Page 3 of Feral Heart
“The fuck you call me?” Grant angled toward Beefcake, completely ignoring Jamie’s plea.
His lust muffin might’ve been packing a ridiculous amount of hard, rippling muscles, but… Jamie blinked, losing his train of thought completely. Sweet buttered toast. Sexy Body’s T-shirt was stretched so tight it probably needed physical therapy. Jamie would be happy to remove the offending fabric. With his teeth.
Staring was rude, but he couldn’t rip his eyes away. For months he’d looked forward to Sunday afternoons, knowing his honey bunny would appear.
Heck, he’d switched shifts just to work Sundays if he wasn’t scheduled for them. He was crushing on his boo so hard he should’ve reduced the poor guy to rubble.
Pathetic? Absolutely. Regrets? Zero.
Those tropical-blue eyes locked with Grant’s menacing gray ones. If these two started swinging, the whole store would become a war zone. While his brother was clearly ticked off, Jamie’s jellybean looked like he was calculating every pressure point on Grant’s body, planning maximum damage.
Then his dreamboat shooed at them like they were misbehaving toddlers. “My ice cream’s melting, ladies.”
A laugh escaped before Jamie could stop it. He pressed his lips together, totally captivated by his pookie’s deep, sexy voice. It was the first time he’d heard him say more than a single word, and Jamie wanted to beg him to keep talking. Dirty talk would be more than welcome.
Red alert! His inked god glanced at him. He’s looking at me! Play it cool. Don’t do anything to embarrass yourself. Jamie grinned and gave a little wave, nearly fainting when his cupcake winked at him.
He tried to return the wink but ended up scrunching his whole face like he was having a stroke.
The guy chuckled, an actual dreamy sound, but Grant clearly didn’t find it funny. He reached across the bagging area and whapped Jamie upside his head, making him cry out at the sudden smack.
Jamie jerked back with a yelp as the stranger slammed Grant chest-first against the conveyor belt, one muscled arm pinning Grant’s back while the other fist tangled in his hair.
Rowan stepped forward like he was planning a sneak attack. “Behind you!” Jamie shouted, pointing directly at the creep.
A low growl froze Rowan mid-step, but the look he shot Jamie was pure ice.
“You did not just do that in front of me, pendejo,” Blue Eyes snarled at Grant. “Apologize, or you lose the whole fucking arm.”
The fluorescent lights must’ve hit his eyes weird because Jamie could’ve sworn they were glowing soft amber. Honestly they were the most incredible eyes he’d ever seen.
“He’s my brother,” Grant sneered, trying to sound tough despite being pinned like a bug. “He’s slow, so he didn’t even feel it.”
Jamie’s jaw dropped. His brother had just humiliated him in front of the man of his dreams. A small crowd had gathered, several people glancing his way, but Jamie was too mortified to care about them.
“I’m not slow!” he shouted, hands clenched into fists. “I have brain damage because of you!”
He spun around and dashed toward the breakroom, brushing past Jerry, who’d just emerged from his office. “Jamie, what’s wrong, buddy? Hey, you can’t go back there!”
Jerry wasn’t making sense since Jamie worked there, but he didn’t stop to ask questions. He discovered the reason soon enough.
“Stop running.”
Shoot! Jamie stumbled at the deep voice right behind him, nearly face-planting into the wall. A strong arm wrapped around his waist, pulling him back against a solid chest.
“Easy, colibri.” The voice gentled, warm and close. “Walls can be unforgiving.”
“Walls can’t forgive.” Jamie cursed, knowing what the guy meant, which only proved Grant’s point.
“Tell that to the ones I’ve run into.” He chuckled, the sound vibrating through Jamie’s back. “Been knocked unconscious more times than I care to remember.” He still hadn’t let go. “Stupid question, but are you okay?”
Jamie touched his temple with trembling fingers, breathing unsteady. “I’m not slow,” he whispered, desperate for the guy to believe him, for just one person to treat him like everyone else. Even Jerry spoke to him like he was mentally deficient, because his brain injuries were documented in his employee file. A lifetime of head trauma, and not always from hands.
“You looked pretty fast to me, cariño. Had me winded trying to catch up.”
“That’s not what I meant. You heard my brother.” Jamie glanced down, waving his arm toward the registers.
“Tu hermano es un cerdo sin valor.” The guy made a spitting sound then spread his fingers across Jamie’s belly. “I’m Cesar, by the way.”
