Page 31 of Wilde Abandon
Some people just didn’t know how to cut the anchor of the past and move on.
Yeah, that went for her and Fox, too.
Maybe they were all just doing the best they could in the moment and she needed to ease up on herself and others.
Brian pointed behind him.“Me and some friends are shooting pool.Join us.I’ll buy you a beer and you can tell me what happened after Melody got you taken away from your parents.”
“Subtle,” she snapped at Brian, knowing he was just poking at her because she’d never given him the time of day.
Fox took a step in front of her.“Melody saved my life.She’s not to blame for what happened to me.Anyone who says she is, is wrong.”
Brian did that whole surrender thing, holding up his hands like he was harmless.Hardly.“My bad, man.I didn’t mean any disrespect to her or you.It’s just…that shit was a big deal back in the day.Everyone wondered what happened to you.”
“I lived,” Fox said, so matter-of-fact, but with an end-of-story point to it.He wasn’t about to open up old wounds to satisfy anyone’s curiosity.
Brian tilted his head.“Why didn’t I hear you were back in town?I’d think everyone would be talking about it.”
Fox shrugged.“I like to keep a low profile and focus on work.”
Melody bet he’d anticipated the town gossip and used Dean or others at the center to help get things set up and done for him.
“Come on, man.Hang with us.”Brian grabbed Fox’s shoulder and pushed him toward the back.“Bring us a round, hot stuff.On me.”
Fox glanced back at her with an I’ve-got-this glint in his eyes.
She rolled hers, headed to the bar to get them a pitcher of beer, and met Dean on his way back to catch up with Fox.She stopped right in front of him.“Keep an eye on Fox with Brian back there.The tall blond, who looks like he’s been stoned his whole life.”
Dean raised a brow and his gaze narrowed in on the group at the pool table.“What’s his deal?”
“Using people.Manipulating them.Taking everything he can get from them.”He’d left a trail of unhappy girls in high school as he used them and discarded them for the next conquest.As a high school jock, it hadn’t been hard to find willing girls desperate to be with the most popular boy in school.But with his downfall came an even darker side to Brian.He’d blackmailed some of the very people he sold drugs to and punished others for not being able to pay up.
The golden boy’s crown had turned as black as his heart.
She didn’t know how someone could be so callous about other people’s lives.He kept pushing his poison, and they kept buying.He preyed on the weak and benefited from their pain.
After what he’d been through, she thought he’d be more sympathetic.As far as she could tell, he didn’t seem to care.
Dean’s gaze swung back to her.“On it.”And he walked away with an even more determined stride than usual.
She sidled up to the bar and placed her tray down on the counter.“I need a pitcher for four.”She turned and watched Fox break at the pool table.
Fox looked serious.Competitive.And sank two balls.
Admiration and surprise lit Brian’s gaze as he stared at Fox.
Dean sat on a stool watching the byplay like this was nothing new.
And there was Josh right behind Brian.She’d never understood their unlikely friendship.The jock and the quiet kid in class.After high school, Josh had gone to a nearby junior college for a couple of years.Now, he worked in town at his father’s tire store.
He seemed to know she was looking his way and held her gaze.Something in it always seemed desperate.
They’d dated briefly a couple of years ago.Three dates in, he had showed up at the bar, said he didn’t like her short skirt and low-cut tee, every guy in the bar was staring at her tits and ass, and she should go home and change.Yeah.No.That didn’t fly.They got in an argument.He apologized for being a dick.She gave him a second chance.Two dates later, they ran into one of her exes in a restaurant.When Tom slid his hand across her waist and pulled her close to kiss her on the cheek in greeting because they’d remained friendly, Josh shoved him away and they nearly got into a fight.She ended things right then and there.
She liked a protective guy, not a possessive, controlling one.
Fox knew how to make her feel like she belonged to him without making her feel like she was a possession or trophy.
“Melody, you going to stand there all day staring at that hot piece of ass or are you going to make some money?”Aria groused behind her.