Page 51 of Bourbon and Secrets

Quirking an eyebrow, I look at Laney as I answer, “Sounds like we’re going to be drunk after this.”

Hadley starts pouring when she corrects me. “Tipsy.” She smiles, finger pointed in the air. “To tipsy friends.”

Chapter 17

Lincoln

Chemistry has always beenmy drug of choice. Bourbon, of course, had its place; I’m a Foxx after all. But I get high off the way it feels to solve a problem. To transition parts into a whole and help it evolve into something new. I know the exact combination of grains it takes to tweak a flavor before it goes into a barrel. The science of it, what happens before it ever touches American toasted oak, is what makes me hard. I shift my body—apparently, not as hard as Faye Calloway makes me.Fuck, what is it about her?

I’m wound tight from dinner. Usually, family dinners ease whatever the week drops on me, but tonight, I watched Faye fold into my family so easily that I couldn’t look away. Even the attraction I feel toward her could be dealt with, but watching her make Lily laugh or seeing her leave with Laney and Hadley for a girls’ night out, I didn’t know what to feel. I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to hear her come again, only this time, I wanted it loudand as she rode my cock. I wanted her both in my bed and out of my sight.

My phone buzzes with a message from my brothers.

ACE

Going to need some help tomorrow night.

GRANT

Is this directed at anyone in particular?

ACE

I’m going to need some muscle.

I know what that means. We sometimes play along gray lines to keep our business moving in the right directions. I’m feeling more than amped up lately, so if he needs some muscle, then I’m happy to step up. Grant had been the rule follower, Ace liked to bend them, and I liked to surprise people and come out swinging.

LINCOLN

I’ll be there.

It’s quiet out tonight, much quieter than my thoughts. The cold air makes my breath visible, but I love being in the dark and the calm I feel when it settles in next to me.

“The fuck am I doing?” I say to myself. But before I make the decision to get up, I hear the slamming of a car door.

“Thanks, Del,” Faye sing-songs. “Nope, I’m good. Thanks for the ride, big guy.”

I lean my elbows on my knees and listen to her humming as she shuffles up the walkway.

“This bra sucks,” she says to herself, shifting her top as she kicks off her boots when she makes it to the porch landing.

“Are you drunk?”

She yelps, hand flying to her chest. “Fucking hell, Foxx!” She laughs out nervously, “No, I’m not drunk.” Dropping her bag, she steps closer. “Tipsy. But didn’t want to risk it, so I called Del for a ride.”

Internally, I applaud that small and slightly inconvenient decision. I lost both parents to a drunk driver, so I like that she’s smart enough to not risk it no matter how close she was to home.

“You know he’s the greatest? Del. He’s the only one who’s gone out of his way for me. Maybe ever.”

I didn’t realize she kept in touch with him.

“Is he the one who told you Maggie had been arrested?”

She tilts her head to the side, not answering. “There’s so much you don’t know.” She looks down at my phone. “So much more than I don’t know about you...”

“I doubt that,” I tell her as she walks closer. I lean my weight on my elbows and look down between my knees.

The girls stayed with Griz tonight and I found myself drinking too much bourbon and staring at her dark house before I made the decision to come over here and wait for her.What the hell do I think is going to come out of this?

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