Page 142 of Bred

“Yeah.” I rise to my full height, closing the fridge door. “Brinley is coming over for dinner.”

“Cool, cool.” West nods, but he still looks distracted as he takes a cigarette out of the pack on the counter and puts it in his mouth. “Glad to hear she’s coming around.”

“Me too,” I say, watching him. It’s fucking weirding me out how he’s acting. He seems…flustered. “It might be a little tense at first. She wasn’t too happy with the way you handled things when I got arrested. Called me an asshole and you a bastard.”

West chuckles wryly. “So I’ve been told.”

Whateverthatmeans.

“You have someone over?” I ask, frowning as he glances out the window again.

Anyone else might’ve missed the brief pause West did at that question before lighting his cigarette.

“No,” West says bluntly. He flips the lid of the lighter shut. “I’m gonna head out.”

I cock a brow, glancing at his bare chest. “Like that?”

West glances down at himself, his expression blanking when he realizes he isn’t dressed.

“What are you, my mother? Obviously, I’m gonna put a shirt on, I just meant I won’t be here when your little fucking high school sweetheart gets here, so don’t bother making a plate for me.” West scowls. “Fuck off.”

He storms past me, slamming the front door closed behind him. I shake my head, opening the fridge again.

I didn’t want him to be here for dinner with Brinley, anyway, so his quick exit saves me having to tellhimto fuck off while I spend the evening with my girl.

CHAPTER SIX

BRINLEY

Asisusuallythecase on a Saturday night, the bar is packed.

Bristol and I have been running around like crazy, time flying by at the same speed as our hands as we mix drinks and take countless orders as the bar fills.

Ever since we started utilizing the small stage that was tucked in the corner with live music every Friday and Saturday night, business has boomed. The bar was decently active before on the weekends, but the added entertainment made the place far more popular, both with the locals and the college crowd since the nearest university is just a few miles away.

While Bristol and I appreciated the business because of the extra tips, our feet did not.

“Holy crap, I think this is the busiest we’ve been yet!” Bristol shouts to be heard over the music. This band tonight is good. Their set was a mix of originals and classics. Right now, they’re doing their rendition of Jax’s “Victoria’s Secret”, a fun, feel-good girl-power pop number that’s currently all over the radio and social media.

“You know, despite what you think, the world won’t end if you cuss,” Hailey teases, sliding up next to us and jabbing the register open. She shoves the bills in her hand inside and grabs change before slamming it closed. She jams the twenty down in the tip jar we share, and I’m pleased to see it’s close to overflowing.

Hailey doesn’t technically work here, but we ask her to help us out from time to time, especially when it’s as busy as it is now. Hailey’s no-nonsense attitude is perfect for when we need a waitress to manage the floor while we handle the bar.

The last time some guy mistakenly thought it was okay to grab her ass, so she swung her swerving tray at his face like it was a Louisville slugger.

Needless to say, it didn’t happen again.

Bristol rolls her eyes in response, but she doesn’t have time right now to take the bait.

I love my sister, but sheisa bit of a nun. It’s not that shecan’tcuss, more that she has to bereallyupset to bring the curse words out of her.

Hailey, meanwhile, has the vocabulary of a sailor.

“What the hell ishedoing here?”

I glance up at the contempt in Hailey’s voice and find her glare fixed on something behind me. I follow her gaze, curious to see what had her so disgruntled. My face lights up when I see Lucas and his brother push through the crowd toward us.

“I invited them,” I tell her, finishing collecting the tab I came over to get in the first place.