Page 48 of Dirty Love

I keep my eyes on my task and do my best to calm my erratic heartbeat, thankful my hoodie covers my zipper and hides how hard I am beneath my jeans.

“Okay, well, I, uh, saw your new friend at the store just now,” she informs us, dropping her grocery bag on the counter to pull her things out. “Jasper, is it?”

“He’s not our friend,” Kade mutters, his tone flat while he continues scrolling on his phone.

“Really?” she asks, turning to look at him over her shoulder. “Because he seems to know the two of you very well.”

Kade’s jaw ticks and he lifts his eyes up, slowly standing from his chair to walk over to her. “Do you have something to say to us, little girl?” he asks cruelly, towering over her small frame. “Because if you do, stop playing and spit it the fuck out.”

She swallows and looks at me, clearly not brave or stupid enough to meet his stare head on. “Nicky, can I talk to you alone for a minute, please?”

“No, you can’t,” Kade answers for me, backing away from her to grab his keys from the side.

He tilts his head at me and I toss the cloth into the sink, throwing my hood over my head while I follow him to the front door. She doesn’t say anything else or try to stop us from leaving, but I can feel her judgy little eyes on our backs as we make our way outside.

“What the fuck was that?” I whisper to him, dipping my head to protect my face from the rain.

“She thinks I’m hurting you.”

“Yes, I’m aware of that, Kade,” I say dryly, hopping up to the passenger side of the truck. “I meant why? Do you think Jasper said something to her?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know,” I echo, shaking my head at his bullshit attitude, nervously looking around to check she’s not still watching us. “I don’t like this, man. What if—”

“Nicky, stop,” he cuts in, taking my hand while he drives towards the lights at the end of the street. “No one’s seen us together, okay? They can think what they want but they can’t prove shit. We just need to be more careful.”

I nod and fumble with the dial to turn the heat on, my teeth chattering at the cold chill that never seems to leave my body.

Careful.

Right.

We can do that.

* * *

“Kade, you’re up,” Skully calls, crooking a finger at him while he nudges the other guy towards the pit.

This one’s a huge, older looking dude with a man bun and a dark beard cut down to his chest, his thick body covered in black leather and scars and tattoos. I can’t see from here, but I’m almost sure he had snake eye contacts in when he looked at me a minute ago.

“Kade?”

“What, Nicky?”

“How old is that guy?”

“Who cares?” he throws back, pulling his shirt over his head to pass it to me, placing a hand on my shoulder to set me down on the log. “Keep your ass right there.”

“Yes, Dadd—”

His eyes hit mine and I roll my lips with my fingertips, hiding a grin while I watch him back away from me. He shakes his head and then turns around, ignoring the huge crowd on the sidelines while he walks towards the guy he’s fighting. As soon as it starts, the rest of the world seems to blur and all I see is my older brother, my eyes zoned in on the way his abs and arms flex with every swing he takes, the way he laughs every time the other guy takes a swing right back at him. The giant fucker manages to get a few hits in here and there, most of them to his face, but Kade doesn’t seem to mind. He just spits on the ground and carries on going, smirking at him as if he’s baiting him to do it again.

He’s so fucking hot.

Just then, something catches my eye and I blink, looking over to find Jasper standing behind me. He wiggles his brows and opens his mouth to say something, but then a scream fills my ears followed by several gasps and shouts, the majority of the crowd taking a few steps back as one. I panic and whip my head around to Kade, jumping up to my feet when I spot the fucking knife in the other guy’s hand. Kade lifts his hands up to his shoulders and dips his head to study the fresh cut on his abs, the small drop of blood travelling down to his waistband, then he raises that dark eyebrow and looks up at the stupid prick in front of him.

Oh, fuck.

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