Page 123 of On a Fault Line

“Let her go,” Collins demands.

He’s here. But where?

I thought he was on the patio looking all bodyguardy.

“I see, no, I hear a ghost. Ghost of Collinzzz.”

“Fuck, Penny, how much have you consumed?” He sounds so judgy.

“I just had a Threesome in the Driveway.” As soon as I say it, I know I got it wrong. Bending forward, I grab my sippy cup. “Haaaa, haaa, I said sippy cup.” Wait. No I didn’t. “Did I? Oh, foo.” I can hear Collins curse. “You gots a potty mouth, Mr. Stone.”

“I got this. Back off, Moreno.”

Oh, shit. Nothing good ever comes from men calling each other by their last name, in an angry tone like he just used.

I didn’t even think he knew his last name.

“Easy, man. We go way back.”

“Not way back as in bathtub pics way back. At least I don’t think. That would be awkward,” I mumble.

“I need you to remove your hands from Miss Hoffman’s waist, or I will remove them and then break each finger one by one.”

He did not just say that. But he did. Even in my tipsy state, I heard every word and all the other words that weren’t said but implied.

Welp, that just sobered me up. I mean, kind of. I am still seeing everything with a fuzzy halo around it, and these men aren’t angels.

Suddenly, I am transferred out of Ivan’s arms and into Collins’s stronger ones. I no longer feel nauseous. I feel confused. Why does his touch feel so different?Wanted.

I crave his attention.

We are the only three in the pool, which makes it extra awkward. It’s as if I’m stuck in the middle of some showdown, while the rest of my family is probably playing yard games in back.

They definitely can’t see this craziness. It will surely draw suspicion that Collins is doing more than just guarding my body. He is also corrupting it.

Reaching behind me, Collins grabs a huge disposable cup of water. “Drink this.”

“Okay, Mr. Bodyguard.”

“All of it.”

I do as I’m told and watch as he grins approvingly at me when I smack my lips after the last drop is consumed. “Happy?”

“Ecstatic,” he deadpans.

“Sheesh, you’re in a mood.”

“And eat this.”

I stare at the cheeseburger he magically presents to me out of thin air. Like seriously, where did he get this from? “I’m not hungry.”

“Eat it.”

“She said no. No means no.”

Ivan.

Ivan, you are going to get pummeled, and there won’t be a damn thing I can do to stop it.

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