Page 25 of Jagger
“Does she look like a damned bunny to you?”
“If she is, I’ve got dibs on fucking her.”
I swiveled around toward the bar, only to see empty stools where Molly and Viking had been sitting. Fucking hell! I turned and started elbowing my way through the crowd, catching a glimpse of my Angel bent over the pool table with a stick in her hand, lining up a shot. Jesus Christ, the sight of her round ass up in the air like that made all the blood in my body flow straight to my cock.
I heard the crack of the ball, and the men around me erupted in whistles and applause. When I heard Lucky ask, “Who’s the sexy librarian?” my blood boiled as I slammed his side with my elbow. He grunted and stumbled back a step, glaring at me.
“She’s a sexyteacher, and she’s mine, motherfucker!” I snarled. I pushed the man in front of me aside, vaguely registering that it was my dad, when I spotted Trick, that lousy bastard, lifting my Angel off her feet and swinging her around. She looked startled, then started laughing as she clutched his shoulders for dear life as he swung her around once more.
“Put her the fuck down, asshole,” I growled, trying to resist the urge to knock him on his ass. I felt a hand on my shoulder and glanced back to see King standing there, looking amused as hell.
Trick set Molly back on her feet, and she tottered slightly on her high heels. They were sexy as fuck on her, and I had a sudden need to see her wearing those, and nothing else. I lunged forward to steady her, pulling her close and wrapping one arm around her waist. I brought the other hand up to cup her chin, raising her eyes to meet mine.
“Having fun, Angel?” I questioned with a smile. Her face was flushed, partly due to enjoyment and partly from embarrassment, I suspected.
“Yes, I am actually,” she admitted with a soft chuckle. I dropped my hand from her face and loosened my hold on her just a little.
“Your girl is a fucking pool shark, Jag,” Bodhi all but whined, groaning when some of the guys started ragging on him.
“Yeah, Trick and Bodhi just stood there with their thumbs up their asses while she ran the table. They didn’t even get a shot,” King said, and he was grinning ear-to-ear. “Good job, sweetheart,” he praised her, and my girl dropped her eyes to the ground before smiling up at him shyly. Fucking hell, it looks like my dad got to her already. It’s a good thing I trusted the motherfucker.
“OK, ‘fess up, Molly. Did you hustle us?” Trick asked her teasingly.
“I most certainly did not,” she replied almost indignantly, then spoiled it by laughing. “If I were hustling you, I would have made a bet with you first. As it is, I just simply kicked your butt at a gameyouassumed I couldn’t play well.”
I couldn’t help but laugh as Trick’s jaw dropped in surprise at being called out. Bodhi pointed at him and laughed, at least until he noticed Molly giving him what could only be called a “teacher look”, with her brow arched. That shut him up pretty quickly.
“You tell ‘em, sweetheart,” King told her, and before I knew it, he had shifted Molly so that she was closer to him than to me, and then had the fucking nerve to throw his arm over her shoulder and hug her to his side. He gave me a shit-eating grin over the top of her head, and I knew it was payback for my fuck-up with her. I was never gonna live that shit down.
That reminded me of Molly’s comment outside the school, about her best friend giving her shit in a nursing home aboutthat guy she had dated,and how my gut had twisted at hearing those words. I hadn’t liked being referred to like that, in the past tense, as if I were just some random guy she’d gone out with once upon a time. I wanted to be more than that, and for a fleeting moment, I’d had a vision of being right there alongside her in that nursing home, teasing a gray-haired Molly about our misspent youth, and chasing her with my walker. It had freaked me the fuck out, mostly by how right it had seemed. As strange as it was - after only knowing her for a few days - in my mind, she was already mine. I idly wondered how long that feeling would last.
I eyed my dad’s arm around my girl’s shoulder, and then watched him smile at something else one of the guys had said. Whatever it was caused Molly to look at me and laugh, then blush and duck her head. King laughed out loud and hugged her closer for a second before releasing her and taking a step back. I relaxed a little, realizing that he was treating her a lot like he treated Abby, who he considered to be a daughter after all this time. In fact, if push came to shove, I was pretty damned sure he would choose Abby over me and Rome any day of the week.
“How ‘bout a rematch, Molly?” Trick asked, holding a pool stick out for her.
Molly glanced at me questioningly, and I nodded. I’d like to see her take him down a peg or two, and I really wanted to see her bent over that pool table again. I gritted my teeth at the idea that it meant my brothers would all see her like that, too. I’d never been jealous or the slightest bit possessive over a woman in my life, but damned if I wasn’t going full-on caveman with Angel.
“Sure, Trick. Bodhi, are you in?” she asked sweetly, as she accepted the cue from Trick. I got the sudden feeling that she wasn’t quite as innocent as she seemed, under all that sweetness and light she projected.
“Nah, I’ll sit this one out. I need a beer to soothe my bruised ego,” Bodhi joked, then ambled off toward the bar.
“I’ll take you on, babe,” a taunting voice said over my shoulder, and my fists clenched with the need to wrap my fingers around his throat and squeeze. I turned around to pin my cousin Lucky with an icy stare, but he just smirked at me and shoulder-checked me on his way to join Trick and Molly at the table.
He greeted Molly with a kiss on the cheek, which startled her enough to make her take a step back and glance at me. I just rolled my eyes and barked at him to keep his goddamned lips off my girl.
Lucky looked over his shoulder at me and smirked, then flipped me off before turning back around to greet Molly.
“I’m Lucky,” he said, which caused Molly to look at the name on his cut, then shoot another quick glance at me. Seeing my half-pissed off expression caused her lips to twitch, and she looked back up at Lucky.
“Is that because you’re lucky Jagger hasn’t killed you yet?” she asked with a smile that somehow managed to be sweet, innocent, and sassy all at once.
I threw my head back and laughed, as did most of my brothers, including Lucky himself.
“He’s luckynone of ushave killed him yet,” King told her, chuckling, and shaking his head at the memory of some of the shit Lucky had done over the years.
“All right, darlin’ Molly, you want to rack ‘em up again?” Trick asked her, before looking directly at me while he informed the group, “Molly has a terrific rack. She makes sure it’s a really nice, tight…fit.” I knew he was just trying to get under my skin. The guy was one of my best friends, so it was something we did. Still made me want to punch him in the mouth though.
I was saved the trouble when Molly flipped up the butt-end of the pool stick like some kind of crazy-ass ninja and poked him in the gut with it. He gave a startled “oof” and jumped back, and I almost fell over laughing at the look on his face.
