Page 56 of Score to Settle
“You don’t think everyone was looking when you walked in with Cherry hanging off your arm? You don’t think Harper was? What do you think she saw?”
“What?” I pull back. “That’s ridiculous. You know what Cherry’s like. She leeched on to me before I could move away. She’s been trying to get into the backseat of my truck since I signed with the Stormhawks.”
“Yeah. I know what Cherry’s like. But does Harper?” Flic asks. “You don’t think the way she’s acting with Gordon right now is anything more than proving something to herself and you?”
My gaze moves back to Harper and Gordon. I hate that fuckwit. Having to work with him, having to trust him on the field when I know the kind of man he is off it, leaves me feeling all kinds of wrong. I should’ve been honest with Harper from the start about just how bad Gordon is.
The beats of a new song start and he pulls her toward him. Harper is still smiling, but she’s shifting out of his arms, heading for the bar.
“Fuck this,” I mutter, slamming down the beer bottle I’ve barely touched and striding through the throng, cutting her off before she can order another drink. “We’re leaving,” I say.
Her eyes flash with defiance and fuck me if that anger doesn’t make my dick thicken. All I want to do is push her up against the wall and take her right now, no matter how many pairs of eyes are watching.
“Go if you want to. I’m happy here,” she replies.
I step closer. “No way I’m leaving you with the likes of Gordon.”
“I can take care of myself,” she says just as the dickhead in question appears at her side, snaking an arm around her waist.
“Fuck off, Gordon,” I growl. “This doesn’t concern you.”
“Woah.” He laughs. “Cool it, Sullivan. Harper and I are just having a good time, aren’t we?” The lightness injected into his tone does nothing to the break the tension building between us.
Harper looks from me to Gordon and back again. “Jake,” she says, pressing a calming hand on my chest. Her touch is hot and electric, and when our eyes lock, longing shoots through my entire body.
“We’re leaving,” I say again, wishing I didn’t sound so much like a caveman.
“She’s fine with me,” Gordon replies. The smile is gone and there’s an edge to his voice. “I’ll make sure she gets home safely.”
“You and I both know that’s bullshit, now fuck off, Gordon, before I tell the journalist fromSports Magazinewhat kind of man you really are. I’ve kept your secrets too long.”
“Hey.” He steps forward, no longer smiling. “There’s a code, man.”
“I couldn’t give a fuck about your code.”
Our conversation has caught the attention of the nearest group. Eyes are on us and I’m not the only one to notice. Three things happen at once. I step forward, daring Gordon to come at me. Then Flic appears with a bottle of liquor and a leather strap looped over her shoulder with spaces in the leather where shot glasses are tucked. She shouts, “Free shots for Stormhawks fans,” pulling the attention of the bar away from us. And the third is Harper grabbing my arm and pulling me outside.
Fury radiates off her. “I’m only leaving with you because I told Coach Allen I’d keep you out of trouble,” she hisses as we step into the ice-cold night. The first new snowflakes drift in the air, already covering the vehicles in a fine layer of white.
We drive back to the ranch in stony silence. The knotty tension that settled in my muscles when I first saw Harper with Gordon is still pulling tight.
The ranch is in darkness when I pull up. I’m glad we’ve got the place to ourselves for the fight I’m certain we’re about to have. It wasn’t how I saw tonight going. I jump out of the truck and storm into the house. Buck shoots straight past me and dances around Harper.
“What the hell was that, Jake?” Harper asks as she steps into the kitchen behind me.
“That was me saving you from a massive mistake. You’re welcome.”
Her eyes flash with anger. “You’re not my boyfriend or my wingman, Jake. If I want to make a mistake, I will. It’s my life. And that’s not what I meant, and you know it. Why were you acting like that in the bar?”
I grit my teeth. “Why were you all over Gordon?”
“You’ve got no right to be jealous. You walked in with a woman draped all over you.”
Damn Flic for being right.“Cherry is nothing to me. She wrapped herself around my arm as I walked into the bar. What was I supposed to do? Push her off? Cause a scene?”
“You didn’t have to look like you were enjoying it so much,” she fires back.
Despite the anger, I can’t stop the smirk from hitting my face. “Now who’s jealous?”
