Well, he can fuck right off. No way in hell am I setting him up with Shelby.
I release his hand as soon as possible and hold it out again to Shelby. She takes it, sliding out of the booth while giving me weird looks. I wrap my arm around her waist the second she’s standing, hauling her against my side. She lets out a surprised squeak. I gesture for Elias to take the lead. Not gonna let that fucker walk behind us and have the privilege of seeing my fiancée’s fine ass. No sir, no ma’am.
The goodbyes are rushed, and I’m sure Shelby’s gonna let me have it during the truck ride home for being rude, but I don’t give a damn. I get her settled and come around the front of the truck, rolling my eyes when I see Elias getting into a small hybrid car I wouldn’t be caught dead in.
I barely get my door shut before Shelby lights into me. “What is your problem, Gamble? That was a perfectly nice man, and you had to go all caveman on us. Me Dallas. She mine.” Her voice is dripping with sarcasm and a terrible accent.
“That’s a Tarzan phrase, not caveman.”
She practically levitates off the seat. “Missing the point here, Dallas! He was hot. A professor of poetry?? He’s my dream man, and you had to be rude to him!”
I scoff, turning the wheel toward home. “He’s not your dream man.”
“Says who?”
I turn toward her, now just as furious. “Says me. Your best friend. The one who knows you best. Did you not see his lame-ass car? Or the way he lifted his pinky when he drank his beer? Men don’t do that.”
Shelby’s mouth pops open. “Are you actually serious right now?”
I stop at the four-way intersection, looking both ways before taking off again. “Dead serious. Besides, you have my ring on your finger, and that asshole was flirting with you. The last thing you want is to get messed up with a man who doesn’t understand boundaries. That’s how affairs happen.”
Shelby snaps her mouth closed and crosses her arms over her chest. Ha! She knows I’m right. I let her stew on that while I drive. It’s only when we’re pulling up the driveway to my house that she speaks again.
“I would like to point out that while he was definitely flirting, there’s no difference between what he was doing and what you’ve been doing your entire life. If you have a problem with him, you have a problem with your own behavior.”
With that bombshell dropped, Shelby slides out of my truck and starts walking to the porch like she’s won the argument. I run after her, anger and what feels like a creeping sensation of humiliation, fueling me to lash out. I snag her elbow just in front of my screen door.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I demand over the chirping of crickets in the air.
Shelby lifts her little nose in the air and huffs like I’m the biggest idiot in the world. Normally, I would agree with her, but I’m not sure how the tables got turned here, and it’s making me want to dig in my heels.
“You know what I mean, and if you’ve got any sense between those ears, you’ll think on it tonight.” Shelby pulls her arm away from me, and I let her go. The screen door almost clips me in the face when she doesn’t hold it for me as she passes through.
I growl and follow her inside. She toes off her boots by the entryway table and spins to face me.
“One last thing. Don’t ever call me honey bear again.”
Honestly, with her cheeks heated and her lips puckered like that, she kind of looks like a pissed off bear. I just manage to control the chuckle. “I think honey bears are cute.”
“Dallas,” she growls, stomping her foot.
And that’s cute too. But I’m no dummy, and I keep that to myself. I’ll just have to call her honey bear in my head. She can’t police my thoughts.
And telling me to think on her comments about my flirting? Well, that sounds a lot like introspection, and I don’t like to do that much. Life’s too short to think on all the ways you’re failing. Better to just stumble through this life making people smile. I may have faults, but I’ve singlehandedly made every woman in this county smile like a schoolgirl. Even ol’ Mrs. Perkins. I think when I get to those pearly gates, that’ll be enough to grant my entrance.
Shelby heads to my room while I strip down to my briefs and make a beeline for the couch. If she’s going to be staying here long term, I’ll need to come up with a better sleeping situation. My back can’t take much more of this insufferable couch.
My phone pings with a series of texts. I pick it up and wish I didn’t.
Houston: You know what they say, you should always sleep with your fiancée before the wedding to check out your sexual compatibility.
Houston: Or will you be practicing celibacy during your marriage with Shelby?
Houston: Come on. Answer me. I’ve been contemplating this all week. I have to know.
Houston: Do they make a reverse Viagra? Something to kill boners? ’Cause you’re gonna need it, boy.
I’m woken up before the sun is up the next morning, my phone vibrating off the damn coffee table. I manage to feel around the floor and pick it up, squinting with one eye to see Ridge’s name on the screen.
