Page 143 of Bred

“Ugh.”

I raise an eyebrow in warning. “Hailey, I told you that you have to be nice to him.”

“I’ll be nice to the one you’re banging, but his asshole brother? No promises.”

“I’m not his biggest fan, either, but we’re trying to let bygones be bygones and start over fresh now that Lucas is back.”

“How nice for you,” she answers sweetly.

I shoot her a look. “I expectyouto play nice, too.”

Her gaze flickers to the guys approaching. “Well, you have about two seconds to lower your expectations.”

Bristol snickers and I look back at her, wide-eyed. “You’re supposed to be on my side!”

“I’m sorry, but I’m with Hailey on this one. West is the worst.”

Hailey high fives Bristol, then turns to mean mug West as he and Lucas reach the bar.

Without a word or another glance their way, Hailey flips open the divider and marches out into the crowd.

I guess she couldn’t say anything nice, so she went for the “say nothing at all” option.

I don’t miss the way West watches her leave, a peculiar gleam in his dark blue eyes as he does.

My eyes narrow with suspicion, but then my gorgeous-ass… boyfriend? Ex? Whatever he is, he steals my attention away from the weird vibe between those two.

“Hey, handsome,” I beam, placing a coaster in front of Lucas, then West.

“Hey, beautiful,” he says back warmly, a slow smile tugging at his perfect lips.

His smile has me feeling like a teenager all over again. My face warms and my heart jumps in response.

He’s so incredibly handsome, sometimes it’s hard for me to believe he’s all mine.

He grabs me by the nape, pulling me toward him for a kiss. I meet him halfway, leaning over the polished oak bartop to meet his lips.

I mean for it to be innocent and work-appropriate, but he has other ideas. His tongue sweeps into my mouth and claims control of mine. He answers my hum of pleasure against his lips by pulling me closer, his kiss becoming hungrier, more dominant,more intense.

A wolf-whistle breaks the spell.

I blink my eyes open, blissfully dazed as I pull back to my side of the bar. My lips feel swollen, and I know I’m flushed by how hot my cheeks feel.

Lucas’s eyes are bright with desire. Like he’s seconds away from crawling over this bar and throwing me over his shoulder so we can head somewhere more private and finish what we started.

“What the fuck?” West’s growl breaks the spell we’re under. The stool he was sitting on skids across the floor when he leaps to his feet. Jaw tight and thunderclouds in his eyes, he storms across the bar.

I’m still fogged from that kiss and not sure what’s going on.

Lucas is trying to catch up, too, watching his brother as he goes up to Hailey, grabbing her arm and yanking her away from the guy she was flirting with. I can’t hear what they’re saying, but by the looks on their faces, they’re clearly exchanging angry words.

I do catch the very end of the conversation—Hailey shouting, “Fuck you!” before storming off, and West following her, his jaw locked with determination.

“Um… Should we do something about that?” I ask, worried.

“Nah.” Lucas says easily, appearing mildly amused. “Let ’em work it out on their own.”

I stare at him accusingly. “What do you know that I don’t?”