Page 38 of Score to Settle (Oakwood Ranch #1)

TWENTY-SEVEN

JAKE

FLIC: Stop sulking in the corner and go get your girl.

JAKE: I’m not sulking. And she’s clearly not mine.

FLIC: Bullshit!

JAKE: Haven’t you got drinks to serve?

FLIC: Haven’t you got a win to celebrate?

I shove my phone in my pocket and ignore the pointed glare Flic shoots me from across the room.

I’m not sulking. I’m confused and I’m pissed.

Something happened in the space of time between stepping away from Harper in the parking lot after the game and arriving at the bar.

And now she’s letting a dick like Gordon drool all over her.

What the hell happened?

I take a swig of my beer and watch Harper goofing around with Gordon by the jukebox.

She’s wearing a red lace bra beneath the white Stormhawks top.

The flash of red strap and the swell of her breasts straining against the white fabric is sexy as hell, and there isn’t a man in this bar who hasn’t noticed.

Gordon says something as he leans over the jukebox, and the way she smiles at him has my vision blurring with anger.

I’d planned to tell her tonight how I feel—how I want more.

I want everything. And now it’s all gone to shit.

My jaw muscles tighten and I drag my gaze away from her. If I thought for a single second Harper needed rescuing, I’d be over there, but even in my fury I can see she’s having a good time.

The bar is filling up. Every seat taken.

The music is loud and Billy is cajoling a group into line dancing with him.

He’s found a wide-brimmed cowboy hat from somewhere, clashing with the green tartan golf pants he swears are the height of fashion.

Somehow, he still pulls it off. If I wasn’t so pissed, I’d laugh.

Hell, I’d probably join him on the dance floor.

Across the bar, Cherry is leaning against the wall, drinking a bottle of beer and watching me.

She catches my eye, slowing down her movements as her lips slip over the end of the bottle.

Her eyes are suggestive and I know when she flicks her gaze to the door, what she’s suggesting. I shake my head and she rolls her eyes.

She looks at Harper and Gordon then back to me.

“Her?” she mouths, but I look away. I don’t answer to Cherry.

I told her earlier when she’d caught up to me in the parking lot and slipped her arm in mine that I wasn’t interested.

I was gentle about it, leaning in to tell her I was seeing someone and thought it could be serious.

Her response was to laugh. Come find me when it’s over , was all she said before moving away.

Now it’s like she’s daring me to make Harper as jealous as I feel right now.

But that’s not my style. Any fun I once found in the back of my truck after a win disappeared the night on the benches when I watched Dylan bust his knee.

Before I met Harper, I thought I was done with women. Now I realize I was done with the wrong women. It’s a kick in the gut to see the only woman I want flirting with another man. And not just any man, but the biggest sleaze in Colorado.

“Pussy,” a voice whispers in my ear, followed by a hand on my shoulder. I don’t need to turn around to know who that voice belongs to. Flic.

“No idea what you’re talking about,” I say, biting off the words.

Flic fixes me with her pale blue eyes. Like always, she’s dressed in a black tank top and black jeans.

Today her long, ice-blonde hair is hanging loose down her back.

“Yeah, right,” she scoffs. “Admit it, Jake, you’re too scared to go after your girl because you’re worried your tender little heart might finally get broken. ”

I huff, taking another sip of beer. “It’s got nothing to do with me. I just don’t want to see Harper get used by the likes of Gordon. She’s too good for that piece of shit.”

“Spoken like a man who isn’t jealous at all,” she replies, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

“You know if you were Chase or Dylan, I’d be telling you to fuck off right about now,” I reply.

She laughs. “Go ahead, Sullivan. I’ve heard worse from you over the years. And since your brothers aren’t here and I am, let me tell you exactly what they’d tell you. You’re full of shit.”

“How do you figure that?” I ask, wishing I hadn’t when I turn to Flic and find she’s looking at me like I’m the biggest dumbass in the place.

“You don’t think everyone was looking when you walked in with Cherry hanging off your arm? You don’t think Harper was? What do you think she saw?”

“What?” I pull back. “That’s ridiculous. You know what Cherry’s like. She leeched on to me before I could move away. She’s been trying to get into the backseat of my truck since I signed with the Stormhawks.”

“Yeah. I know what Cherry’s like. But does Harper?” Flic asks. “You don’t think the way she’s acting with Gordon right now is anything more than proving something to herself and you?”

My gaze moves back to Harper and Gordon. I hate that fuckwit. Having to work with him, having to trust him on the field when I know the kind of man he is off it, leaves me feeling all kinds of wrong. I should’ve been honest with Harper from the start about just how bad Gordon is.

The beats of a new song start and he pulls her toward him. Harper is still smiling, but she’s shifting out of his arms, heading for the bar.

“Fuck this,” I mutter, slamming down the beer bottle I’ve barely touched and striding through the throng, cutting her off before she can order another drink. “We’re leaving,” I say.

Her eyes flash with defiance and fuck me if that anger doesn’t make my dick thicken. All I want to do is push her up against the wall and take her right now, no matter how many pairs of eyes are watching.

“Go if you want to. I’m happy here,” she replies.

I step closer. “No way I’m leaving you with the likes of Gordon.”

“I can take care of myself,” she says just as the dickhead in question appears at her side, snaking an arm around her waist.

“Fuck off, Gordon,” I growl. “This doesn’t concern you.”

“Woah.” He laughs. “Cool it, Sullivan. Harper and I are just having a good time, aren’t we?” The lightness injected into his tone does nothing to the break the tension building between us.

Harper looks from me to Gordon and back again. “Jake,” she says, pressing a calming hand on my chest. Her touch is hot and electric, and when our eyes lock, longing shoots through my entire body.

“We’re leaving,” I say again, wishing I didn’t sound so much like a caveman.

“She’s fine with me,” Gordon replies. The smile is gone and there’s an edge to his voice. “I’ll make sure she gets home safely.”

“You and I both know that’s bullshit, now fuck off, Gordon, before I tell the journalist from Sports Magazine what kind of man you really are. I’ve kept your secrets too long.”

“Hey.” He steps forward, no longer smiling. “There’s a code, man.”

“I couldn’t give a fuck about your code.”

Our conversation has caught the attention of the nearest group.

Eyes are on us and I’m not the only one to notice.

Three things happen at once. I step forward, daring Gordon to come at me.

Then Flic appears with a bottle of liquor and a leather strap looped over her shoulder with spaces in the leather where shot glasses are tucked.

She shouts, “Free shots for Stormhawks fans,” pulling the attention of the bar away from us.

And the third is Harper grabbing my arm and pulling me outside.

Fury radiates off her. “I’m only leaving with you because I told Coach Allen I’d keep you out of trouble,” she hisses as we step into the ice-cold night. The first new snowflakes drift in the air, already covering the vehicles in a fine layer of white.

We drive back to the ranch in stony silence. The knotty tension that settled in my muscles when I first saw Harper with Gordon is still pulling tight.

The ranch is in darkness when I pull up. I’m glad we’ve got the place to ourselves for the fight I’m certain we’re about to have. It wasn’t how I saw tonight going. I jump out of the truck and storm into the house. Buck shoots straight past me and dances around Harper.

“What the hell was that, Jake?” Harper asks as she steps into the kitchen behind me.

“That was me saving you from a massive mistake. You’re welcome.”

Her eyes flash with anger. “You’re not my boyfriend or my wingman, Jake. If I want to make a mistake, I will. It’s my life. And that’s not what I meant, and you know it. Why were you acting like that in the bar?”

I grit my teeth. “Why were you all over Gordon?”

“You’ve got no right to be jealous. You walked in with a woman draped all over you.”

Damn Flic for being right. “Cherry is nothing to me. She wrapped herself around my arm as I walked into the bar. What was I supposed to do? Push her off? Cause a scene?”

“You didn’t have to look like you were enjoying it so much,” she fires back.

Despite the anger, I can’t stop the smirk from hitting my face. “Now who’s jealous?”

She huffs a reply then shakes her head, pushing past me and heading for the stairs.

My muscles tighten another notch. “You sleep with me, but you won’t trust me.”

She stops in the doorway and turns back without a word as though waiting for me to continue. So I do.

“You see a fan sidle up to me and instead of giving me the benefit of the doubt or asking me about it, you immediately assume the worst. I thought you knew me better than that. What the hell have we been doing these past four weeks?”

“You expect me to trust you and yet you refuse to tell me what happened last year with the cheerleaders? I’ve got one week left with you, Jake. One week. I could write the feature on you tomorrow. The only thing missing is your side of what happened last year.”

Anger and hurt rise up from the deep well inside me. It’s no longer for tonight, but for that one stupid moment and all that came next.

“You really wanna know?” I growl. “Fine I’ll tell you.”

She folds her arms and fixes me with a fierce look. “I’m listening.”