Page 16 of Nut Grabber
Regina places her hand on my forearm from across the standing table we're drinking at and leans in, raising her voice over the loud music. "Don't be too hard on yourself, Kym. I thought he was smitten with you too."
I give her a small smile, trying not to feel too disappointed in myself. It's not like I haven't been here before. Falling for guys who are completely unavailable has become somewhat of a pattern for me.
"You know Josh is gonna be telling me 'I told you so' for weeks now," I say with a shake of my head before I take another sip of my drink. "I should have listened to him."
"Don't let him hear you say that," she says with a laugh. "He'll never stop tooting his own horn."
"Ladies, ladies," Mariah says, out of breath and all smiles as she bounces off the dance floor with a dark-haired farm boy with forearm tattoos and a cheeky smile following close behind. "Clark here has asked me if I'd like to go slow dance at his place." She grins and waggles her brows, practically vibrating with excitement at the prospect. "And since we all know that means I'm likely to get lucky tonight, I thought I'd let you two know not to wait up—and yes, I'll definitely be sharing my location with you." She says that last part to Regina, who smiles and nods.
"Safety first," Regina says, picking up her cell and checking that Mariah's location is active. "OK. I've got you. Have fun, OK? And use protection."
"Always," Mariah says, giving a salute as she giggles then runs off with her handsome beau.
"I wish I could do that," I say, watching them disappear out of the bar and into the night.
"Nab a farmhand?" Regina frowns and I shake my head with a laugh.
"In this town? God no. It'd be everybody's business by morning. And since that guy is a few years younger, the gossips would have a field day. Gosh, a few years back, a woman moved into town riding a Harley and then hooked up with a ranch hand five years her junior. The tongueswaggedformonths.But then they got married and things calmed down. Still, it was quite the talking point in town."
"OK." Regina laughs. "Then if it's not a sexy farmhand you're after, what is it you wish you could do?"
"Live in the moment," I say, draining my drink then swirling my straw through the ice. "I wish I was brave enough to go home with a guy I just met, have a wild night and then go on with my life the next day like I wasn’t secretly wishing he’d realize I’m the love of his life and ask me to be the mother of his babies."
"Do you really want to fuck and forget like that?" Regina looks at me carefully, and I quickly scrunch up my nose and shake my head.
"I don't have it in me. I just...Ineeda connection. Problem is, I keepconnectingwith the wrong people."
"You know what I think you need?" Regina asks as I pick up my glass and eat some of the ice. "I think you need to dance." She holds her hand out to me and nods toward the packed dance floor.
I take Regina's hand and follow her to the dance floor, where the crowd is swaying to the music. For a while, I let myself get lost in the rhythm, my hips moving in sync with the beat. But soon enough, my thoughts drift back to Hayes Evans.
He felt like everything I've been looking for—handsome, smart,patient.He makes me laugh, makes me feel like I'm the center of his world... And even though I feel foolish after what I overheard this afternoon, I still can't help but wonder what it would be like to be with him in a more intimate way. Would it be as amazing as I imagine it to be?
Lost in my daydreams, I am jolted back to reality when a random guy moves in close and puts his arms around me. He nods encouragingly for me to move with him. But the moment he touches me, it feels wrong—like no one else but Hayes should be making contact with my body right now. I only want Hayes, and it's suddenly so ridiculous to me that I'm even standing on the dance floor with someone else when all I can think about is him.
I try to push the guy away, but before I can tell him no, a deep voice sounds over my shoulder, sending delicious little ripples up my spine.
"No one touches what's mine." I turn to find Hayes looking like he’s set to bare teeth, his gaze boring into the guy trying to dance with me like he could burn a hole right through him if looks alone were enough.
“Didn’t realize she was spoken for, man.” The guy lifts his hands and quickly scurries away.
“Found you.” Hayes takes a step closer to me, his hand coming up to cradle the back of my head. There’s something in his eyes that I haven't seen before—a raw intensity that causes goosebumps to lift every hair on my body, the feeling electric.
"What are you doing here, Hayes?" I demand, trying to shake the feeling of wanting to completely surrender to him when I’m trying to stand my ground.
"I came to get my girl."
"Your girl?" I let out a laugh. "Is that how you convince naïve farm girls that you're in love with them?"
"That's not—"
"I heard your friends talking, Hayes. They said you do this all the time. I wasn’t expecting forever. But I was at least expecting decency. Am I some kind of joke to you?"
"No, Kym. You're everything to me. And those guys, they weren't talking about me."
"Oh, come on! How many guys do you know with the first name Hayes?"
"None. But I do know a couple with thesurnameHayes.” He explains that the person they were talking about is another guy entirely, and even points him out across the room where he’s dancing close to a local girl who’s barely out of high school. It gives me the ick. “Guys at work tend to call each other by their last names, Kym. I'm Evans to them. They weren't talking about me."
