Page 56 of CowSex

“Now hang on—” Gracie puts her hand up to Barnes as he begins to object, warning him to hush his noise. He closes his mouth instantly. Pussy.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought you meant.”

“Glad we’re clear on that, Essex.”

“Oh, we’reclearall right, but let’s just get things straight about what exactly it is we’re clearon, shall we? Logan very kindly asked me out to dinner tonight. I said yes. That means I’llbegoing out for dinner tonight. Is thatclearenough for ya, Cowboy?”

“You wanna go out for dinner tonight? Fine, I’ll take you out, but you’re not going with him.”

“Go fuck yourself.”

I feel my jaw drop at her response.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. Or are you like your mate, Misty, and hard of hearing, too? I said, go fuck—”

“I heard what you said, I’m just confused as to why you’d say yes to this slimy motherfucker when he asks you out to dinner, but when I ask, I get told to go fuck myself.”

“You best watch your mouth, Carmichael.”

My heart’s banging hard against my ribs, and I grit my teeth so hard that my temples feel as if they’re about to explode.

“You”—I point my finger at Barnes—“best be walking away now, ’cause if you open your mouth one more time, I can’t guarantee you’ll be able to again.”

“I didn’t tell you to go fuck yourself for your dinner offer, I said it because you think you can tell me what I can and can’t do.” Gracie interrupts the stare down between Barnes and me.

I slice my eyes from him to her and back again. I don’t trust this fucker. I’ve known him most of my life, and I’m pretty confident he wouldn’t think twice about punching me while I’m not looking.

“So, if I ask you to go out to dinner with me, but not to go out for dinner with douche bag here, you’ll say yes?” I ask, looking back her way for just a split second.

Then I see stars as pain explodes in the side of my head. I move to get myself between Gracie and Barnes, who I fucking knew would clock me on the sly.

Only Gracie’s not there.

She’s on the ground.

Straddling Logan Barnes’ chest.

It looks like she’s trying to beat him to within an inch of his life. She’s punching with her good hand and swinging the bag containing the compression bandage, seven flavours of lip shit, and painkillers at his head.

“You fucker, what kind of man does that? You don’t fucking hit someone when they’re not looking!”

A crowd has gathered, and I hear someone say, “Barnes been getting inappropriate with the ladies again?”

“More than likely. I heard that last week he was at the deli counter of Jackson’s Fine Foods and rubbed himself against Stephanie from the hair salon. She clocked him one, too.”

I should intervene, but Gracie seems to be doing okay, and one more blow will only hurt his pride and not much else. She’s dangerous when it comes to a knee to the balls, but her fists are tiny and don’t carry much force, especially her left.

After a few seconds of enjoying the show—and trying not to get a hard-on—I hear a siren and step in.

“Easy there, Essex.” My jaw hurts as I speak, and I accidentally on purpose step on Barnes’s fingers as I scoop Gracie off his chest.

He gives out a yelp, so I grind my boots down for good measure. This time he screams just as I hear something crack. I smile down at him.

“Won’t forget this, you fucking coward. Your time will come, Barnes. You best watch yourself while I’m in town.”

“Fuck you, Carmichael. Glad to see your taste in women hasn’t changed. Still picking up the crazy bitches I—umph.”