The Purest Hook (Second Circle Tattoos #3)(35)

“Yeah. Almost too good.” Dred replied with a smile.

Footsteps entered the kitchen behind him. “Must have been a shitty f*ck given the state of you, all cuddled up on the sofa like you’re still in high school.”

What happened to the stool he was sitting on or the coffee in his hand, he’d never know. Nor would he ever recall the steps he took across the kitchen floor. Because all that mattered right now was choking the shit out of Lennon for his hugely disrespectful comments.

He’d take a night, fully dressed, on the sofa with Pixie over every faceless groupie that had walked through the front door and f*cked him senseless.

“Shut the f*ck up, Lennon.”

Lennon grinned as Dred pushed his arm further across his neck. “Just messing with you,” he choked.

Dred shoved Lennon into the fridge, causing the contents to shake and rattle. “Asshole.”

“Thanks for the backup, Jordan,” said Lennon, bending over from the waist, winded by the sudden move.

“You dug your own hole.” Jordan calmly took another drink.

It was a long way from the first, and equally as distant from the last, fight the house would see. They fought constantly, always brushing up against the intersection of their tempers and fears.

“Looks like he didn’t dig any hole last night. Wouldn’t be wound up so tight if he—oof!” Lennon collapsed to the floor as his stomach made contact with Dred’s fist. Dred was preparing to pull him up and hit him again, when Jordan stepped in.

“Okay, you owed him that, but it’s done, Dred. And as for you”—Jordan turned to Lennon who was on his knees, winded—“you need to get back upstairs and get ready. Rehearsal starts in half an hour.”

Dred pushed away from Lennon to see Pixie, who had woken up at some point during the interaction and was now sitting up on the sofa, staring at him wide eyed.

“But I wanted to get—”

“No. You didn’t,” said Jordan, cutting him off. “Grab something on your way back down.”

Dred could hear the tap, the banging in the sink, and the sound of the dishwasher door being opened, but he never took his eyes off her.

“Catch you once we’ve got the tunes down,” Jordan said, and Dred heard the footsteps fade in the direction of the stairs to the basement.

Her hair was mussed up, and she pulled the blanket tight around her.

He’d hit Lennon because he made a stupid joke that anyone of them would have made on any other day. But because it was about her, he’d been out of the chair and at his throat, literally, before Jordan had finished his sentence.

There was no clear explanation why Lennon’s words bothered him so much.

Just as there was no explanation for how this woman was starting to mean so much to him.





Chapter Eight


Jars rattling loudly had woken her, and Pixie had opened her eyes in time to see Lennon pushed up against the fridge. Dred, obviously the larger of the two, had him at a disadvantage. But Lennon didn’t look overly concerned. In fact, Jordan was grinning, even after Dred had punched Lennon in the stomach.

The room emptied quickly, leaving her clutching the blanket to her chest as she decided how to make her excuses and go to the washroom.

Dred walked toward her and joined her on the sofa. “Morning, Snowflake,” he said, following it with a soft kiss, his lips warm and inviting.

She wanted to know what happened. “What was that about?”

“Lennon being an idiot.”

“So you hit him?”

“Yeah. He was disrespectful of this.” Dred used his hand to go between the two of them and the sofa.

“Of you and me?”

“No, that we slept on the sofa.”

“Because the sofa’s bad?”

“Geez, Pix, are you gonna make me say it?”

“Say what?”

Dred put his head into his hands.

“Because we weren’t naked or in bed, f*cking each other. He implied we . . . that I wasn’t—”

“I get it.” Because they’d slept on the sofa, clothed. “So your pride was hurt.” Pixie tried not to think about what Lennon would make of her secret.

Dred turned and looked at her. “No, definitely not that. I couldn’t give a shit about how long he thinks I lasted, or didn’t. I didn’t want him saying anything about you. And this. It’s too important. Too . . . God, I don’t know.”

There he was. Protecting her again without even realizing he was doing it. Yes, the man had a short fuse, but he also had a fiercely loyal sense of right and wrong, and his inherent instinct was to always look out for her. “I’m not sure I get your methods, but thank you for defending my honor,” she said with a smile.

“Anytime, Snowflake,” he leaned to whisper in her ear. “Best. Fucking. Night. Ever.”

“You don’t mean that,” Pixie laughed, sadly.

Dred growled and grabbed her, pulling them both to their feet. “Want me to show you how much I enjoyed it?” He pressed up against her and she could feel the hard ridge of his erection against her stomach. It aroused and terrified her in equal measure.

It would be so easy to say yes, and let him lead her upstairs, but the familiar emotions would swamp her once she was there.