Page 10 of Feverburn

I clenched my teeth,“Don’t fucking say that.”

Rosie must’ve felt my eyes on her because she jerked her head in my direction before busying herself with the menu. Out of my peripheral, I caught her staring at me again moments later.

Bear grunted. “He has her trapped in the booth. What an idiot. Look at him.”We both peered over, trying not to be noticeable. I could’ve sworn he put his arm around her, but it was getting harder to see as more people sat down.

The pub quiz was essentially a trivia night for adults in the least geeky way possible. Atbest, it was drunkJeopardy. The locals were competitive androwdy, which was half the fun. The prizes varied, usually booze,cash, orgiftcards. The only cover charge was a simple drink order.

The theme tonight wasSeinfeld. I’d never seen an entire episode. I’d rathergougemy eyes than watch Jerry Seinfeld be an insufferable prick, so I was fucked. Our team consisted of guys I’d consider friends but not close friends like Bear. We were getting our asses handed to us, but so was Harley’s team, which made mehappy.

When the night ended, and we bothlost, I watched Harley and Dane stand up tofreethe women from where they sat inside the booth. Kaylee and Rosie were adorable together. They both had long, pretty hair in different shades, but when they walked, they weaved arms and looked like a strutting show of femininity. Every man’s gaze in the bar was on them.

I sensed Harley and looked his way. He stared at me, assuming I was watching his woman. I shook my head, nodding towards Dane, indicating he needed to keep him away from Rosie. Harley shrugged in indifference, raising his eyebrows. The entire exchange took two seconds and went unnoticed by everyone else. I guess that’s the problem with brothers—they see you when you don’t want them to.

When Kaylee and Rosie returned, they stood by their booth while everyone finished their drinks. I couldn’t ignore the pulse between us anymore.“Bear, I’m going to—”

“See ya,”he said, knowing my next move before I made it.

Getting up and floppingmoneyon the counter, I stared at Rosie until she made eye contact with me from where she stood. Jutting my jaw towards the door, she did the tiniest nod and turned hercharmback on Dane tofreeherself.

As I walked past their table, she swung her purse across her chest with Dane’s hungry eyes on her body. It made me want to snap his neck. I stood by the door, holding it open while she exited alone. Before letting the door shut to follow Rosie, I glared past the backside of Harley at Dane’s stupid face.

I’ll walk her home. Nice try, douche.

Chapter Five

The distinct warmtingleof Carson’s gaze distracted me most of the night. It had me blushing. I’m sure Dane thought it was his antics, but that wasn’t true. I’ve met guys like him. It was clear he just wanted in my pants. He had the same depth as a koi pond in a Chinese restaurant.

“Thanks,”I smiled, looking up at Carson while he held the door open for me.

“Figured we were going in the same direction.”Walking together, he maneuvered to my right to be closer to the street. The twinkly lights in the trees glinted in his eyes as his broad frame strolled alongside me. This close, his cologne filled my nose with each breath, allspicyandrich, deep and subtle. With each step, our arms brushed against one another.

I hiked my thumb over my shoulder, asking,“Do you usually go to this pub quiz thing on Mondays?”

He glanced down at me,“Yeah, I’m kind of competitive.”His tone made it sound like that statement had adoublemeaning.“How was your second night in Pine Bluff?”

“Much better than my first. We should give the raccoon a nickname. I mean, we have this inside joke. We might as well elaborate on it.”

“Inside joke?”

“Carson, you didn’t tell anyone, did you?”I liked saying his name.

“What if I did?”he teased dryly.

“If you did, I would have to kidnap, dognap, Kiszka. He likes me more than you.”

That made him smile.“He’s an attention whore, that’s for sure. But no, I didn’t tell anyone. We can keep things between us.”Once again, his words had adoublemeaning.“Rambo,”he whispered, leaning in before straightening once more.

“Rambo the raccoon. I like it.”

He nodded, putting his hands in his front pockets.“I don’t want to tell you what to do, but Dane is…”

“Is what?”I asked.

“Not up to your caliber.”

“Oh, and you get to decide that for me?”

His eyebrows pulled together as he replied,“No, but consider it some shared insight.”

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