Page 2 of Full Coverage (Boys of Fall)

“Both of them?” Sadie asked, eyebrows up.

“Unless you can make triples.”

Sadie laughed and poured. And emptied the bottle.

Well, even if the damned shot glasses were bigger, she would have been out of luck. Typical. She wanted to get wasted, but there wasn’t enough tequila. Sadie pushed the shots across the makeshift bar and opened her mouth to say something, but someone called out that they were in need of vodka STAT.

“You good?” Sadie asked.

Nope. Lonely, a little horny, and not nearly drunk enough.

“This will help,” Randi said, toasting her with one of the shots. “Go ahead to the vodka emergency.” Randi had been there too.

She looked down at the two shots in her hands and sighed. These would either make tonight a lot better.

Or a lot worse.

But it was the unknown that made her tip the first back and then grab her beer and the other shot as she headed for the back door of the barn and some cooler air.

Bring on the adventure, she thought. Then giggled. Because this was Quinn. Nothing unexpected ever happened here.

Just the way she liked it.

* * *

Nolan leftLacey with Annabelle and Jackson. He’d brought her to the party as a favor to his friend, and her boyfriend, Carter Shaw. Carter was the town cop and had needed to make sure that everything in town was settled and safe after the Titans’ big win over Riverbend, but he’d be here soon enough.

And though Lacey was emotional tonight, and Nolan sensed something brewing with her and Carter, he couldn’t ignore that Miranda Doyle had just slipped out the back of the barn. Alone. And at least a little tipsy and probably more like drunk. He couldn’t let her go wandering around in the dark by herself and he definitely couldn’t let her get into her car.

He’d been watching her all night. He guessed he wasn’t the only guy in the room doing so. She was gorgeous, as always. Her dark hair fell nearly to her mid-back, her long legs were bare beneath the hem of the short dress she wore under a fitted denim jacket, and her five-foot-eight was now five-foot-ten with the cowboy boots on her feet.

He was watching her because whenever Randi Doyle was within a city block of him, he couldn’t help it. Everyone else was probably watching her because she didn’t look like the usual Randi. This was going-out Randi. Or Sunday-church Randi. Her hair was down, she had a dress on and was wearing jewelry. A far cry from the dirty overalls, ponytail and work boots she spent most days in, working in her auto repair shop as one of the only mechanics in town.

It was the crazy contrast between the weekday Randi who drank pots of black coffee, swore like a trucker and could put a transmission together faster than anyone in the county, and the sexy country girl who could rock heels and a skirt, that made her so fascinating to most of the men around here.

A girl who was low maintenance enough to get motor oil under her nails and didn’t get offended by locker-room humor but who could wear skirts and boots that made a man think very dirty thoughts while still being perfectly comfortable taking her to meet his mama at Sunday dinner. That was Miranda Magnolia Doyle.

And all of it made Nolan feel pretty smug.

He’d noticed all of this about Randi way back.

Watching Randi Doyle was one of his favorite pastimes. It had certainly made football season go faster for him with her as a cheerleader.

He’d never been that into football, but he’d liked the guys on the team, loved Coach Carr, loved the way football fever swept over the town every fall and united everyone who wore the black and silver. And Randi.

Yes, football had definitely had a few high points for him, in spite of not having one single urge to put on pads and hit the turf himself.

Nolan weaved his way through the crowd. Everyone had turned out, it seemed. Not just because of the big win and the gorgeous fall night but because of Coach. Nolan should be observing the party and taking time to talk to a few people for his new book.

Later. After he checked on Randi.

She’d done one shot and had taken the other and a third beer with her outside. Not to mention she’d been wearing an expression that had looked sad, pissed off and thoughtful all at the same time for the past hour.

Nolan stepped out of the barn into the night. The light from the party spilled out onto the dirt and grass for several feet and the noise was only slightly muted, but it took him a second to acclimate.

His eyes adjusted to the darkness outside of the circle of yellow light and he noticed that Randi wasn’t the only one who had slipped out. There was a cluster of guys off to one side, talking and laughing. They lifted their hands in greeting and he gave them a wave. There were a few couples as well. Some were just talking, others were doing a little more.

When his first scan of the immediate area didn’t reveal Randi anywhere, he rounded the corner of the barn and heard a female moan. He quickly reversed direction.

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