Sometimes he could see the envy in Mike’s eyes. Back when they’d been kids. When Flynn had ridden up to school on his motorcycle, or on the back of his horse. When some aspect of his unconventional upbringing had been on show.
Yeah. Because what teenage boy wanted to try to live up to the insurance sales legacy of Mike’s father? Especially when his half brother was getting to smoke, drink, and have all the sex he wanted?
Flynn hadlivedfor that. For being the envy and outrage of his maternal relatives.
The truth was, he still did.
But right now, he wasn’t looking for envy and outrage. He was looking for a cold drink, and maybe an easy lay. That was the other problem with Cassidy tagging along. It made things a little awkward.
Mostly because she wasn’t doing the same thing. She was alwaysoutside the action, and he had a feeling it was her crush that kept her like a vestal virgin.
He wanted to tell her to knock it off. To go find some guy besides Dalton and have a good time, for God’s sake. Life was too short to moon after people who didn’t want you around. He was intimately acquainted with that truth.
But he couldn’t say so to Cassidy. Well. He could. He just wasn’t going to. Because while he wanted to give her advice, he also figured her pride was an important piece of this equation. He would never do anything to injure her pride.
Because that was another thing he knew as an unwanted child. It took a lot to build damaged pride up. He had found it in claiming his connection to the Wilder family. And he knew that Cassidy had done the same. But sometimes he could still see the little girl who had been left on their doorstep at Christmas. He never wanted her to be hurt.
“What are we drinking tonight?” Cassidy asked as they walked into The Watering Hole. It was a dive. And he loved it. The place was grimy in all the best ways. The neon sign out front made it clear exactly what kind of establishment it was. And if that didn’t tell you, the line of motorcycles parked by the curb ought to give you another hint. If you still didn’t catch the drift, walking in and actually seeing who populated the place would do it.
Of course, the vibe was a little bit watered down now. Austin had married Millie Talbot, the town librarian, daughter of the former sheriff, descendent of the actual sheriff who had killed the first Austin Wilder in a shoot-out in the 1800s.
Millie liked to come to the bar now. And sometimes she brought her friends. Who had then started bringing their friends. They clustered about like anthropologists observing a society they didn’t belong to.
Granted, their presence had freshened up the dating pool. Of course, he used the termdatingloosely.
“Why don’t you choose tonight’s drink, Cass?”
Cassidy’s eyes widened with glee. “Really?”
“Sure,” Dalton said.
Cassidy practically skipped over to the bar, and Flynn and Dalton exchanged a glance. But they didn’t say anything. Flynn had only had a couple of conversations with Dalton about her crush. Anything more felt disloyal.
Flynn scanned the crowd, looking to see if any of the women caught his eye.
“Redhead,” said Dalton.
Flynn glanced in the direction his friend was looking and nodded. She was pretty. Not really what he was looking for right now.Whatareyou looking for?
Well. That was an interesting question.
There was a restlessness inside him. It had something to do with his brothers getting married. He knew that. This feeling that the band was breaking up. That they weren’t just outlaws riding endlessly into the sunset. His brothers were grown men now withresponsibilities. Austin was a father now.
He had a feeling Perry and Carson wouldn’t waste a whole lot of time before having babies.
It made him feel … Well, like the ridiculous youngest brother that he was.
And then the door opened. He saw the crowd’s reaction to whoever it was before he turned to look.
His heart slammed against his rib cage, and all his blood rushed south of his belt buckle. There she was. Long brown hair cascading over her shoulders, tight black tank top showing off her incredible rack. Her jeans were bedazzled, those rhinestones flashing as her hips moved.
Jessie Jane Hancock.
The woman drove him nuts. In all the ways a woman possibly could.
“Damn,” Dalton said.
“Yep,” Flynn said, gritting his back teeth.
