“How the hell can we be a good match?” Jay asked with a little more heat than he’d intended. “Don’t answer that,” he backtracked, then added, “No way do I want anyone in this town to hear this conversation and run with it. I’ll be married by the end of the month.” He then took a large mouthful of beer.
“Hah. I never connected the dots,” Brody said. “Blue Jay, go figure.”
His three brothers and Jay looked at him.
“What worries me is that Brody is breeding,” Sawyer drawled. He was the only one seated on a high stool. “Agree on the coupling too,” he added, pointing his beer at Jay.
“I am not a mechanical component,” Jay said. “And you can all cut this crap out now.”
All eyes focused on him intently.
“Just because you’re all loved up, I will not be your next project, and you can tell your partners that.”
“Doth he protest overmuch?” JD said.
“There you go being all fancy and shit,” Sawyer said.
“It’s he ‘doth protest too much,’” Jay corrected.
“It’s important to get it right, after all,” Dan added, smirking.
“Now, why does seeing you all together with beers in hand instill me with both fear and tenderness at the same time,” Sheriff Asher Dans said, arriving.
He had helped raise his niece and nephews after their father’s premature death. He’d given up his life to return to Lyntacky, where he’d stayed and become Lyntacky’s boss dog.
Though not as tall as his nephews, he was solid, and one of the best men Jay knew. He knew more about Jay than anyone but had kept that knowledge to himself.
“Who is running the ship if you two are here?” Beau Keller yelled from a few feet away.
“Go fuck yourself, Keller!” was Sawyer’s eloquent reply followed up with a raised middle finger.
The volume was suddenly raised on the Rollaway speakers, and a song anyone who hadn’t lived under a rock for the past ten years knew blared out, reaching all corners of the place.
“Listen up, you losers!”
All eyes went to the bar, where Dee now stood, dressed in her usual conservative way. Tight white shirt open, red lace bra beneath, and jeans so tight, they made Jay’s eyes water at the thought of pulling them on. Her unnaturally blond hair was in two bunches, one on either side of her head.
“I thought Dee was home with a sick kid?” Dan said.
“June Matilda came over to sit with them, apparently,” Ryder said.
“The girls are way better at their nights than you boys. It’s pathetic!” Dee yelled. “They really know how to enjoy themselves. So we’re doing the conga, and then shots on the bar.”
“Aww, come on, Dee. We just want to shoot pool and talk shit!” someone called.
“Now, or you can all leave!”
Red folded his arms and gave everyone the eye, which suggested he was on his wife’s side.
“Conga!” Bart called, grabbing Bradford the lab tech’s hips as they started moving. “Get on as we pass!”
“I’d rather have Dr. Hannah give me an enema,” Sawyer muttered.
The line picked up its pace as people joined and became a snake making its way through patrons and furniture.
“You guys better jump on before Dee starts yelling again,” Blue said, arriving with a tray.
“If that line comes over here, I’m tripping people up,” Sawyer declared.
