I hurry down the steps. Terra greets us all with hugs.
“You were so good,” she says. “So good!”
The other girls talk excitedly about what they want to learn next, but I break away to head to the bar, accepting compliments along the way with a smile and a nod.
Merrick leans against the counter, smiling bigger than maybe I’ve ever seen him. “That was fantastic. You think it will become a regular thing?”
I hop onto a stool. “Maybe! They seem to be talking about it.”
“Excellent.” He passes me a Sex on the Beach, which is still my favorite.
I down it in two swallows. When I put it down, Merrick is grinning at me.
“What?” I ask.
He tilts his head toward Hookup Heaven.
I laugh. Our favorite. I move my hand across the bar, and he takes it, then leaps over the top. I love watching him do that. He’s a beast.
He scoops me up and flings me over his shoulder. My hair falls over my face. “Merrick!”
Symphony must stop him because we halt, and her face appears next to mine, smoothing my hair back. “You were fantastic!” she says.
Then Bailey. “You flashed everybody, twice.”
Jenna sticks her head in. “Once an exhibitionist, always an exhibitionist.”
“Speaking of which,” I tell them, the blood rushing to my head in this position. “You’re cockblocking my way to Hookup Heaven. I have a date with a dick and some mirrors!”
They all laugh at that. I smack Merrick on the back so he can put me down. “We’re delayed!” I call to him over the music.
When my feet hit the floor, I look up to spot Iron Jack sitting at the table near us. He acknowledges me with a quick lift of his chin. “Nice dance.”
Bailey cuts her eyes away from him. “Greta’s here, sitting with Rhett.”
Merrick’s sister. She’s back after her stint of spying on us back when we raided Lucifer’s Kin. I look across the bar to see her watching us. Rhett waves.
Iron Jack follows our gaze and sees her.
His entire body tenses. That’s right. He acted all out of character the last time she was here, too.
Bailey notices it, too. “I’d tread carefully with her,” she says, but Iron Jack doesn’t look away.
“He’s not listening,” Symphony says. “Is he always like this around single women?”
“She’s single?” Iron Jack asks.
“No,” Merrick says. “She’s my sister, and if you go anywhere near her, I’ll cut off your balls.”
This makes Iron Jack turn his way. “Would you now?”
Okay, that’s it. I pull on Merrick’s arm. “Nobody’s cutting off any balls. Speaking of which, I want yours in my mouth. Come on.”
“Euuww,” Jenna says. “Really, Marietta?”
“Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it,” Symphony says, flashing a grin at Diesel, who waggles his eyebrows.
“You people are so sexed up!” Jenna hides her eyes.
