Page 94 of Hold the Line

Wewerebasically strangers, and though I would’ve rather kept it that way, I unglued my feet and trudged forward.

“Hey, Richie,” I said.

The woman hanging on his arm waved. “Hi. I’m Jennifer, Richie’s girlfriend.”

Like she wasn’t even there, his eyes dragged over me, lingering far too long on my chest before meeting my eyes. He waggled his eyebrows. “Damn. You’ve grown up, haven’t you?”

I kept the nausea out of my expression as best I could. “We haven’t seen each other in years. That’s how time works.”

Richie rubbed his chin, something devious going on behind his unnaturally bright eyes. “I don’t know about that. Saw you in Laramie a couple months ago when I was out with Deke. I’m not much of a betting man, but I’d say the odds of youhappeningto show up where Deke is twice are pretty damn low.” His gaze bounced between us, sharp as a razor’s edge. “So… are you twotogether?”

Deacon immediately stepped in front of me. “That’s enough. I told you I’m not gonna do it, Rich. That’s all there is to it. I’m not interested in continuing this conversation with you, and you have nothing to say to Phoebe.”

Jennifer frowned. “Let’s calm down. There’s no need for anyone getting mad.”

Richie’s grin became maniacal. “Whoa, youaretogether,” he said, completely ignoring his girlfriend. “Congrats on landing a Kelly. I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Fuck off,” Deacon gritted out. Grabbing my hand and planting his other on Tilly’s shoulder, he steered us away from his brother without another word.

We barely made it a few steps before Richie threw out one last parting shot.

“You might want to rethink that answer, little brother. Thinkreal, realhard.”

Deacon didn’t flinch, and his stride hadn’t faltered, though his grip on me tightened as he guided us straight to Chris, who was already standing at alert.

“Did I see Richie?”

“Yep.” Deacon handed Tilly off to Chris and pulled me deeper into his side. I didn’t know what exactly was going on, but tension radiated off him like summer heat on pavement. “It’s time to go.”

I didn’t care about the night being cut short or running into Richie. I cared about the shutters that had gone down over Deacon’s eyes. He’d locked himself down, and I had no idea how to find the key.

All I could do was trust he’d open back up to me.

Chapter Thirty-nine

Deacon

Theurgetocutand run was strong.

But my need to be the man Phoebe deserved was even stronger. That meant staying and dealing with my problems, not shutting down or wallowing.

I sat on the end of Phoebe’s bed, my head heavy in my hands. She was behind me, cheek resting on the center of my back, arms wrapped around me, holding me without a word, letting me be quiet.

I knew I needed to talk to her about this. Keeping it locked up meant shutting her out, and I couldn’t do that. Not to her.

I needed my soft, pink woman close.

“I’m sorry,” I forced out.

“You have nothing to be sorry for.”

I lifted her hand to my mouth, brushing my lips against her knuckles. “The night got ruined.”

“No, it didn’t.” She climbed off the bed, circling around me. Kneeling between my knees, she cupped my neck, grounding me. “We went dancing, Deke. You held me close and swung me around until I was dizzy. I got to know Chris and Tilly better and see you with your bestie bro.”

I huffed a laugh. “Can’t wait to call Chris my bestie bro.”

She smiled. “Well, you are. There’s no denying it.”

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