Page 24 of Stray

“I panicked!” Jensen hisses. “She looked at me, and I forgot what ‘craic’ meant, and I nearly asked her to have my children.” He groans, dropping his head into his hands.

“And that would’ve been bad, why?” Carter drawls while looking over towards the dance floor. “Well, I’ll be damned. Hellraiser has some moves.”

My eyes snap to him before following his gaze, not to the dance floor, but to the fucking mechanical bull that Ozzy is sliding up and down the back of as it bucks and spins. I am up and moving before I can register that I’m doing so. Jesus Christ, could she look any hotter? I watch as she leans back and her hips roll forward, causing her black t-shirt to slide up, giving us all a view of her belly button ring and what appears to be a bat tattoo peeking out from her jeans. Pushing through the crowd of horny fucks that I have no problem murdering if they don’t stop staring at her, I get to the front where mother fucking Theo is standing, flirting with the girl next in line.

“Theo,” I hiss, making her jump.

“Hey, bubs, what are you doing over here? Gonna challenge Oz? Because that girl is–” She stops as Ozzy is thrown from the machine, landing on the mat. She stands up and adjusts herself before her eyes land on me.

“Jackson?” She breathes out as she walks off the mat. I watch as one of the ranch hands for another farm reaches his hand out to get Ozzy’s attention, nothing aggressive, but I intervene anyway. I snatch his hand before it makes contact with her elbow and bend it backward.

“Scott,” I say calmly, “I know you wasn’t about to grab this pretty lady without her permission, were you?” Ozzy’s face pales as she continues to stare at me.

“N-no sir!” Scott sputters. “I was just gonna ask for a dance.”

“You ask with your mouth, not your hands. And she ain’t interested.”

“Uh,” Ozzy snorts. “I could be.”

“You ain’t,” I say again, more forcefully this time. “Get your ass over to the table. I ain’t signing up to babysit all of you tonight.”

“No one’s asking you to, big man.” She huffs before walking around me and up to the bar. Grumbling to myself, I stalk back over to the table and slam myself down into an empty chair.

“You know,” Carter smirks as he sips from his bottle of beer. “If you two would just fuck, it would probably get rid of all that tension.” An image of me grabbing my brother and slamming his face repeatedly into the table fills my mind, but I push it aside and let out a snort.

“Tink ain’t my type,” I lie. “I think I’ve already made that clear.”

“You’ve shown her more attention than any other girl in years.” Carter shrugs while I roll my eyes.

“I ain’t got time for that drama. I got a ranch to run.” I take a long pull from my beer, watching while Theo and Niamh have Ozzy follow them onto the dance floor.

“Shit,” Jensen mutters. “Even Pops found time for Mama while running the ranch. You just choose not to.”

“That’s because I have you two idiots, Mama and Pops, and Theo to watch over on top of the ranch and now that brat.” I snap, feeling hot and cornered. Carter is unfazed by my outburst, too busy watching Lacey Hale swaying her hips in her tight jeans. Jensen, on the other hand, seems uncomfortable.

“Sorry, Jen,” I say softly, knowing he tends to take things like this personally. “I’m just–”

“It’s fine,” he waves me off, eyes focusing on Niamh. Glancing over, I see Niamh grinning as she shows Ozzy how to dance. Ozzy looks so happy at this moment. Her face is relaxed, and her smile is wide and genuine. I would call it sweet if it weren’t for her edgy, sinful look. I chuckle inwardly to myself as I think about Carter’s words. Somehow I know that if I were to actually fuck Ozzy, it wouldn’t get rid of any of the tension.

“Well, god damn!” I cringe at the sound of Beau’s stupid fucking voice. Beau was my older brother Derek’s best friend until he started fucking Derek’s then-wife, Justine. The Rowe’s wrote him off after that. He supposedly married her after Derek left, but that hasn’t stopped either of them from finding someone else to fuck just to piss the other off. Beau stalks through the bar and to the dance floor, and goddamn it, of course, he’s going after Tink. I stand up and make my way over just as Ozzy holds her hand out at the man.

“That’s far enough,” she says to Beau. Her voice is anything but confident despite how she’s trying to act. Beau chuckles while taking his hat off, revealing his wavy black hair.

“Now, now, no need to be so rude.” He purrs, looking her up and down. I don’t like it. No one should be looking at Tink like that.

“Why don’t you come on over here, baby girl? Show me what those curves can do.” He snatches her wrist, and I see red. Instantly, I grip Beau’s thick wrist and twist it to break his hold on Ozzy. Grabbing Ozzy by the waist, I shove her behind me as I glare at the man.

“You going deaf or something, Beau?” I grind out, the heat causing my skin to prickle as I feel Ozzy’s shaking hands clench the back of my shirt. She’s gripping me. She feels safe behind me, which awakens something I don’t remember feeling before. The protectiveness I’m feeling for her, it’s almost terrifying. “She told you that was enough. Now, get the fuck on out of here before you get your ass kicked by another Rowe.” I watch his lip snarl, and for a second, I think we are about to fight, but instead, Beau turns to leave. I turn around and look at the pale woman, her eyes watery and her body shivering.

“Baby,” I whisper, bending down to meet her at eye level.

“Get me out of here. Please,” she manages, her voice trembling, and I waste no time. Holding my hand out, I can’t help the warmth I feel when she places her hand in mine as I take us out of the bar and to my truck.

“Ozzy, are you going to be okay with me driving?” I ask her, but she doesn’t respond. I watch her jump as every noise around us. “What do you need?” I ask her, unable to hide the desperation in my voice.

She looks up at me, and her face is shattering. “Quiet? Safety? To not be scared? A fucking hug…” I watch the tears begin to fall, and I can’t handle it. I can’t handle seeing this strong, smart-ass woman crumpling before me.

“I-I can hug you,” I offer, stepping forward but halting when she tenses. “Okay,” I sigh and think for a moment before looking at my truck, and a crazy idea pops into my head. Walking up to my truck, I open the passenger door before turning to her as I unbuckle and rip my belt from my pants before sliding in. “Come here,” I say to the confused girl. I watch as she warily walks over, and I make cuffs out of my belt before pulling the belt with my teeth.

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