Page 18 of Stone Cold Bad (Stone Brothers #1)

SIXTEEN

JADE

I wasn’t completely thrilled about going to a party with Colt. If Amy hadn’t been going, I would have probably stayed home. It would be all the people he knew, and I’d be sharing him with others. I wasn’t completely convinced he was ready to share me with people either.

I sensed this more the second we walked into the packed house.

I knew from the reactions of people whenever I went somewhere with Colt that he garnered a hell of a lot of attention from others.

Some good, some bad, some just plain fearful.

But he took it in stride, and I was beginning to as well.

Only now, it seemed the entire noisy crowd had stopped their conversations and activities as we stepped inside the house.

Hunter and Slade walked in too and, just like Colt, they seemed to expect that people would watch them.

It seemed as if even the volume on the speakers pounding out music from every corner of the room had dimmed their sound as the three brothers strolled through.

Amy sensed my discomfort and grabbed my hand.

“The girlie drinks are usually in the kitchen.” It felt as if every head turned as she pulled me through the maze of party guests.

In our fleeting excursion through the house, I glimpsed the girls who had come into Lazy Daze the night that Colt had grabbed the guy for touching me.

There were several people in the kitchen, a guy and three girls pouring bright red drinks from a blender. The guy had a black fedora pulled low on his head and a sleeve of tattoos on his right arm. “Aimster, you made it,” he said. “I guess that means the Stone brothers aren’t far behind.”

“I’m sure they’re already out back filling their cups with beer,” she said.

The guy lifted his face and smiled at me from beneath the brim of his fedora. “And who is this little doll?”

“This is Jade. She’s staying with Colt for awhile, but we’re going to be roomies eventually.” Amy smiled at me.

“Staying with Colt? Interesting.” He handed me a drink. “Welcome to my home. I’m Stokey.”

One of the girls standing in the kitchen overheard our conversation and turned around.

She looked at me. “Are you Colt’s girlfriend?

” she asked. The simple question prompted giggles from her two friends.

“Damn, just saying the name Colt and the word girlfriend in the same sentence sounds weird.” She looked me over once with a bit of a sneer and then laughed again.

“I guess you’re just one in a long line, so have fun while it lasts. ”

“All right, you girls take your drinks and your bitchy remarks out of the kitchen.” Stokey shooed them out. “Sorry about that. Guess Colt has left too many bitter women in his wake. Enjoy the party.” He walked out, leaving Amy and me alone in the kitchen to sip our overly sweet drinks.

“Ignore that. Hannah has always had a big thing for Colt. I swear she used to follow him around in high school just trying to get him to notice her.”

“I’m not bothered by it.” I took a sip. Amy laughed at the puckered face I made. “Not the best drink I’ve ever had, but it beats beer out of a keg.” I leaned against the counter. “Is it just me, or does everyone in this town gawk and stare whenever a Stone brother makes an appearance?”

Amy walked over to the table and grabbed a bottle of rum.

“It’ll cut down on that gross fruit punch taste.

” She poured some in her drink and then offered me the bottle.

“You’re not imagining it. Those boys are sort of notorious in this town.

People are afraid of them, and at the same time they respect them.

Everyone knows they grew up with a monstrous father, a man that everyone hated, but I think at the same time, everyone feels a little guilty about ignoring it.

They were so damn afraid of Hank Stone, the dad, that no one dared speak up to him about the way he was raising his kids.

Although, raising them was hardly the phrase for it.

It’s a fucking miracle they all lived to adulthood. ”

“So the fear of the dad rubbed off on the sons?”

“A little, but mostly people just know you don’t cross them.

That childhood made them tough. You don’t get into a fight with any one of the Stone brothers unless you want to end up hurting real bad.

” Amy talked about them with a glint of pride in her eyes.

I knew she loved them, and it was obvious they would do anything for her.

Her relationship with Hunter was confusing and a little strange, but something told me, if he caved just slightly, they’d be together.

Like their surname, the brothers had rock hard exteriors, and it seemed nothing short of a stick of dynamite could blow through their solid outer shells.

Just like Amy and Hunter had a complicated relationship, I’d formed a complex and somewhat disconcerting connection with Colt.

As much as I tried to tamp down any emotional involvement with him, I could feel the threads of my heart beginning to fray.

It wouldn’t take much tugging from Colt to unravel me completely.

I’d walked into his room with the unusual proposition, confident that I could handle a casual, no strings relationship.

But the more I was with him, the more I doubted my own strength.

“They’ve got the bonfire going.” Amy picked up her drink and stirred it with her finger.

She licked it and added another shot of rum to her cup.

“Let’s go see what all the annoying people are up to, and by annoying, I mean the Stone brothers.

As irritating as they are, I’d rather be talking to them than anyone else in this whole damn town. ”

We stepped out onto a brick patio that had a strand of chili pepper shaped lights strung from one post to the next. A small retaining wall of cinderblocks had been crudely built into a sitting wall. A blazing copper fire pit sat in the center.

I glanced around. Even with the poor lighting and thin veil of smoke hovering over the entire yard, it was easy to spot Colt and Hunter.

Their shoulder spans were twice that of any of the other guys standing around with plastic cups of beer.

They were also a good head taller than most. Hunter, in particular, made everyone else look miniature.

Several of the girls who had joined them at Lazy Daze were talking to the brothers.

The girl who had quickly climbed into Colt’s lap that night was now clinging to his side stealing sips of his beer.

But even as she drank from his cup, his intense green gaze followed me across the yard.

“Damn,” Amy said with a chuckle, “that boy doesn’t take his eyes off of you.”

I held back a smile. Even though I’d warned him I didn’t want to be owned by another man, I reveled in the idea that Colt was always watching me.

“I’ve never seen him act like this, Jade. What the heck did you do to him?”

“Nothing. We just reached a fun little agreement.”

“Fun? Right. Slade said you two have been going at it like fucking rabbits.”

I blushed and took a sip of my drink to avoid having to respond. She pointed to a spot on the wall near the fire. I sat down next to a nice looking guy, the kind of guy you’d want to bring home to impress your parents, if you had some to impress.

The guy smiled at me, and I thought he could be in a toothpaste ad with his perfect smile. He leaned forward. “Hey, Amy, are you going to introduce me to your new friend?”

Amy shrugged. “Jade, this is Zach.” It seemed that Zach wasn’t high on Amy’s list of likable people.

“Nice to meet you, Jade. Are you visiting?”

“Actually, I’m staying for awhile. I’m working over at Lazy Daze.”

His mouth tightened with disapproval. “That dive? You’re too good for a place like that.”

Amy leaned forward. “God, Zach, still the pompous douchebag you’ve always been.”

“Coming from you, I consider that a compliment.” Zach turned back to me. “When did you arrive in town? And why haven’t I seen you?”

Before I could answer, he reached up and took a strand of my hair between his fingers. “You’re hair is like spun gold.”

Amy snickered at his comment. Then she elbowed me. “This should be good.”

I followed the direction of her gaze. Colt was already across the yard, coming through the wall of chalky smoke before I’d barely turned my head. He stood like a menacing giant glowering down at Zach, who shrank back instantly.

“Hey, Colt,” he said with a hoarse voice. “What’s going on? Oh shit, are you with her? Didn’t know,” he said quickly as if he was begging for his life. “My mistake.” Zach got up and walked quickly away.

Colt glanced at his retreating back. “Damn, was it something I said?”

“You don’t need to say anything with that intimidating scowl, you big bully,” Amy said. She hopped up as Colt sat down. “Speaking of big bullies, I think I’ll go bug Hunter. Haven’t seen him much today, and frankly, I’m behind on being irritating.”

Colt pointed down to my drink. “Is it any good?”

“If you like rum-laced fruit punch, it’s delicious.” I lifted it for him to try, but he declined.

“Never mind. I’ll let you drink it.” He reached behind me and shoved his hand up the back of my shirt. “That way you’ll be good and loose and drunk by the time we leave here.”

“Yes, as opposed to the usual frigid, legs tightly crossed attitude I’ve been throwing your way. If I was any looser , you’d be scooping me off the floor with a damn spoon.”

He smiled. “You’re such a character. How can you be this gorgeous, this completely fuckable and still be such a character? Guess that’s why you have me doing shit like lumbering across the yard to scare guys away from you.”

“Yeah, about that.”

“About what?”

“You huffing and puffing every time someone talks to me.”

“You better get used to it, darlin’. I don’t see me easing up on the huffing and puffing anytime soon.”

“So, I’m not supposed to even talk to other guys?”