’ve had this.”

I can tell she’s debating on hightailing it back to California. “I don’t live here,” she murmurs, shaking her head, though her eyes never leave the crawfish in my fingers.

“Watch.” I pull the head off and suck the juices, the delicate blend of salt, butter and meat melting in my mouth.

For a split second, I actually worry Bailey might pass out when her eyes flutter.

“What is wrong with you?” she groans after a moment, her nose pinched up in disgust.

“It’s good. Try it. I said you were annoying, earlier, not a pussy.”

She gasps, her eyes narrowing on me. She grabs one of the crawfish in defiance, playing into my statement just like I knew she would.

“Twist its head off.”

“That’s mean.”

“It’s dead.”

“Would you twist my head off if I was dead?”

I shake my head. I’d find out who did it and they would join you soon after. “You wouldn’t taste nearly as good.”

With a groan, she pulls the head off instantly dropping the whole thing back in the bowl.

“Don’t be shy. Suck the head,” I say, instantly regretting what I’d said.

Bailey’s eyes warm with the challenge. “Gonna take a lot more than that, Charlie.”

I give her a stern expression and hold the head out to her. She takes it, closing her eyes and sucking the juices back. Shecoughs when she’s done, dropping the head in the extra bowl with mine.

“That was really salty.”

“Now, you want to rip this part off here,” I say, demonstrating for her. “Then you can pull the meat out of the tail.”

She follows my movements, extracting the meat and eating it.

“It’s kind of sweet.”

“Kind of,” I agree, taking another. “You just have to get past the head. Everyone has a problem with that. Try again.”

She does, clenching her eyes shut to break the head off.

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