“You’re not?”
“Nope. She’s different from those other women because she is mine. Those other bitches were just a pussy to use. She’s back now, and I’m not going to stand by while another man takes what belongs to me. It’s not going to happen.” She’d gone away, and he didn’t realize how much he was missing until she returned, but he wasn’t going to make that mistake again.
“Those other women are going to tear her apart,” Brice said.
“Let them. They won’t like what will happen when they hurt what’s mine.”
“Fuck, are you even listening to yourself? She’s been here five minutes.”
“I’ve known her a lot longer than that. This has been a long time in coming. Now she’s back. It hasn’t just been five minutes. It has been a hell of a lot longer.”
“You’re going to scare the shit out of her,” Brice said.
“Ask Cathy.”
They parked up by one of the outer fences that needed mending. Climbing from the truck, he left the chili inside the cool box where they kept their drinks. Brice was on his cell phone, talking.
To many of the women in town they had treated him like nothing more than a dumb cock to be used. The few times he’d spoken to Raven, she’d never tried to make him feel small or dumb. She simply talked.
There wasn’t a chance in hell that he was going to let her get away.
She belonged to him, and now it was up to him to show it.
****
“I cannot believe I let you talk me into this.” Raven pinched the dress out from her waist, and pushed it down a little more. The pink summer dress with the thin straps came to her knees and covered up a great deal, but it also highlighted how big her hips and breasts were. She liked to cover up.
One of the guys she used to work for once told her that if only she stopped covering up, she’d see how beautiful she was.
Yeah right.
She was more than happy to cover up the fact she loved food.
Cathy grabbed her hands. “Okay, stop. This is just about having some fun.”
“We’re at Bobby’s on a Friday night. How did you talk me into this? I should be at home—”
“Bored out of your mind reading one of those old-fashioned books about a knight saving his damsel?”
“Hey, they’re good books.”
“If you expect to find your knight, you have to put yourself out there.”
“What exactly is going on between you and Brice? Are you a couple?”
“We’re friends who screw around, have some fun. We see other people as well. It’s not serious, and neither of us is looking for serious. It works for us.”
“Okay.”
During her travels she’d met people in open relationships, couples that were free to find intimacy elsewhere, providing they didn’t hide it.
For Raven, that was never something she wanted out of her life.
Entering the bar, Raven saw it was already full, and Cathy took her hand, heading straight for the bar.
She recognized Bobby, and he came wandering over.
“Well, well, well, little Raven Howard finally graces my bar with her presence,” Bobby said.