Page 152 of Gunner

For most of the evening, Simon Nelson sat with us. He and his sister Sadie ran the salon in town. Simon acted like one of the girls and traded fashion tips and discussed hot guys with us. He gave us a list of brothers he would‘give his left nut’to wake up next to, and it included almost all of them.

He wasn’t shy about letting the girls know their men weren’t safe from his advances just because they were taken. Beck offered Micah to him if she was allowed to watch, and the table erupted into uncontrollable laughter as we all looked toward the bar.

Simon confessed he did in fact have his eye on someone, but was convinced the man wasn’t out so he was biding his time. I watched him as he talked about the object of his desire, and when he quickly glanced in the direction of an older man, my eyes went wide like saucers.

Indie texted me shortly after we’d arrived, so I invited her to join us as well. Grace was the only one who knew Indie, besides me, and they peppered her with questions about tattoos and piercings.

“Haizley has a piercing,” Grace blurted out.

“What?” Beck turned to me. “Where?” she asked, looking over my face and seeing nothing beyond the earrings I wore.

I felt my face heat and covered it with my hands. “Oh God,” I mumbled.

“Gunner has seen it, if that gives you a hint.”

“Grace!” I chastised, and she just laughed.

“Don’t share any secrets with Grace. She sucks at keeping them,” Ellie teased.

“She’s been pretty good at keeping one,” Amber joked, her eyebrows waggling in Grace’s direction.

“There is no secret. Nothing is going on. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that,” she insisted.

Beck’s brow furrowed as she stared at my chest, like she was trying to see through my clothes.

“Further south,” Indie whispered with a giggle.

Gasps went around the table, and I was mortified.

“Did it hurt?” Ellie asked with curious optimism.

“Like a bitch.” I laughed.

Hey, the cat is out of the bag, may as well embrace it.The alcohol certainly helped to make me feel less self-conscious.

We spent the next few minutes talking about piercings and tattoos when Grayson Powell stepped up to the table.

“Jessica Montoya.”

The table fell quiet, and we all looked at Jessie. She looked up at Grayson and narrowed her eyes at him. “What?”

Grayson walked around to where Jessie sat and picked up her hand. Pulling her out of her seat, he said, “Dance with me.”

“I don’t know how to dance,” she countered.

Ellie snorted, and Jessie glared at her.

“Then we will stand still and sway. Or you can stand on my feet while I move you around the room.”

“Listen, asshole...” Her voice trailed off as Grayson dragged her to the dance floor, choosing to ignore her protests. We watched as he pulled her into his arms and whispered in her ear.

She visibly shuddered, and we all clapped and cheered. She turned her glare on us and flipped us the bird as we laughed.

“Hey, isn’t that Lily?” Ellie asked.

We all turned to where she was looking, and there was a young woman who looked about twenty, sitting at a table with Bryce Caswell. Bryce went to school with Beck and them.

“Yea, she’s been in here with him a lot. I think they’re dating,” Grace offered.

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