He lets out a deep chuckle and shifts his weight to his good leg. “Hell, who is? Just do me a favor and don’t get into some shit you can’t get out of. I’m getting too old to be spending my nights at a damn bar. I don’t know how much longer I can be around to help. The old lady has been riding me lately about staying home.”

The old man’s right. He shouldn’t be doing this anymore. With me being gone for so long, I didn’t even think of how the old man has been aging and probably getting old and frail by now. His health doesn’t look to be doing any better either. “I know. I’ll make sure things stay good. Just go and relax. You’ve done enough.” I grip his shoulder and squeeze. “Thanks for everything. I should get inside.”

I get ready to walk away, but he reaches out his arm to stop me. “Wait.”

I stop and turn around to face him. He’s breathing heavily as if he’s fighting to catch his breath. Maybe he really should lay off the late night drinking. “It’s pretty tense in there. Kade is one hotheaded son of a bitch. Just like his older brother. Just watch your back and don’t make things worse.”

I nod my head and walk away from the old man, leaving him standing by my truck. If Kades in there hotheaded and pissed off, then there’s a chance he might be giving Phoenix some shit. I’m not letting that crap go down. Not while I’m here.

I yank the heavy metal door of the side entrance open and step into the dim bar. The place is quiet, not too busy for it being a band night. There’s a group of men playing a game of pool, a small group by one of the dart boards, and a few ladies chatting at the bar.

I take a quick glance around the room to see if I can spot Phoenix but all I see is Kade, behind the bar playing with his phone. It takes him a few minutes before he looks up, spotting me, as I take a seat in one of the stools. As soon as he notices me, he slams his phone onto the register and leans above it, gripping the counter. “Are you shitting me? You just can’t stay away can you?” He turns to face me, his face red in anger. I guess I’ll never make a good impression with my little bro again. Not that I can blame him. I hate myself most of the time. “Don’t you have some tattoos or some shit to give? Whatever you’ve been doing for the last eight years. You should go.”

I stare at him while pulling out my wallet and digging through it for cash. I grab a twenty and place it on the bar. “Two shots of Jack, my man.”

His lip curls up into a half smirk, as he looks me in the eye. Then without a word, he walks away and pours the two shots. He tosses the empty bottle into the trash and then slams the glasses down in front of me. I pull one shot in front of me and push the other in front of him. He looks hesitant but finally grabs the shot slamming it back as I slam mine. He only eyes me as he grabs the twenty and walks away. “I’m keeping the change.”

“Yeah, well I figured you would. You always had a thing for stealing my change around the house.”

“Yeah, well you were never very good at hiding it. What can I say?”

I run my finger over the rim of the glass while leaning over the bar. The women beside me look over and smile. Out of respect, I greet them. “Hey Ladies.” I have no interest in talking with them though. I turn my attention back to Kade. “You plan on hating me forever?”

Opening another bottle of Jack, he slams it down before grabbing two more shot glasses and filling them up. “There’s a huge chance in that, big bro. It’s kind of hard to get over eight years. Some just aren’t as forgiving as Phoenix seems to be.” He sets a glass down in front of me and raises the other one in the air. “Here’s to you f**king Phoenix over in more ways than one.”

I watch him as he tilts the glass back and swallows the shot. Then I hold mine up with a smirk. “And here’s to making her scream my name.” I slam it back and run my tongue over my ring. “In more ways than one.”

I shouldn’t have said that, but I’m beyond pissed. She doesn’t belong to him. I will never allow it and he needs to know it.

Just then, Phoenix walks out, her color instantly draining from her face as she tries to focus on what one of her customers is saying. For my sake, I hope she doesn’t try to focus too hard, because he looks just her type.

Damn she’s so beautiful . . .

Chapter Sixteen

Phoenix

I can almost feel the color drain from my face as my eyes instantly seek out Kellan, who just so happens to be sitting on a bar stool across from where Kade is standing. Damn he makes that bar stool look hot, as weird as it sounds. The way his right leg is hiked up on the foot railing, bent at the knee, his jeans fitting just right, hugging those sexy thighs of his. Oh, how I want to dig my nails into their thickness and trail kisses down that perfect body of his. Then that black shirt, so fit and snug, revealing the curves of his defined chest that I didn’t even bother running my hands up. I could kick my own ass. Ugh! Why? I swear this is torture.

Seeing him here, right now, is not what I expected. A part of me wishes he would pull me into the back office and do dirty things to me on top of that desk. I clench my legs at the thought. A girl can dream, which brings me back to the present. He really seemed like he had things he had to get done earlier.

Now that I see him sitting here with a change of clothing, looking sexy as hell, I can’t help but to wonder if he truly was finishing up a tattoo today. I'm sure he could have any girl he wanted. Maybe he was with some girl and he changed to get her smell off his clothing. It wouldn't surprise me, but the thought somehow infuriates me. I will rip a girl’s ni**les off for touching him. I really need to stop this before I drive myself crazy. He’s a free man. Just because we had sex, does not mean I have any claim to him. I need to remind myself this before I get hurt.

I can feel the tension in the room thicken as both the boys look my direction and suddenly, I feel as if I can’t even breathe. This cannot be good. Not good at all.

“Hey, baby. “It’s been a long time.”

It takes a minute for my mind to register someone is talking to me and even when it does, I still keep my eyes in front of me as I reach out and grip the edge of the table. “Yeah, you need another beer,” I ask in a whisper. “I’ll be right back.”

“No, wait . . .”

I take off without even paying attention to what just came out of my mouth or his mouth, actually. I can’t even think straight. I feel like I’m drunk, yet all I’ve had is water. Is the water here spiked? No, it has to just be him. I need to see why he’s here. It can’t be for me, unless something happened to Jen. She hasn’t responded to me in a while, actually. Crap!