Page 44 of Brutal Reign
“Hey!” Nash snarls, jerking me a glare over his shoulder.
Shit. Kinda forgot they were mated.
Andie straightens, narrowing her eyes on me as she marches purposefully in my direction. I try to play it off by barking a laugh, but she doesn’t seem amused by my antics, grabbing onto my arm and yanking me out of line. I feel like a complete fucking idiot as I stumble after her to the edge of the clearing, safely out of earshot of my fellow recruits.
“What the fuck was that?” she hisses as she drops my arm, folding her own across her chest with a frown.
“C’mon, I was just fucking around,” I chuckle. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”
Andie narrows her eyes, searching mine. “What’s going on with you lately?” she asks suspiciously.
My smile dissolves in an instant. “Nothing,” I grumble, averting my gaze.
“Mhmm,” she muses, chewing on the inside of her cheek as she glances back toward the other recruits. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with River, would it?” she questions, arching a dubious brow.
Shit. This is the problem with lying to the people you’re close to- they see right the fuck through it.
“What? No!” I insist, shaking my head adamantly.
The corner of her mouth ticks up.Yeah, she’s not buying my bullshit for a second.
“You sure?” Andie presses, poking a finger into my chest.
“No,” I growl, swatting her hand away. “I meanyes, I’m sure.”
She tilts her head as she studies my face, squinting like she’ll find all the answers there if she just looks hard enough. “Are you ever gonna tell me what happened between you guys?”
“Nope,” I reply flatly. “There’s nothing to tell. We used to be friends, now we’re not. Sorry for saying you have a nice ass. You do, but you know you’re like a sister to me, and I didn’t mean to piss Nash off…” I trail off with a wince, darting a glance in his direction. “Kinda forgot you two were a thing, if I’m being honest.”
“Uh huh,” she drawls, clucking her tongue and rolling her eyes. Then she points a finger at me again, her expression stern. “Get your shit together, Walker. If I catch you commenting on my ass again, or just being a douchebag in general, I’ll slap the shit outta you. Got it?”
“Noted,” I reply, chuckling uncomfortably.
Andie punches her hands onto her hips, nodding in satisfaction. “And play nice with Riv, huh?” she adds, giving me a pointed look.
I frown. There’s a lot of things I want to do with River, but playing nice isn’t one of them.
I don’t want to play nice. I want to fuckingconsumeher.
“Fine,” I grit out.
She nods again, the corners of her mouth lifting as she tips her head in the direction of the others. “Alright, get back over there and get in line, recruit.”
“Yes ma’am,” I mock, making a face at her as I turn on a heel and start back for the line.
Goddamnit.
She’s right. Ireallyneed to get my fucking shit together.
16
“You sure this is the right aisle?” Seb grumbles as he sweeps his gaze back and forth uncomfortably, looking completely out of place amongst all the girly shit on the shelves surrounding us.
“Think so,” I murmur, my eyes scanning the rows of merchandise. We came into town to grab rolling papers, but now we’re on the hunt for tweezers, per Beau’s request. I swear he primps more than any other dude I know. It seems like a ton of work, but I suppose it’s all part of his schtick as the resident pretty-boy jock. And I’ve gotta admit, it seems to be effective with the ladies.
“Here,” I say when I finally spot what we’re looking for, reaching down to grab one of the packages containing a pair of tweezers.
Seb turns on a heel, grumbling, “Alright, let’s get the fuck outta here.”