ZEKE (15 page)

Fuck, what I have to give, she doesn’t deserve any of that shit, and I gotta make her see it.

“Hi,” I hear and look to my right to find fuck-me-now eyes.

“Jenny.” I slowly smile down at my cute little savior.

“You didn’t forget my name.” Her glossy pink lips spread.

“No.” I wrap an arm around her shoulder and pull her to me. “Told ya before, you’re hard to forget.”

“Well,” she places a small hand on my chest, “you did run out on me the last time I saw you.”

“Yes, and I’m sorry about that.” I bend down closer to her.

“Maybe,” she bites her lower lip, curling into me, “you can make it up to me later.”

I glance up and catch Lurlene watching us. Expression blank as a slate, I have no idea what she’s thinking. Well, hell. It’s time to shut this shit down. Without breaking from Lurlene’s watchful eyes, I lean in and kiss Jenny. Lurlene’s eyebrow arches and a lopsided grin yanks at the corner of her mouth. What the fuck? Not the kind of reaction that I was looking for. I pull away from the kiss and whisper into Jenny’s ear, “Find me after the fight.”

“Oh,” she smiles, “I will.”

I release her and walk over to the bar. I glance back at Lurlene. She picks up her drink and lifts it in a cheer before taking a long sip. This time, her eyes holding mine, she sets the empty drink back on the table and heads my way.

Fuck.

I twist around, rest my forearms on the counter, lean back against the bar, lower my eyelids, and smile at her.

She slides in beside me. I get a strong whiff of her sweet scent. Damn, I’m a sucker for pretty smelling chicks. Placing her arm alongside mine, she leans in. “You can do better than that, can’t you,” she whispers into my ear. Just like her girly scent, her warm breath breezes through me. I turn slightly to my left and look at her from the corner of my eye. “Really Zeke,” her brow arches, “you are the best damn lay in Galveston County. Haven’t you come up with a better way to brush a girl off? Kissing another girl? Honestly, that’s so high schoolish. I mean, that is what you’re doing, isn’t it? You’re telling me that you don’t want me, you’d rather have her,” she tips her head in Jenny’s direction, “right?”

My eye flinches. Hearing her say it like that just pisses me off. I can’t do it, can’t follow through here. I won’t let her think any woman could ever compare to her. “You know that’s not true,” I say, jaw clenched and lips tight.

“Do I?” She smirks.

Son of a bitch, she’s fucking with me. She knows that kiss meant nothing. She’s all that I want, and motherfucker, she knows that too. Shifting my body to the left, I pin her between the bar and me, set my palms on the counter, and bend into her. “Yes, you do.” I lower my voice. “You know that I want to rip your clothes off, bend you over, stuff my cock deep inside your wet pussy, and fuck you hard.” I press my hips forward and her head tilts back. She lets out a small whimper as my boner imprints her soft body. “I’d fuck you so deep, so hard that I’d tear that unscathed pussy of yours to shreds,” I say, her eyes flutter, “because that’s how the best damn lay in Galveston County fucks. So don’t come over here asking for something that you really don’t want. Being with you,” I shake my head, “that is one rule I will never break.”

“I’m sure,” she pauses, looking up at me with bridled confidence, “there’s some way I can convince you.”

“There’s not.” I sway back my hips. “That’s something that I would never take away from you.”

“But …” She presses her lips together. “What if I want you to?”

“Well, babe, then that means you did the one thing I warned you not to do.” I push back a step, feeling the coldness waft between us.

“Yeah,” she stands up straighter, “and what’s that?”

“You went ahead and fell for me.”

“I,” she pushes a few strands of hair behind her ear, “Ah ...”

“Listen, some guys call, some date, and some guys, they might even get married. But, sweetheart, I ain’t any of those guys. Sorry, Picasso.” I shove the tips of my fingers into the front pockets of my jeans and lift my shoulders. “You just fell for the guy,” I grimace, and before I can see her response, I spin around and walk away.

An hour later, hopping from one foot to the other, I slam my gloves together. Slate comes through the back door of the bar. Dammit. I wanted a few minutes alone before the fight. Need to clear my head. Need to get Lurlene out of it.

“Hey, fucker.” Slate stops. “You fighting next?”

“Yeah. Tommy Bigs can’t make it,” I say, throwing a few practice punches.

Slate shakes his head. “Rusty’s gotta stop putting him on the roster. He never shows up.”

“I wanted to get in the ring tonight anyway.” I bounce on my feet, preparing for the fight. If I don’t get it together, I will get my ass kicked. My opponent is huge, has a reputation of playing dirty too.

“Why? What’s up?” Slate’s eyes narrow.

“Just lookin’ to kick some ass.” I stop bouncing from one foot to the other and clap my gloves together. “You and Rayna gonna be here for a while?”

“Yeah, I’m meeting her up front after I shower. Why? You wanna hang with us after the fight?”

“No, just happy for ya, bro. She’s good for ya.” I jump again from one foot to the other, knowing that I’m going to have to let Jenny down again. Shit. I’ll deal with that later. “You two were really meant for each other.” I chuckle, smack my gloves together a few times, and stop. “You and Jax both being in relationships, that shit is kinda messed up, though. It’s good, but I never thought Jax would ever fall in love.”

“Right.” Slate laughs, and it’s good to hear the sound. My bro hasn’t laughed in years. “It kills me whenever I see the hard-ass bow down to Emmie Rue. But, hell, love does that shit to you. It takes the strongest part of you and bends it.”

“Fuck. I’m glad Rayna bent you. I was worried about you, ya know?”

“Yeah, I know, but Zeke, I’m good. What about you?”

My feet halt, and I shrug. “What about me?”

“Don’t give me that shit. I see the way you look at her.” Slate smiles, not having to say Lurlene’s name.

“Not happenin’, dude. This body has way too many strong parts. It ain’t ever gonna bend,” I say as though I believe every word. Yeah, right. Lurlene has me all broken, shit’s all over the place, and I can’t seem to find any of the pieces. I know why, she has them. She’s holding them hostage until I give her what she wants.

“That’s too bad. Besides that infamous dick in your pants, you really do have a lot to offer some chick.”

“What do you mean?” I hold my gloves out in the air. “I love them all.”

“Yeah, they’re just not allowed to love ya back, right?”

“That’s right.” I nudge my chin. “Now, get the fuck out of here.”

“I’m out,” Slate says, waving his hand at me as he heads down the hall.

Thinking about what Slate said, I seriously consider the possibility that Lurlene may have fallen for me. Well, that shit fucked me up. I took that shit with me in the ring and the fight didn’t last long. Twelve minutes, that’s how long it took the bastard to kick my ass. But, fuck, wanting Lurlene even after finding out that she’s a virgin, I deserved a good ass whoopin’.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“Oh, you shoulda seen me, Aunt Lulu, I was going like really, really fast, and Daddy wasn’t even holdin’ the bike no more,” Becca squeals into the cell. Whenever I talk to her, she always makes me feel so good. I’m glad she called. I needed a dose of her tonight. “Okay,” she sighs. “Daddy says it’s time for bed. I gotta go brush my teeth.”

“All right, love you, Becca,” I say, smiling against the cell.

“Love you too, Aunt Lulu. Here’s Daddy.”

“Hey little sis, how’s it goin’?”

“God, Nix. She’s so precious. I miss you guys so much.”

“Well, ya could’ve come here instead of heading to Texas for the summer. Anyway,” he chuckles letting me off easy after the indirect jab about how long it’s been since I’ve seen them, “heard Token stopped out there to see you.”

“Yes. He was here for all of twenty-four hours. You know him, can’t seem to stay in the same place for very long. I remember you were like that until Becca came along.”

“Yeah. Now, I’m a human swing, a human coloring book, and you should see me in a tiara.” He laughs.

“Oh, I’d love to see that,” I say, the image triggering a few chuckles out of me as well.

“You’ll have to stop by sometime around teatime then,” he says, laughter defraying. “Token mentioned a guy down there?”

“He did?” I sit up, strange hearing my brother try to talk about “boys” with me. It’s not something we’ve ever done.

“Says he seems cool, he liked him.”

“Of course, he did.” I smile. “He’s just like the rest of you boneheads.”

“Now, Lulu, ya gotta stop doing that. Stop comparing every guy to your older brothers. You can’t just clump us all together. Guys, we’re all different. Look at Steele, Stone, hell, Crash. I’m not like any of them, and they sure the hell aren’t like each other. Give us some slack, sis. See a man for what he is and not for what you think we’re all supposed to be,” he says, and I’m speechless. I didn’t anticipate the lecture. Usually, I’m the one giving out unsolicited advice to my reckless brothers. After a second or two of awkward silence, he exhales heavily into the cell. “I’m just sayin’ if you would’ve told me that a three-foot, blue-eyed, adventurous, experimental, stubborn little chatterbox would be dictating my every move, I would’ve told you to go fuck yourself. Becca is my life, and I didn’t see any of this coming. Yeah, men suck sometimes, but then some chick comes along and changes our life. Don’t give up on us, Lulu. We deserve a little credit. We have a heart. Sometimes, it just takes a certain someone to make us feel it.”

I know the woman he’s talking about is the one who gave him Becca. He doesn’t usually talk about Jocelyn. It’s just too hard for him. “Wow, Nix, impressive. Fatherhood is really changing you,” I tease but hear his every word.

“It’s not changing me. It’s just pulling out some of the good stuff.” He chuckles.

“Becca’s lucky to have you,” I say.

“Hell, I’m lucky to have her, and that guy, whoever he is, he’d be lucky to have you too.”

“Right, maybe I can help pull some good stuff out of him too.”

“Maybe,” he says with another small chortle. “Well, don’t be a stranger, sis, and if you’re ever in the area, teatime is around five o’clock here.”

“Okay, Nix. Give Becca a kiss for me.”

“Sure thing, talk to ya later,” he says, and I get a quick “bye” in before the line goes dead.

I click my cell off and drop it in my lap. Nix has a point; I’ve always compared men to my brothers, and they’re not great role models. They’re definitely not the type of men any woman could imagine spending the rest of their life with. Like Zeke, they’re your typical “rebel without a cause.” S
trong, assertive, sure-of-themselves, in charge, go-after-what-they-want
kind of guys, the ones who will never settle down and will always seek out the most dangerous, craziest shit. There’s no room for any commitment in their lives. Nix did it, though. He settled down but then ... okay, I guess that I see why it might be hard for a man to give his heart to a woman. Nix’s heart was broken; I’m not sure that he’ll ever put it back out there again. Makes me wonder what happened to Zeke, what makes it so difficult for him to give his heart away.

I know he feels what’s going on between us. He even went as far as kissing another girl right in front of me so that he didn’t have to deal with it. He doesn’t want to face what he feels for me. Maybe, I should let him go. Then again, I’d really like to see what good, or bad, stuff I might be able to pull out of him. I want all of him. I want to know what he’s trying to hide. What deep, dark secret he holds and what his nightmares are all about. I want to know what’s stopping him from letting me in. Why he keeps pushing me away.

The front door swings open, and Rayna comes walking in.

“Hi,” she says, watching me place my cell on the table as she closes the door. “Who were you talkin’ too?”

“Nix.” I smile.

“Oh, now there’s one Daddy that I wouldn’t mind spanking me.” She flickers her brows and plops down in the chair.

“Rayna! That’s my brother!”

“Yeeaah ... and he is sooo fine in a Bradley Cooper kinda way and those sexy dad polo shirts he wears,” she shakes her head, “and all those freckles, not too dark not too light, they’re perfect. Mmmm, he is hot, Lurlene.”

“Okay, okay.” I throw my hands out with a groan.

“Get over it, girl,” she waves a hand, “those Irish rogue brothers of yours, even with some of their little bit of ginger, every single one of those sexy beasts are freaking drool-worthy.”

I squint at her, and she laughs. She knows I hate when she talks about my brothers that way. I think that’s why she does it, to get a rise out of me. “So what are you up to tonight?” I change the subject.

“Oh,” she sits up with a huge grin, “Slate’s taking me to Santa Fe for the night. In fact,” she leans forward and looks at my cell, “I gotta pack soon. He’ll be here in about an hour.”

“That’s nice. He’s got the night off then?” I inquire more to find out what Zeke is up to. I haven’t seen or talked to him since the other night when he called me out on my feelings for him. God, that was mortifying. I didn’t know how to respond. It was true. I’d succeeded in doing the one thing he warned me not to—I’ve fallen for Zeke Declan.