Girlfriend? I’m officially his girlfriend?
“She didn’t say she was in a relationship.”
“A woman doesn’t need to be in a relationship for you not to touch her,” Lainey says. “Or make comments about forcing her to do things to you. That’s just gross.”
I don’t know much about Lainey, but she seems like a tough girl. The type of girl I always wished I was growing up.
“Dude, I touched her wrist,” Jake says.
“And I have you by the fucking neck, asshole,” he growls. “How about we bring you into the bathroom and force you to do whatever the fuck we think you meant by that comment? Huh? Would you like that?”
“Get the fuck off my guy,” Wylie Ballard shouts.
Venom Dust is a drug distributed by the Black Venom. And the Black Venom are enemies of the Hellfire Daredevils. My ex-boyfriend is in bed with my current boyfriend’s rival.
This is great.
Tucker tosses Jake at Wylie, who pushes him to the ground. “Keep your pups on a fucking leash, Ballard. Any of them touch my girl again, and I don’t give a fuck what you and your boys do. I’m ripping them apart limb by limb.”
“I guess you care more about your girl than Zep does about his. Since I’m still standing and all that.”
“Too bad your daddy isn’t. Where is he?” he asks. “Still laid up? How many bones did we break for what he did to Misty? Thirteen?”
My eyes widen as I sense the air shift. Nancy grabs a bat from behind the counter, and the Daredevils all gravitate toward Tucker while the Venom move behind Wylie. This is like a real turf war from the movies.
“Boys, stop,” Nancy warns. “Wylie, your boy was in the wrong. Get him the fuck out, and stay the hell away from Phoebe.”
“You’re siding with them?”
“I’m siding with her,” Nancy says. “Now, unless you want to be kicked out of here, get him out and don’t let him come back. I don’t allow dealing in the bar.”
Wylie’s not happy with this, but he doesn’t argue. I don’t know much about Nancy, but I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to be like Lainey; I want to be like Nancy. She’s a badass.
“You okay?” Tucker asks, taking my wrist and rubbing it softly with his fingers.
“I’m fine,” I say. “That was intense!”
He chuckles. “Yeah, I suppose it was. It’s just normal for us when we’re around them. Who was that guy?”
“Believe it or not, my ex.”
His eyes widen. “What?”
“He didn’t look like that back then. I was twenty-two when we dated. But now he makes drugs.”
“And uses them.”
Nodding, I sit back on the seat and lean on the bar. “So…”
“So…?”
“Girlfriend, huh?”
“Aren’t you?”
I shrug. “I never got asked.”
His cheeks flush, and he rubs the back of his neck. “Uh, yeah, I suppose I didn’t. It’s been a while, uh? Phoebe, will you—”
