Hold on Tight (Sea Breeze #8)(44)

Preston’s eyebrows shot up about the same time Rose Mann walked up beside me, wrapped her arm around my shoulders, and gave me a good view down her shirt. I’d known Rose since high school. We all had. She’d moved into town when we were sophomores, and she immediately made the cheerleading squad. I’d f**ked her back then, but only once. Hadn’t touched her since.

Still, she had aged well. Still had perky tits and a head of brown curls. “Hello, Rose,” I said, sliding my arm around her waist and pulling her closer.

“Hello to you, Falco,” she purred, and pressed against me. She then moved her gaze over to Preston. “You leave the fiancée behind tonight?”

Preston shook his head. “Don’t let her too far out of my sight. She’s headed this way soon.”

Rose rolled her eyes, then glanced over at Rock. “And where’s your little missus?”

“Be careful, Rose. We both know his little missus will take your ass out if you attempt to flirt with her man. You know better than to get near what belongs to Trisha.”

The whole table laughed but Rose. Back in high school Rose had made a play for Rock after Preston had f**ked her and tossed her aside. Trisha had slammed her against the lockers, broken several of her nails, and taken out a handful of her hair. No one messed with Rock after that.

“Whatever,” Rose said, then laid her hand on my chest. “I’m here for you, anyway,” she informed me. I was trying to decide if I wanted to give this a go tonight or not. I needed to do something to get Sienna out of my head. Rose was hot, but she was also a little crazy. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to mess with crazy.

“There’s my girl,” Preston said. I swung my eyes over to see Amanda, and they collided with Sienna. Who was looking at Rose. Shit.

“Hey, Sienna. Glad you could make it,” Preston said, getting up to pull out a stool for Sienna right beside me. “We won’t make you sit on Dewayne’s lap, seeing as it’s already full of Rose. You can have a stool. It’s more comfortable anyway.” I watched as Sienna tore her gaze from Rose and forced a smile for Preston. Then she looked at me. She was on the verge of bolting. I could see it. Preston had known who Amanda was bringing and he hadn’t told me. I was going to kick his ass.

“It’s okay. If they start doing gross shit at the table, Rock will make them take it outside,” Preston told her, then smirked at me. Dipshit.

Sienna walked over to the stool beside me like she was walking the plank. Slow and unsure.

“Who’s this?” Rose asked, leaning over me and wrapping her arm around me possessively, which pissed me off. She was trying to mark her territory, like she had any. I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend the evening with her or not. I hadn’t made up my mind yet.

“Sienna, this is Rose Mann,” Amanda piped up in a sweet tone that she didn’t mean. “She was older than us in school. She would have been . . . a senior your freshman year, I think.” The comment about Rose being older had been a jab, but coming from sweet Amanda, who was in the safety of Preston Drake’s arms, she was untouchable, and she knew it.

Sienna smiled at Rose. “I didn’t know many people in school. I kind of blended in to the crowd.” That was Sienna’s way of saying she didn’t know who Rose was. But it was also bullshit. Sienna had never blended into anything.

“Sienna Roy? You were Dustin’s girlfriend,” Rose said, recognizing the name.

Sienna nodded and forced a smile, then turned away from me and looked at the band onstage. Jackdown wasn’t up there yet. They didn’t take the stage for another hour. A new band from Mississippi was playing right now.

“I thought you lost your mind and they shipped you off to a loony house.”

Sienna flinched, and her shoulders went stiff. That was it. She’d come in here with Amanda, and I was pretty damn sure this was something she hadn’t done in a long time. Rose wasn’t going to ruin it for her. Even if having Rose in my lap kept my hands off Sienna.

I dropped the leg Rose was leaning on and moved my hand from her waist. She stumbled and had to grab the table to keep from falling on her face. “That’ll be all. You can go now,” I told her.

Amanda covered her giggle, and Rose glared at me. “What’s your problem?”

“Obnoxious females who don’t have shit for brains. So please be on your way,” I replied with a bored drawl.

Preston cleared his throat to cover up his laugh. “Probably said the wrong thing, Rose. Best get going before he gets mad. He isn’t drinking tonight, so he’s a loose cannon.”

Rose called me a jackass, then spun around and stalked off.

I waited until she was far enough away before I looked down at Sienna. She was studying me. The tension in her shoulders was gone. That was good.

“Sorry about that,” I said, and she nodded.

Then she looked away again, back toward the stage.

I had to make some small talk because right now Preston and Rock were both trying to figure out what the hell was going on. But even I wasn’t sure what was going on at the moment.

I opened my mouth to say something just as the band started up, and Sienna began swaying in her seat slightly. She liked to dance. I didn’t dance. I hated dancing. I had to be drunk off my ass to dance, and only if we were going from dancing to f**king.