Reaper's Fall (Reapers MC, #5)(26)

“Taz is busy,” I told her, blatantly ignoring the fact that Taz was standing less than six feet from us, doing exactly jack shit. “You’re with me the rest of the night.”

She coughed, choking a little, and I gave her back a thump while the rest of the group watched, obviously enjoying our little drama.

“Don’t you have your own lives to entertain you?” I asked, annoyed.

“Nope,” Kit said, eyes wide. “Carry on.”

Fucking devil girl.

Mel glared at her, flipping her off. Damn, that was sexy. Speakers crackled to life on a pole raised high above the fairgrounds.

“Folks, we’ll be starting our rodeo in another fifteen minutes or so. That means now’s the time to grab a drink or a snack and make your way to your seats.”

Everyone turned toward the grandstands, thankfully losing interest in us. Taz was drifting toward Jessica, and I noted that Mel didn’t seem particularly surprised by this development. Interesting. And if Taz hooked up with Jess, that was one less thing to worry about—Taz might be a dick, but he wasn’t a f*cking sociopath like Skid was.

We were too late to get really good seats, but there was still plenty of room toward the top of the covered bleachers. Ignoring her frowns, I deliberately herded Mel toward the end, then sat between her and the rest of the group, staring at her ass the entire time.

“I’m grabbing some beer,” Horse announced. “Anyone?”

I nodded, lifting my hips enough to pull out my wallet, which I wore attached to a chain. I pulled out a couple bills and handed them over. Then Horse and Marie started back down the stairs toward the bar, along with Kit, who approached bringing booze to the masses with near religious zeal. That left a sizable gap between us and the rest of the group, which worked just fine for me.

“You know Taz is a player, right?” I told Mel, eyes on the arena where the rodeo queens and princesses rode around in circles, warming up their horses. She blushed, refusing to look at me. Yup, definitely still embarrassed about last night.

“It’s really none of your business . . . but yes, I’m aware,” she whispered. “I’ll admit—I was drunk and stupid out at the Armory, but I’m sober now and normally I’m not a total idiot.”

“I don’t think you’re an idiot,” I said. “I just wanted to warn you.”

“I think I got enough warning last night. I’m only here because Kit dragged me. She’s evil.”

My cock jumped at the memory of that “warning,” and I took a deep breath, reminding myself that jumping a girl in public was probably a parole violation.

“Aren’t you girls supposed to all be in this together?” I asked, pushing through the wave of lust. “And for the record, I think she’s the devil incarnate. Been making my life a living hell for years, little witch.”

Melanie gave a cute giggle, shooting me a shy look from under her eyelashes. “If that’s the case, how did she get you out to the fair?”

I cleared my throat, not wanting to get into details. Damned if I’d admit anything.

“Doesn’t matter,” I said, looking back toward the arena. Where the f*ck was Horse with the beer, anyway?

“Hey, I’m really sorry about last night,” Mel said, so quietly I nearly missed it.

“What? No, don’t worry about it,” I told her, wishing I hadn’t come down on her so hard. Fuck, and now I was thinking about coming and going down on her. I’d just been so damned horny and she’d been right there, on her knees in the grass like a thousand fantasies I’d beaten off to in the darkness . . . I’d had to do something to make it end, even if it meant hurting her.

“I was really drunk. I didn’t mean to take advantage of you.”

Fucking hell, I was a douche.

“You didn’t take advantage of me,” I said. “Let’s just drop it. No harm, no foul.”

“Okay,” she whispered. Awkward silence fell between us again. I wanted to ask her about school, about how things were going with Jess and her living together . . . I also wanted to know if she’d kept dating that dickwad she’d written to me about—the one who wanted to get too serious too fast.

The same one I’d told her I thought she should give a shot, because I’m a f*cking masochist.

“Beer,” Horse said, handing me two aluminum bottles of Bud. “Enjoy.”

He dropped down next to me, and I glanced over to see Marie snuggling into his side. Christ, but they were cute together. Made me want to vomit. I twisted off a cap and handed the bottle over to Mel. She looked at me, surprised.

“I was super drunk last night,” she reminded me. “I thought you were pissed about that.”

Oh, I’d been pissed, all right. Mostly pissed about Taz touching what belonged to me, except she didn’t belong to me and she never would. I opened my own drink and sucked it down.

“Suit yourself,” I said, shrugging. “I don’t care either way.”

Her face closed up and she looked away. Stop being such a dick, dumbass. I reached over, catching her hand. I’d meant to give her a reassuring little squeeze or some stupid shit. Somehow the touch of her skin short-circuited my brain, though. She felt warm and soft. I wanted to crawl inside her, and not in the way you think, you f*cking pervert.