Page 42

Dustin

“D id Tina show up?”

On the other end of the line, Colin makes a joke about the cameras, but I don’t laugh. Losing sight of Tina is no laughing matter.

“Jeez, tough crowd,” he says. “No, I haven’t seen her since I left the party. Maybe you should have a chip put inside her next.” He snaps his fingers. “Oh, wait. You’ve already done that in the locker room.” I don’t ask how he knows about the locker room. Tucker has a big mouth.

“Aren’t you full of jokes tonight?” Because I’m watching the camera on my phone, and Colin knows it, he yanks his pants down and moons me. “Real mature, asshole.”

“You’re welcome. Seriously though, did you try calling her?”

I roll my eyes and forget he can’t see me like I can him. “Of course I called her. She didn’t answer and left my texts on read but hasn’t responded.”

He leans into the camera, so I get a good look at his raised brows. “I’m gonna take a wild guess and say she didn’t appreciate all the attention you were giving Blanche. That was a douche thing to do, bro,” he adds for good measure.

Running a hand down my face, I admit, “Tina pissed me off and I overreacted, okay?”

“You think? Jeez, Dustin. Deal or not, you should treat her with respect.”

I don’t need to listen to him berate me when my conscience is doing the job for him. The Blanche thing was a mistake. Some of the crew from Vegas surprised me by coming to the fight. So what if I gave them all a ride to the party? It’s not like Blanche and I were alone. Would I go back and not put my arm around her the second Tina entered the house? Probably, but I expected Tina to confront me. Get feisty. Maybe take a swing at me again. The way I saw it, we’d be angry-fucking in the spare bedroom before the night was over. Apparently, Tina saw things differently.

“Talk to you later.” As soon as we hang up my phone rings with a call from Tucker. “What’s up?”

He yells over the background noise. “Dude, get a load of this shit.”

A text comes through with a video attached. I can see a dance floor crowded with bodies. “What exactly am I looking for here?”

He hoots. “Your woman’s got some moves, that’s for sure.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“I guess your little activity earlier loosened up her joints, because the way she’s moving her hips…”

I examine the video again and sure enough, in the center of the cluster of people, Tina and Rosa are dancing together. It’s not the scene bugging me—hell no, it’s hot as fuck—it’s the dudes circling that has me seeing red.

“Hey,” Anderson calls out when I storm past. “Where are you off to in such a hurry?”

I hold my phone against my chest so he can’t see the screen. “Something’s come up. I’ll be back tomorrow and help clean up.”

“No worries. You did well tonight, Dustin.”

Anderson and Bryce have been like stand-in dads since our parents died. I think of every win, a win for all of us. The pride in his eyes now would warm me up if I wasn’t already steaming over Tina’s shenanigans. “Thanks.”

On the drive to the club, I dial Lucius. He picks up on the second ring. “Can we do this later? I’m busy.”

“I’m not calling about your lapse in judgment.” He curses but I barrel on. “Where are you?”

“Like I said, busy.”

“Well, get unbusy. Our girls are at your fucking club.”

“Not possible. When I left, Rosa was in her room.”

“She’s not a fucking puppy, Lucius. She used her capable legs and walked her ass right out the door. I’m heading to Ropes now, but I need you to handle Rosa because I have a feeling my hands will be full.”

A car door slams in the background, followed by the roar of his car’s engine. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

Like an A-lister, I bypass the line and head straight for the door. The big guy manning it nods as if he’s been expecting me. A clap on my shoulder stops me mid-stride. “That was a wild fight, dude.”

“Thanks.”

He nods and goes back to carding the rest of the people in line. Inside, I’m recognized by more than a few people—this is my town and I’m fucking Dustin “Chip” Case after all—and normally, I’d be eating this shit up, but tonight, I’m too busy searching for Tucker’s blond head.

“It’s like dangling a carrot in front of a starving rabbit,” he yells over the noise when I reach him at the bar. I don’t bother arguing. He knew what he was doing by sending me the video. He hands me an unopened beer. “Figured you’d need it,” he says, nodding towards the dance floor.

A part of me is afraid to look and discover some guy with his hands on Tina. I don’t want to fight anyone else tonight, but I will if I have to. The downside to being a fighter who never loses is dudes either run away or think they have something to prove. Either scenario is boring as fuck for me.

The plan is to wait and watch, then the minute Lucius shows I’ll grab Tina and split. I thought I was prepared for the live version of the video. I’m an idiot for thinking so. “Where’d she get the dress?”

Tucker laughs. “They came out of Lucius’s office, looking like sex in heels.”

I tilt my head, trying to figure out how the hell she got into the tight thing. “Is it just me, or does she look naked?”

He gestures to the mostly male audience. “It’s not just you, man.”

Fuck. I want to kill whoever thought a flesh-colored dress was a good idea for my sanity.

Tucker whistles, nodding towards Rosa. “Man, I’d tap that in a heartbeat if it wouldn’t get my balls hacked off.”

I smile. Lucius is gonna lose his mind when he sees her tight pants and scrap of cloth barely concealing her breasts. I wince when she twists and the two mounds nearly pop free.

Next to me, Tucker groans. “It’s been like this the whole time. Why do you think all the phones are out? They’re just waiting for the peep show.” He waggles his brows. “Can’t say I blame them. They look like perfectly fuckable tits, am I right?”

No way am I answering that. “You better not let Lucius hear you say that.”

He makes a face like I’m stupid. “Never. But I’m only saying what everyone’s thinking. If you got this handled,” he says, patting me on the back, “I’m off to the back rooms. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

I’m left alone to babysit the two troublemakers. It’s that time after a fight when I start to feel it, sore muscles and achy joints making themselves known. My face throbs and I’d kill for a bag of ice. I want to be lying on the beach with my girl pampering me.

The bartender hands me an icepack from beneath the bar. “Looks like it hurts,” he says.

“You should see the other guy.” I press the pack to my aching cheek and watch the show. Twenty minutes seems like a lifetime with an erection. “Fucking finally,” I say when Lucius walks up.

“Having a hard time?” he teases.

“I’m fucking tired is what I am.”

Lucius hums. “Too tired to check out the back rooms?”

“Don’t fuck with me,” I say without looking away from Tina. “I’m not in the mood.” No matter how many times I’ve asked in the past, he’s refused to give me access to the back. I assumed it had everything to do with Christian putting the brakes on it.

Lucius sets a small black velvet pouch on the bar top. “Not fucking with you.”

I tip it and the clubs insignia ring that gives access to the back rooms drops into my palm. “No shit.”

“Don’t make me regret this.”