Page 14 of Hate the Game (Playing Dirty #1)

***Jax***

Iwas half hard as I followed her ass inside.

The ache in my back was gone and I couldn’t get the feeling of her hands out of my head.

I was still lost in thought when we were pointed to a booth in the back.

I slid in across from Savannah and watched her taking in the grungy atmosphere with her eyebrows climbing higher and higher.

Just when I was worried I’d made a mistake in bringing her, she looked back at me and grinned.

“This is amazing!” She leaned over the table, giving me a beautiful view of her tits. “The band is good!”

I didn’t need to look over to know the band playing was the same one that always played. “They’re a hundred-years-old.”

She laughed and nodded. “I love it. I love this old country music. I feel like I’m back home!”

Chopper came over to our table with a scowl on his leathered face.

Husband of Billy, he’d owned and operated the place for nearly four of my lifetimes.

From what I’d seen during my frequent visits, he and Billy were still going strong.

The old man looked from me to Savannah and then back to me. “The usual?”

I nodded and before I could ask him for a menu for Savannah she was already charming the man who’d only ever smiled at me once. And that smile was because I’d make Billy smile.

“Hi! I don’t know what his usual is but I’d like the biggest, greasiest burger you’ve got back there.

If you can throw bacon on it, I’ll take a heaping pile.

And cheese. Lots of cheese. And fries! Or onion rings.

Whatever you’ve got, honestly. I just need something real.

I don’t know how folks survive in the city.

I mean, sure, people are healthier but at what cost, you know?

Oh, do you have cherry coke? And milkshakes?

Just bring me whatever you think is best. I’m trusting you.

” She leaned forward to read the name on his old work shirt.

“Chopper. Nice. I’ve got a cousin named Chopper. ”

Chopper’s lips stretched wide. “Liar.”

Savannah threw her head back and laughed, drawing the attention of every man in the place. “Yep. I do have a cousin they call Bullfrog, though.”

“Texas, right?” Chopper held his hand out and shook hers. “My Billy is from Texas. She nearly murdered me when I told her I had business in California and she’d have to come with me. That was sixty years ago and she’s still complaining.”

Savannah looked around, seemingly unaware of the looks she was getting. “Is she here? I’d love to meet a fellow Texan suffering through this place.”

“Nah, she’s at home with a few of the great-grandkids.

Come back, though, and you’ll meet her eventually.

She can’t stay away from me for too long.

” Chopper was downright giddy as he spoke with her.

“I’ll fix you right up, girly. If this guy bothers you, just let me know.

I’ve got a chef’s table in the back reserved for pretty girls from Texas. ”

I shot the old man a look. He’d known me for four years and had never once shown an ounce of interest in being nice to me. I’d never seen him treat anyone but his wife any differently. Not Savannah, though. One talk and she’d won him over.

She grinned over at me and then winked at me . “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“There’s line dancing tonight. No one ever participates but Billy. You line dance?”

Savannah’s eyes widened. “Does a pig love rolling in mud? Yes! I love it. I’ll be participating.”

I sat back in my seat, watching her in a new light. New Savannah was nothing like the one who’d shown up in the locker room. New Savannah was dangerous because she wasn’t just physically attractive. She was fun and charming as hell.

After Chopper finally dragged himself away from our booth Savannah turned her attention back to me with happiness practically oozing out of her every pore.

She leaned over the table again and grabbed my hand.

I tried to ignore just how soft and silky that hand was.

“Thank you for bringing me here, Jax. This place is so great! I’ve been so homesick for Texas and this is a nice balm for my poor Texas heart. ”

“Do you really line dance?” I don’t know why that was the main thing on my mind but it was.

She nodded. “I love it. I used to force my brothers to go with me when I was younger. They acted like they hated it and were only coming as my bodyguards but I think they loved it.”

I could imagine they did have to act as her bodyguards. It wasn’t hard to picture the curvy woman sitting across from me causing a fucking riot once she started moving that body. “You’re close with your brothers?”

Her smile turned warm. “Yeah. Really close. I miss them more than anything. I talk to them almost every day, though. What about you? Any siblings you’re close with?”

I thought about Blaire. She’d always been my weird little sister with the biggest heart of anyone I knew.

She still was but she was pregnant and I didn’t know how to talk to her anymore.

It seemed like all we did anymore was argue, just like she and Dad did.

“One sister. We’re not all that close these days. ”

Before I had to figure out what else to say about Blaire to the woman who seemed to cherish her brothers over everything the music cut out and the haggard old singer announced it was time for line dancing. Savannah’s face brightened as she jumped up.

“Come with me!”

I sat back and held up my hands. “I don’t dance.”

She pouted. “It’s hardly dancing! They tell you what to do pretty much!”

I shook my head again and she huffed at me. “Sorry.”

“Fine! I’ll dance alone then. You’ll be sorry once you see how good I am at following directions.” She spun around and charged to the small dance floor. When some of the people around the bar cheered for her she looked back and me and winked.

I was pretty sure the world could’ve ended after that and I wouldn’t have noticed.

As soon as the music started Savannah turned every brain in the place into putty.

She followed directions, sure, but she added her own special spice to it.

She rolled her hips and moved like a fucking wet dream.

When she stroked her hands up her body and into her hair, lifting it away from her neck, I knew I wasn’t the only man in the room thinking about grabbing that hair and using it like a handle while fucking her from behind.

It was that thought and that thought alone that had me climbing out of our booth and walking across the bar to get to her. The smile on my face when she saw me coming felt like a truck running me over. She seemed so fucking happy to see me. That was a feeling a man could easily get addicted to.

I stopped in front of her and instantly felt foolish. I didn’t know what I was doing. Savannah read me like a book, though, and she grabbed me and pulled me closer before turning and pressing her back to my front.

“Just find your rhythm first.” She rolled her ass against my dick to the beat of the music. “Do you feel it?”

I forgot what we were doing and locked my arms around her stomach, pinning her to my chest. “I fucking feel it, Sav. Do you?”

She gasped when she finally noticed just how hard I was. Her hands gripped my arms and held on. “Yep. I definitely feel it.”

It was like someone else had taken over my body but when someone shouted across the bar at someone I snapped back into my body. I let Savannah go and cleared my throat. “I’ll go wait on our food. You have fun out there.”

Maybe I was running like a coward but I couldn’t hump Savannah. No matter how good her ass felt cradling my hard dick, I couldn’t do anything to jeopardize my future. Fucking the woman writing a huge article about us would definitely jeopardize it.

I passed Chopper on the way back to the table and he laughed at me. “Chicken shit.”

“You’re goddamn right, old man.” That earned me a clap on the shoulder and a knowing grin.

“Now put that thing away before you remind some of these assholes that they used to get boners, too.”

I sat back down at our booth, red faced and out of breath. One of the few waitresses that worked for Chopper came over with our drinks. I’d already gone back to watching Savannah like a hawk closing in on its prey and didn’t even notice the other woman standing beside the table until she spoke.

“You’ve got yourself a livewire, huh? She’s got every man in here except for Chopper and my old man drooling.” The woman, Sandy, had waited on me dozens of times, and she’d never bothered saying much to me. It was like Savannah brought out the talker in everyone around her.

I balled my hands into fists under the table and kept my eyes on Savannah. Any of those drooling assholes tried to touch her and I’d make sure they regretted it.