Page 11 of Love Me, I Dare You

Mind you, I’d just used the same one to stab him in the back. He’d never outright asked me to stay away from his sister, but it should have been implied. That night I not only took advantage of Bailey, but I ruined my friendship with Jase. He’d called me all sorts of colorful names and threatened me with telling his father, a man who already needed no excuse to hate me, about what I’d done to his precious daughter. He’d demanded I leave Crossroads, something I always bragged I’d do, only I never expected being forced out, exiled.

Yet that’s exactly what Jameson King did.

Saying nothing to anyone, not that anyone would care, I packed what little I had into a duffle bag and mounted my bike, intending to ride off into the night and never looking back. Though before I could escape, Bismarck King met me outside my door. I was angry at Jase for not even giving me the opportunity to leave before following through with his threat, but MayorKing admitted he knew exactly what happened the moment his daughter ran sobbing into her bedroom.

My encounter with Mayor King went just as you’d expect. The man hated me since the day I showed up unannounced to his home and threw their entire family into awkward chaos because their son was best friends with the son of the enemy. The rivalry between the Kings and the Bishops, the royal family and the scum of the town, was known in all of Crossroads. Although the truth of how the hatred between the two patriarchs began was as much of a mystery to me as it was to everyone else, there was no doubt it ran deep.

Which is why it was no surprise the same threats came from the mouth of Bailey’s father. Only his threats were not to be taken lightly. The entire town of Crossroads was besotted with the self-righteous fucker and deep down, I truly think even he believed he was a good man. However, if what my father used to tell us about the patriarch of the King Family had any truth to it, the man was as crooked as they came. Not that Franklin had anything to stand on against him.

From an early age, my brothers and I were labeled as trouble. No good, mischievous rebels who deserved the hell they lived in. Franklin was a deadbeat, while Delia was as neglectful as expected from a woman who’d gotten pregnant at eighteen by a man fourteen years her senior. It was no surprise she fled the relationship the first moment she could, although it was twenty years and five kids later.

I never had the urge to come back home, but now that I was here, I couldn’t just stand back, lurking from the outside. I needed to see her.

“Nash Bishop,” Oliver Wood, an old classmate of mine from Crossroads High, says as he pats me on the shoulder and slides into the seat next to mine. “It’s good to see you.”

This is what I was afraid of. Ten years and at the first chance, this town is going to remind me exactly why I didn’t hesitate to leave it.

“Oliver, wish I could say the same.” There’s an audible gasp from the woman behind the bar, a pretty young girl I don’t recognize, who probably has no idea who I am or the kind of guy I am—someone who’s never cared what people think of him and who is definitely not going to start now.

“Yikes, looks like you’re not in a good mood after your encounter with the not so sweet Bailey King.”

Oliver’s comment gets my intention. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I nearly growl.

Conversations in the bar once again come to a halt the way it did when I first walked in. Only the low hum of the music heard in the background. I take a moment to take in the room, something I hadn’t done when I first arrived since I was too distracted by a beautiful woman in leather. The bar is a large and open room with about twenty booths lining the exterior of the room and another ten on either side of the large dance floor. The floor is a deep oak hardwood that matches the color of the tables and other wooden furnishings. A pleasant contrast to the emerald-green leather seats, gold trim, and various paintings and memorabilia hung up on the walls. The bar is on the right side of eclectic with a hint of southern charm.

Oliver speaks, reminding me he’s still here. “Bailey King, the sweet, pretty little thing she once was is now a smoking hot babe with an attitude problem and a long list of men who are willing to do anything for a second of her time.” My blood runs scorching at his insinuation that he is one of those men.

“Keep talking shit like that if you want my fist shoved so far up your ass, it’ll knock out your fucking teeth.”

The fucker's eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets as all the blood drains from his face. “Woah, woah there, Bishop. I didn'tmean to. Sorry man, I didn’t think you and Bailey were still…” He stutters and I know he’s damn near shit his pants. I may have been a troublesome punk when I left, but it’s nothing compared to the ruthless man I’ve become.

Ten years is a long time, and the life I lived during, was more than gossiping over sipping beers in a bar after a long day tending the ranch my daddy gave me. I slept in alleyways, got into more brawls with the men who claimed I stole from them more times than I could count. The scary fuckers I dealt with daily would make Oliver Wood, and every guy like him, drop to their knees and suck their cocks as he begged for mercy.

“Still what?” I ask, having interrupted him.

“Well, everyone knows you broke her heart when you left. The poor girl was in love with you and was a complete mess after you left. It was a tremendous shock to everyone when suddenly the Bailey we all knew was gone and this new version of her was covered in tattoos and a body built for worshiping. In all honesty, it wasn’t a surprise she reinvented herself after everything she went through. You would have loved it. Mayor King and his wife lost their shit.”

“Look Olly, I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume your fucking stupidity is the effects of having your head bashed into multiple times on the football field in high school.” I turn to face him, leaning forward so my scowl is at level with his stupid smirk. “You watch your fucking tongue, Oliver. People like you are exactly what's wrong with this fucking town, spreading bullshit about shit they know nothing about. You wouldn’t dare talk about Bailey like that to her face, so don’t fucking act all tough and keep her name, and mine for that matter, out of your goddamn mouth.”

My scolding gets the attention of more people than I’d hoped.

The idiot stands frozen, with a stupefied look on his face. Serves him right for running his mouth about shit he knowsnothing about. He should be grateful that all I did was berate him and not make good on my threat to kick his fucking ass for the way he talked about her in front of me. Not that I fucking care about what happened to Bailey after I left, but no man should talk about a woman in that way—like she’s a fucking piece of meat. It pissed me the fuck off to see the lust in his eyes when he spoke of her.

“Nash Bishop,” the young girl behind the bar, Alexis as it says on the name tag clipped to her shirt, says as she nervously approaches me. She’s cute. Light brown hair and big brown eyes shoot wide as she blinks rapidly, looking between Olly and I.

I collect myself and wink at her, trying to lighten the look of utter terror that flashes in her eyes. “In the flesh, darling.” Olly scoffs and takes the opportunity of my distraction to walk away.

Alexis straightens her back and clears her throat before she continues, seeming a bit more sure of herself. “Sorry, but the boss says I’m to close out your tab, charge you extra for taking up space in her bar, and ask you to, in her words, “get your ass out of my bar”.”

I can’t help but laugh, picturing Bailey with her hands resting on her jutted out hip as a pretty little scowl crosses her lips. “Lexi, sweetheart. Can I call you Lexi?”

“It’s Alexis,” she replies without an edge of humor. Bailey trained her well.

No doubt Bailey hired this girl for good reason. She doesn't seem like the type to take any bullshit. I stand, leaning forward to rest my hands across the bar as I look Alexis in the eye. “You tell your boss, if she wants me out, she can come tell me herself.”

From the corner of my eye, I catch sight of something flickering in the right corner or the room behind Alexis. A camera is perched up at the corner, a white light shining while a red one flickers to alert it’s most likely on and recording. Looking directly at it and into the eyes of Bailey, who is surelywatching intently from somewhere in her office, I wink and blow her a kiss.

“Look, Nash,” Lexi says. “You seem like a reasonable guy. I don’t know you, but given the looks you’ve gotten from everyone in the room, not to mention the earful you got from B, I’d assume you have a history here. Don’t be an ass and make me have you escorted out.”

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