Page 7 of Snake (Road Rebels MC 3)
My mind began to race, but a tap on my shoulder pulled me from my memories, and I looked up to see who it was.
“Hello,” the man said. “I’m Devon.”
I nodded up at him and threw him a kind smile.
“Laiken,” I said.
“That’s a beautiful name,” he said. “Do you like this song?”
“Honestly? I’m not sure what’s playing,” I said.
“Ah. I just saw you bobbing your head to it, so I thought I would ask.”
“Ask what?”
“If you wanted to dance,” he said, grinning.
He was a good looking guy for his type. A baby face with soft features and a lanky build. His hair wasn’t as dark as Jace’s and his eyes were blue instead of brown. Jace’s eyes had been this strong, stern brown. With green around his irises to remind me of the hunter he truly was. His eyes had reminded me of a forest. Such a foreign concept out here in the red clay of the desert. But every time I gazed up into his eyes I found myself getting lost in his woods. Marching to the tune of my own drum as I weaved around within his soul.
“You have beautiful eyes,” Devon said.
His voice ripped me from my thoughts as I shook my head.
“Oh, thank you,” I said. “That’s very kind of you. Yours are… nice as well.”
“Nice?” he asked, grinning.
“Sorry,” I said. “I’m just a bit distracted tonight.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
The man sat down next to me and held his hand up to the bartender. I wasn’t sure if I wanted the company, but the distraction was nice. I hated the fact that every man in here reminded me somehow of Jace. I hated that my mind compared their attributes to his. It had been years since I’d seen him, and it was time I washed him from my mind.
Maybe I just needed to get underneath someone in order to get over him.
“Just a long day at work,” I said as the bartender slipped him a beer.
“Would you like another one?” he asked.
“No, thanks. I’m driving,” I said.
“I could sit here and talk with you until you’re sober,” he said.
He was sweet, which was something Jace had never been. Jace was rough around the edges and never sugar-coated anything. Romance was not his thing, gentleness was not his thing, and kindness was not something he made a habit of.
But holy hell, was he loyal. Domineering? Yes. An asshole at times? Oh, yeah. But when he loved you, he loved you. When he was dedicated to you, he was dedicated. When he set his mind to something, he didn’t stop until it was fulfilled.
And sometimes, that went a much longer way than just kindness.
“We’ll see how I feel after this one,” I said.
“So, what happened with your day?” Devon asked.
He tipped his beer back, and I noticed he did it crookedly. Jace never did that. His was always straight up. Head back, neck exposed, vulnerable just for a second. I lost count of how many times I’d kissed that neck while he was mid-chug. How many times I’d raked my teeth across his pulse point and rose his cock to perfection.
I hated myself for this. Here was this kind man who was easy on the eyes trying to do his best to make me feel comfortable, and I was comparing him to an ex. An ex I hadn’t seen in years. An ex that, for all I knew, didn’t give a shit about me. Didn’t spare a thought for me at all. Hell, Jace probably didn’t even remember me.
I thought I was stronger than this. I thought I was over it. I thought I could come back into this town and resume life as normal. But I couldn’t. Apparently, I wasn’t as strong as I thought. All of the memories that were triggered just in this random bar were about to drown me. And I was in a place I’d never been before! I couldn’t imagine the memories that would flood my system if I ever walked back into a place Jace and I had frequented.
It would choke the very life from my throat.
“I just work a high-stress job,” I said. “That’s all.”
“What do you do for work?” Devon asked.
“Classified,” I said, winking.
“Well,” he said, chuckling, “I work in engineering.”
“Oh, really? What kind?”
“Mechanical,” he said. “I work on the air force base.”
“Nellis?” I asked. “Are you in the military? Or a contract worker?”
“Contract,” he said. “And before you ask, yes. I enjoy it greatly.”
“Well, if you won’t tell anyone in this bar-- because there are about seven things illegal in this scenario alone-- I’m a cop,” I said.
“In Vegas?” he asked.
“Henderson. About sixteen miles outside the city,” I said. “And yes, I enjoy what I do.”
He chuckled and tipped up his beer, and still, I was focused on how it was crooked instead of straight up. How the hell could I stop this? How the fuck was Jace still affecting me? I had to try and stop thinking about him. I had to find something to do that wouldn’t remind me of Jace.
And then, a song came on.
“Do you dance?” I asked.
“I do,” Devon said. “Do you?”
“I try when I can. Would you like to dance?” I asked.
Jace never fucking danced. Not in a million years. There was no possible way I could think about Jace while dancing in the arms of this man. It was the perfect plan. And the smile on Devon’s face as he set down his beer told me he was in for the ride. He put his beer bottle down on the bar, took my drink from my hand, then threaded his fingers with mine.
Phase one of ‘Forget Jace’ had officially commenced.
Chapter 7
Snake
My blood boiled as I watched her with another man. What the fuck was she doing? He wasn’t even her type! She came in here with her head held high and her gaze stuck in a glass. I knew that look. I knew those clothes. She’d had a hard day, and she wasn’t looking to talk about it. She picked the chair that probably looked the sturdiest to her and sat in it. She was always insecure about her weight, which I never understood. She was beautiful, with jiggling curves in all the right fucking places. Got my cock all mixed up in that body for months. But in the back of her mind, she was heavy. She thought she was hot shit, but she always looked out for things that would embarrass her about her weight.
Like breaking a damn chair if she sat in it.
He sat down beside her, and they started talking. Like he gave a shit about her. Like they were old pals. And she was falling for his shtick. Had she retained nothing since she’d been with me? Nothing that I’d taught her? Opened her eyes up to? Every part of me wanted to go over there and bust up their moment. I wanted to stick myself in between him and her and tell that blue-eyed dandy to fuck off.
