Page 71 of Beg Me

“Pigasso? Or something like that?”

“Yup. And Gianna has wanted one ever since. So I arranged for one to be delivered to the new house in a few weeks. A couple of Hartley’s guys are going to build a pen because, while I’m lots of things, a farmer I am not.” He laughs. “But this whole thing is a surprise, so don’t mention it to Markie because these women tell each other everything—and I mean everything.” He narrows his eyes. “Speaking of Markie, what’s going on there?”

I stretch my legs out to the side, trying to figure out where to start. There’s a clear answer to his question: we’re fake dating. But those words won’t quite reach my tongue.

Nothing about that woman feels fake. And when I try to place a label on how I feel about her, like she’s a woman in my bed that I don’t care about because the sex is hot, I want to crawl out of my skin. It’s like my brain knows what we are, but my body refuses to accept the definition.

I’m not quite sure what to do about that.

“It’s a long story,” I say, hoping that will suffice.

“Well, let’s start in a more interesting spot—to me, anyway. What happened with Jasper at Patsy’s? You earned yourself a fan club that night.”

“Really?” I ask, surprised. Jasper didn’t come across as a man with many friends, but to say I have a fan club for putting him in his place is surprising.

Drake chuckles. “Yeah.”

“What’s his deal, anyway?”

“He grew up with Gray and Brooks and Hart,” Drake says. “And when the guys found out that he cheated on Markie, they blacklisted him. Hart more than the others. Brooks and Gray would’ve just ignored him, probably. But Hartley got pissed and wrote him off. Won’t let him come to the ranch, told him in no uncertain terms to get fucked. And that was that.”

“Why? Don’t get me wrong, because I appreciate their loyalty to her, but what pissed Hartley off so much?”

Drake takes a drink, mulling over my question. He sets his glass down and leans forward against the table.

“Hartley’s point was that Jasper and Markie dated for a while, and Markie is such a good person. All the girls love her. She and Gianna share a lot of the same … energy.”

I chuckle at the description. I know just what he means.

“So, yeah. Hartley said that if Jasper could fuck her over like he did, he could turn his back on any of them. And he just refused to associate with him anymore.”

I like this Hartley guy.

“Since you seem to know all, what did Jasper do? I know he cheated on her, but how did that shake out?”

Drake sighs. “Trust me when I say that I know so much more about this than I want to.”

“I figured as much,” I say, grinning.

“Markie’s friend, Nettie, was at a nail salon or something. Believe it or not, but I try not to know this shit. Anyway, she was getting her nails done or whatever, and this girl came in and sat next to her. Jasper has a hat with a toolbox on the front—ironic, I know. But someone made it for him. It’s bright green, and you can’t miss it. And this girl who sits down by Nettie was wearing that hat.”

Oh shit.

Despite Jasper’s fuckup being beneficial to me, because now Markie is mine, the story feels like I’m watching it in real time. And picturing this scene … I know where this is headed. And if Jasper were here, I’d rip his fucking head off for fun.

Drake nods, validating what I’m thinking. “Nettie asks her about the hat. She said it belonged to the guy she’d been seeing, and he'd left it there the night before. You get the picture. It all went downhill from there.”

I imagine it did. What a fucking prick.

It’s no wonder Markie’s wary of men. And it’s no surprise she’s distrustful after hearing that bullshit.

“Men have consistently disappointed me over the past … decade, if we’re being honest. Come to think of it, besides my dad and grandpa, I’m not sure a man has ever not disappointed me.”

My pulse quickens as I consider what else she’s gone through.

When I hold her, I love how she melts into me. It’s like she’s relieved, like she’s been carrying around heavy armor and can finally set it down. And I’ve also noticed that she seems to value the post-sex moments, when we’re just lying in bed or the bath, as much as the sex itself.

My girl likes to come, but she also likes to cuddle. She likes to be comforted even though I don’t think she’d ever ask for it.