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Every Breath You Take

Page 84

by A.M. Myers

“Glad I could help.”

I glance around the circle as half the guys step forward to toss fifty-dollar bills at Lincoln and I catch Blaze staring at me again. He doesn’t look away when he meets my gaze and I shift in Lincoln’s lap.

“Wait, there’s one more bet,” Lincoln points out and Smith groans, tapping his beer bottle against his head.

“I don’t even doubt the second one now and I don’t want to lose any more money.”

I arch a brow. “What was the second one?”

“Kodiak said you tased him,” Fuzz says with a smirk and I laugh, nodding my head.

“Uh, yeah. I did.”

“Why?”

I shrug. “’Cause he was being a dick.”

Hoots and hollers rise up around us.

“Oh, she’s going to fit right in,” someone says and my heat skips a beat because for the first time in my life, I really do feel like I belong here. My skin crawls with the sensation of being watched again and I glance toward the grill where Blaze is still staring at me, his face white and his eyes filled with pain. What the hell is with this guy?

Smith stands up and trudges over to us before dropping another fifty in Lincoln’s lap.

“Thanks, Tate,” he grumbles and I shrug.

“Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.”

Moose snorts out a laugh and slaps Smith on the back as he plops back down in his seat and chugs his beer.

“Now, I’m told that I need to ask y’all the stories behind your names?” I ask, glancing back at Lincoln as he grins. Moose groans and the guys start to laugh.

“What’s wrong, Moose? Don’t you want to tell Tate how you got your name?” Chance asks and he shakes his head.

“Naw, I’m good.”

“Well, I’ll tell it,” Smith says, launching into a story about a girl who knocked Moose out with a tranquilizer dart in an attempt to kidnap him and when he went down, he started moaning like a moose.

The entire circle falls into hysterics and my belly aches by the time we finally calm down.

“That story gets better every time I hear it,” Ali says, wiping at her eyes.

Moose grumbles and takes a sip of his beer. “Speak for yourself.”

“What about you, Smith?” I ask and he shrugs.

“That’s just my name, same as Chance. Fuzz was a cop in a previous life, Streak is the luckiest son of a bitch you’ll ever meet, Kodiak used to be a moody bear but not so much since he met you and the same goes for Storm since he met Ali.”

“And Blaze used to like to set fires,” Lincoln says and I glance toward the grill, scowling when I find two blue eyes still locked on me. Finally, he blinks and turns away from us before stomping into the clubhouse. No one else even notices but I glance back at Lincoln, who just shakes his head. What the hell is going on?

“Tate, come dance with us,” Ali says, holding her hand out to me and I smile as I take it and let her pull me off Lincoln’s lap.

“Just don’t bounce too much,” Storm grumbles and she rolls her eyes before arching a brow.

“Not even on your…”

“Watch it,” he snaps, cutting her off and I laugh as she wraps her arm around my waist with a victorious grin on her face. Carly, Ali, and I move away from the boys a little bit, closer to the speakers as Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen starts playing. Ali starts out singing the first part and when she stops, I pick up where she left off, really getting into it as they laugh. After a few minutes, they sit down at one of the picnic tables and I join them.

“So, what do you do, Tate?” Carly asks.