Page 16 of Jag

I cut my eyes to him, then snapped them back to River when she laughed at whatever Sami said. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to reach across the table and strangle her or place my hands in her hair to feel the thickness and to see if it was as soft as it looked.

Tipping my bottle of beer and taking a swig, I ignored my brother. I knew I needed to look over the contract for Boss and Turk, but I couldn’t get myself together with her sitting across from me.

Once the food came, I figured I would eat and make an excuse to get away from the woman. Go back to my place and work until I pushed her out of my mind. I had to for my sanity.

“Geez, Jag, what the hell? I’m not sure she deserves the death glare you’re giving her. She seems nice. Why don’t you cut her and yourself a break?”

“You don’t know her, Coast,” I mumbled, never looking toward him.

“And you do? How many times have you spoken to her besides the few run-ins you’ve had with her? Because if they went down as you said, then it wasn’t an actual conversation.”

“Butt the fuck out, Coast,” I said, finally turning my head to look at the man.

Coast leaned back in his chair and his eyes scrutinized me, then he snorted, “Holy shit, you’re going down, brother. And what’s humorous, is you don’t even know it.”

I narrowed my eyes and glared at Coast. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Why don’t you worry about your own woman problems?”

“Okay, you admitting to having woman problems?” Coast laughed loudly, and several sets of eyes looked in our direction as the table suddenly went quiet.

“What’s so funny?” Crusher asked from the other end of the table.

“Our VP being delusional,” Flirt said, then looked at me and grinned while Boss and Turk both coughed to try to cover up their chuckles. Assholes. And evidently, Coast and I hadn’t spoken as low as we thought. When I glanced at River, I knew the blank look on her face verified she’d heard us, too.

“Nah, I got the full picture today. I’m far from delusional,” I said, never taking my eyes away from River. I refused to feel guilty.

River shook her head, looked down, and I watched her take a deep breath before she pushed back her chair and stood. She reached in the pocket of her jeans and pulled out folded bills.

“Thanks for inviting me, Sami, but I think it’s best if I leave. This should cover the food I ordered.” River laid a couple bills down and shoved the rest back in her pocket. “It was nice meeting everyone,” she added as she stepped away from the table.

Sami glared at me and then stood. “River, please don’t go. It’s been really nice getting to know you.” I received the evil eye from the rest of the women as they chimed in to agree with Sami. Then Sami’s voice lowered and I caught the end of her sentence, “...being an asshole.”

River nodded and walked away without another word. I ran a hand down my face before I looked around the table. My brothers were staring at me with various expressions on their faces, and I would undoubtedly hear more than I wanted to once River was out of earshot.

Speed helped Sami sit back down, and before anyone could speak, the food arrived. Candie must have sensed the tension at the table because she didn’t say a word. She moved around the table until everyone had what they ordered, then she mentioned bringing back refills and walked away.

Before they could pounce, I spoke, “I know I was rude to her, but none of you know—”

“Rude! I think the word you are looking for is dick,” Luna said.

“Luna,” Ghost said and didn’t get another word out.

“Oh, don’t Luna me. He was acting like a dick. He spent the entire time glaring at her. I can’t be the only one who noticed. She even tried to ignore him and enjoy herself, but no, he continued with whatever the fuck he thought he was doing. That woman has never been anything but nice and polite when I’ve talked with her at Yoga Sensual. She’s on the reserved side until you get her talking. She didn’t deserve to be treated that way.”

“No shit, she should have reached across the table and slapped the snot out of you. That’s what I would’ve done,” Carly commented.

“Carly,” Crusher’s voice carried a warning.

“I know he is the VP, but that doesn’t give him a pass on being an asshole,” Carly said disgustedly.

Crusher looked at me. “Brother, that was bad and totally unlike you.”

“Why would you treat her like that, Dom?” Sami asked, and the hurt on her face was palpable. Looking at Speed, his expression read ‘fix it.’ My brother did not like his woman upset.

“I’ve never seen you treat a woman so poorly,” Bailey added.

“You might be mad at me now, but you will thank me later. She probably would’ve ended up trying to use you women as she’s using the sheriff.” I wouldn’t apologize for looking out for everyone.

“Using the sheriff?” Roscoe asked with a frown.

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