Page 33 of Boots, Bucket Lists & Bad Ideas
He lines up another shot, cigarette tucked behind his ear, his silence like gravity.
Definitely not local.
“You said it yourself. Stop waiting. It’s time to do something crazy. Like—thatguy. Do that guy.”
“I’m not doing anyone.”
“You said there was no flirting, but your list wants you to flirt.”
It isn’t what my list says. Not even close.
Josie elbows my middle. “He looks fun.”
“He looks like he’d break you in half and not even care.” Hannah doesn’t raise her voice, just drops it an octave—the mama tone had arrived.
“Break in half, bend over the pool table. One could only wish,” Josie purrs. “Come on, flirt with a stranger.” She taps my book. “See if it leads anywhere. You said he was nice.”
“He looks like he bench-presses trucks.” Hannah’s words are wrapped in concern. “And pins ladies against the wall of grimy roadside gas station bathrooms.”
“Yes, please.” Josie waves my book back and forth, a desperate shield against the lustful heat she can’t quite hide. “I know for a fact that Bucky’s bathrooms are clean and fuckable. Ask Hannah. It’s on her list.”
“Along with exactly what positions to use and where.” Hannah catches the book and lowers it to glare at Josie. “She’s going to end up carved up on the side of the road.”
“Alright, let’s settle down.” Hope reaches for the book, but Josie’s fingers clutch it like a lifeline, and Hannah’s knuckles go white as she holds the other side tight.
There’s a grunting tug-of-war before Hope finally pries it free. Honestly, I think it had more to do with her being pregnant and them giving up than pure strength.
“Jade most certainly is not walking up to a random biker and—”
But I’m already through the archway.
My hands shake, but the shots have long kicked in. I’m not drunk—not even close—but there’s a spark of something, and it is lighting a fuse. Or it’s that blasted book. The meaning behind it. The pain. Tack on Hart and that vein, it only makes sense to go and play this out.
I glance back at my sisters, enjoying their dramatic, surprised gazes.
Their whispers follow me.
“She’s lying.”
“She’s messin’ with us.”
“Jade would never.”
And usually I would never, but tonight, let’s see how this plays out.
6: LIBERATED PIE AND RUNAWAY BALLS
HART
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I’M WATCHING OUT for her, I decide when she struts back to Bucky’s. It has nothing to do with my being unable to pull my gaze off her.
What the hell is she thinking?
The guy ain’t local and looks like trouble.
The solid thwack of pool balls echoes through the vast, open space.
