Page 2 of Fierce-Hyde

“Excuse me?” she asked, her spine straight enough that she wondered if her skin was stretching with her bones wanting to poke through.

“You turned your back on a drink in a bar. Don’t you know anything?” the guy snarled. If he wasn’t being such a dick, she might admire his bright blue eyes against his dark hair. But instead, he was insulting her. Before she could reply, he continued on. “That guy on the other side of you could have just slipped something in your drink. Or maybe you want that.”

Her face paled and she spun to her drink. The person who had been there was gone, but Bryon was shaking his head at her. The bartender had eyes everywhere and knew what was going on.

She turned back to the stranger who’d rudely offered his advice... No, not advice. Judgment!

“I don’t know you. You don’t know me. And to think that you can say that to me tells me either you’re drunk, an idiot, or an asshole. You take your pick.”

He threw the rest of his drink back and stormed out of the bar.

Not drunk, that was for sure. She was watching and nothing showed in his actions that he couldn’t handle what he’d been drinking.

“That was a bit over the top,” Bryon said. “I was ready to toss him out myself if you didn’t just light the crematory to burn him to ash. I didn’t know you had it in you.”

She let her shoulders drop, the tension not melting away, but at least her muscles weren’t tingling while they kept her rigid like she was ready to pounce into battle.

Tori couldn’t remember ever doing that in her life.

“Neither did I,” she said. “You know, before he opened his mouth, he was somewhat of a treat to look at.”

“He was,” Bryon said, wiggling his eyebrows. “But now, I feel bad for any woman that ends up with him.”

“Sure you’re not his type?” she asked, smiling.

“Nope,” Bryon said. “He likes the women. I could tell. He’s one of those fuckboys through and through.”

Bryon was a pro at pegging people.

“Figures,” she said. “Sounds like anyone that spent over five minutes around him would be nothing more than an idiot.”

1

LITTLE HARDER THAN NORMAL

One Month Later

“How is Duke doing?”Tori asked her best friend, Raina McMillan. “Is he sleeping better now?”

The two women were having lunch in Raina’s office, which was two floors up from Tori’s.

Best decision of her life was to move closer to her old college best friend.

The one she’d thought she’d lost forever on a horrible night that happened to Raina.

But they reconnected and had been going strong ever since.

“He is,” Raina said of her eight-month-old son. “I think he’s teething. Cody was massaging his gums last night with a cold cloth and Duke loved it. He fell asleep in Cody’s arms and then slept through the night.”

“Does he massage you that way when you’ve got aches and pains?” Tori asked, bobbing her eyebrows.

Cody was a physical therapist.

“He has been known to do that at times,” Raina said, grinning. “How are things going with you? You’ve been quiet lately.”

“Just busy with work,” Tori said. “The summer is quieter since school is out and half my staff isn’t working or those that are aren’t as busy, but I’m still trying to fill Lena’s position and need to do it soon and get the person trained quickly. I’m struggling to find the right candidate.”

“That’s because you’re fussy,” Raina said. “Which isn’t a terrible trait either, but it is if you can’t be open enough to give someone a chance.”

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