Page 53 of Boots, Bucket Lists & Bad Ideas
Now he’s some damn hero because the Wildes can sit in Kiwi’s bar with the Foxes, and no one is threatening a gunfight.
I’d threaten a gunfight if I knew it would end this truce and we could go back to the way things were.
“If we crack the list, Jade’s coming to the rodeo.” Why does Levi sound so invested in the idea?
I blink. “She wants to go to the rodeo?”
Josie’s grin widens. “Not even a little bit.”
“If we guess before Peggy-Ann finishes her dance on the floor, we win.” Again, what is it to Levi?
I glance at the dance floor and see Peggy-Ann with her next victim. Based on the current grinding, my guess is they don’t have much time.
“We’re working on it.” Hope and Levi take their shot to intercept what the doodles mean.
I don’t get why they care so much. What does finishing the book have to do with them?
Their guesses are not even close.
None of them.
And even if they get one, they’ll miss the second part. They won’t realize each one has a second part.
“Listen, maybe apply some pressure here.” Dean sets a napkin on my hand. “Before you bleed on my shirt.”
I snatch my hand away, the napkins landing on the floor, and watch as one by one, they fail.
When Natalie’s turn comes around, she holds the book in my direction. “Let’s have Hart take a go at it. He’s the same age as Jade. I bet he can decode this little mess.”
I hesitate.
I have no business decoding it.
Then again, she lied about the town meeting, viciously sank Peggy-Ann on me with kinks I’m not into, hit me with a dart, flirted with a biker, and then let Bronx put his hands all over her. I don’t care how unreasonable the last one is.
I let that settle inside me for a beat as I take the book and stare at the open page.
“Seriously, you’re dripping.” Dean ducks his head under the book, and I feel him press a cloth to my raw knuckles.
“It looks like you got in a fist fight,” Levi says.
Dean sits back, his hand holding the napkin on mine. “Hopefully, the other guy is in worse shape.”
“Anger Alley.” Fucking Bronx.
“Nope. Go.” Josie waves her hands. “You’re on the wrong side.”
“You let all these Wildes here, but you cross the line at a Buckley?”
“Kiwi!” Josie whistles.
“Traitor,” he snarls.
“You better move your ass back to Uncle Bucky’s bar before she shoves a pool ball up your asshole.”
He grins, but he’s backing away. “I might like that, but you wouldn’t understand, kid. Did you use your fake ID to get in?”
Josie flips him the middle finger.
