Page 4 of Safe With You

This is an inferno. A very unfamiliar inferno. I pause to gaze around the room, scouring the sea of twenty-somethings dancing in their scantily clad Shania Twain knock-off outfits, searching for something,anythingthat could be the source of this power.

That’s when I see himat the end of the bar.

Everything about him screams dark and moody—from the black hoodie on his tall frame to the shaggy, inky hair that reaches past the nape of his neck. I’ve always been a sucker for longer hair on a man. Knowing that I could rake my fingers through it, grab a healthy handful, and use that grip to force his head in any direction I please has my body firing on all cylinders. The scruff on his chiseled jaw is the trifecta on this tall, dark, and incredibly handsome man. If Henry Cavill had a sexy, angry twin brother, it’d be him.

And he’s staring at me, those eyes hard as stone and jaw locked. He has perfected the pouty, mysterious stranger look and is sending it full force in my direction. Well, somewhat in my direction. With a not-so-casual turn, I look to each side to see if he’s checking out Meg. Or Jenna. Or one of the gorgeousplatinum blondes that had been sitting next to us. To my surprise, there’s no one nearby.

I turn back towards him with a furrowed brow, and he smirks. My mind floods with dirty thoughts of what I would do to this stranger if we had five minutes alone in an empty room.

Better yet, what I’d let him do to me.

I clench my thighs together, trying to ignore the ache that’s blooming low in my belly, barely recognizing the feelings in me that have long gone dormant.

Get your shit together, girl. For all I know, he’s married, or engaged, or here with a Tinder date that went sour and trying to secure a backup.

Or maybe he’s here purely for his love of country music and mechanical bull competitions.

Either way, he isn’t here for me.

“Lainey!” Jenna bellows over the crowd as she rushes to me and grabs my hand, pulling me out of my daydream and towards the bull pit. I let her tug me along, but turn to sneak another peek at the stranger, catching his eyes still glued to my every step as he disappears.

Chapter Three

Ryan

Who the fuck is she?

I’ve been at this dive bar more often than I care to admit. It’s a low-key place to have a few beers and blow off some steam after a long week. There are usually a few cute girls that hang around and help pass the time, but none compared to the beauty that just walked away from me.

She’s a head shorter than the two girls she’s with, with a tight ass and toned legs that I wouldn’t mind having wrapped around my face. Her thick, dark hair falls far past her shoulders and there’s something inexplicable about her that puts me on edge. And Ineverget nervous.

She froze me. Seeing her was like being submerged in ice-cold water, desperately trying to fight for my next breath.

“Are you going to stand there staring or go talk to her?”

Jim’s comment snaps me from my haze. “Who is she?”

He snickers. “The hot brunette? No clue. I’ve never known you to be the awkward, silent type.” He tips his beer back, emptying it. “She’s cute, no doubt. But did you see that redhead she’s with?” He places a hand over his chest and stumbles to fake a heart attack.

“Well, if you’re so confident, go get her.” I usher to where she was last seen, but to my surprise, my resilient friend shakes his head no.

“A woman like that? She’d ruin me.”

I arch a brow, not believing the words that just came out of my friend’s mouth. Jim is my wingman, my go-to, my best friend for the last fifteen years, and I can safely say I haveneverseen him hesitate to talk to a woman.

I turn back to the crowd, watching her and her friends weave their way through the cluster of onlookers. The DJ pulls them in, no doubt giving them the fast and loose rules for riding the bull, having them sign a piece of paper that says they can’t sue if they get hurt. “We should move closer.”

“Feeling a little protective?”

I shrug. “Just want a better view of her ass.” I do my best to let the lie roll off my tongue, but my skin prickles as I survey the crowd around the pit. Perverted eyes are glued to her and her friends, unabashedly checking her out. A few of them elbow each other and whisper, garnering smirks and inappropriate gestures. A wave of protectiveness crashes over me, and I don’t fucking like it.

Jim must see the same scene I do because he sets his empty bottle down with a thud. “Let’s go.”

We push our way through the crowd and to the bull pit, which is easy considering we’re both a head taller than almost everyone in here.

Jim’s redhead with the big tits climbs on first and offers a hand to help my little brunette. She reaches for her friend's outstretched hand, then pauses.

I smile internally, realizing at the same time she does that she’s too short to hop on without more help. The DJ pulls out an orange milk crate from behind his setup and sets it at the base of the bull, and the laugh that she releases makes my heartthunder. Her head falls back, a hand pressing to her stomach as she tries to pull herself together. There’s a palpable sweetness to her, a humble softness I haven’t seen in a hell of a long time.

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