Fuck. Aidan was right. Goddamn it. He wanted to kick something. He didn’t need this. He wasn’t responsible enough to take care of his own damn self. He didn’t have to do it. He didn’t.
Almost as if his fucking hand had a mind of its own, he picked up her cell and flipped it open. He was going to tell Bo off. He was going to tell the little shit to find his own woman. He needed a Domme, not a Dom, and sure as hell not him. He didn’t need that shit.
“Mouse, it’s me. Don’t talk. I got some stuff to say and I just want to say it.” Bo slurred his words, and Trev could hear the sounds of thumping country western music in the background.
He sighed. “Bo, it isn’t…”
“Hush, now, girl. I told you. I need to say this. I love you, Mouse. I always loved you, ever since we were kids, but it turns out I’m not very good at it. Hell, I ain’t been good at much of anything. I know that. But what you said today was wrong, Mouse. How can you think for one second that I would treat you like that? It doesn’t matter that you picked Trev. It doesn’t matter.”
Trev knew he should hang up. “Bo, this isn’t Beth.”
Bo went on as though he hadn’t heard a thing. “I would never treat you like the rest of the people in this town do. And I won’t be polite. I love you. There’s not a damn thing polite about it. When I see you on the street, I’m going to smile, and I’m going to talk to you because that will be the best part of my whole day. I’ll ask about you, and I’ll even ask how that fucker Trev is doing. Sorry. I’m a little drunk, baby. I know we can’t be friends the way we were. I know that. Hell, I even get why you picked him. He’s already taken care of you in ways I never have. That’s what I feel the worst about. I should have been strong enough. I should have told the world to fuck itself and just been with you. I don’t know why I’m like that. I’m just broken inside, I guess. But if you ever need anything, Mouse, you call me. I’ll be there. I won’t fail you again. I won’t. God, I just want to fade away, but I won’t do it because someday you might need me, and I’m going to be there. And if that fucker breaks your heart, then I’ll kill him. I know he’s bigger than me, but I don’t intend to play fair. I’ll follow his ass, and I’ll get him when he’s unaware. I swear it. I just love you. I’m sorry. I won’t call again, but I needed you to know that.”
The phone clicked dead, and Trev cursed. His stomach and his cock were going to have to wait because his conscience had just taken the forefront. He couldn’t leave the bastard out there. He just couldn’t. Anything could happen to him. Bo was drunk and hurting. It was a toxic cocktail. Trev would know. He wrote a quick note to Beth and ran back to his truck. He sighed as he put it in reverse. He wouldn’t have his sweet sub naked on the bench seat. He would have drunk Bo in his cab. It likely wouldn’t smell like Beth’s arousal. It would smell like puke. Yep. Shitty damn night.
And he had the additional problem of a promise he was about to break. He drove toward Aidan’s ranch as he dialed a very familiar number. Leo picked up, and Trev prayed he hadn’t hightailed it back to Dallas. If he had, then Trev was going to have to ask Aidan to come with him, and that might be disturbing. Trev was going to Dom the hell out of Aidan’s brother, and despite the fact that Aidan had asked him to do it, it might be difficult to watch.
“What’s up, Trev?” Leo’s voice came on the line. Trev could hear Lexi laughing in the background.
Trev just laid it out for him. There wasn’t a lot of time for explanations. “I’m going to a bar. I need you to come with me.”
“Uh, no. Not just no, but hell no. What happened?”
“Bo happened. I have to go and drag his ass out of a honky-tonk.”
“No, you don’t. I’ll let Aidan know. We’ll handle it. You don’t even need to walk into a bar at this stage.”
Trev rolled his eyes. What did Leo think would happen? He wasn’t going to turn into an alcohol-crazed maniac at the sight of a beer. He really wasn’t. Something deep and calm settled in Trev. He wasn’t even going to be tempted. He had a job to do, and it was far more important than that whiny asshole who lived in his soul and wanted to drink himself into oblivion. This wasn’t just for Bo. This was for Beth. Beth needed Bo, too. Hell, this was for himself.
“I’ll be fine, but I would prefer to have you with me. I promised I wouldn’t do this, but I have to break that vow.”
Leo was insistent. “No you fucking don’t. Aidan can do it.”
“He’s my sub, Leo.” There. He’d said it. He’d said it out loud.
There was a long pause. “Are fucking kidding me? Two days in this godforsaken town and you take two subs. Tell me something. Does Bo know he’s taken a Dom?”
“Not yet, but trust me, he’ll understand after tonight.” Trev pulled up into the driveway. “Are you coming or not?”
Trev watched the door. It flew open, and Leo was in the cab of the truck in a heartbeat. Trev didn’t bother to wait. He took off toward The Rusty Spur. The faster he got there, the less time Bo had to fuck up and get himself in serious trouble.
“This is a mistake,” Leo said. “I’m fine with you taking Beth. Beth isn’t going to be any trouble at all from what I understand. Bo is going to be a train wreck. He doesn’t even like the lifestyle.”
“Because he doesn’t want to recognize it in himself. I’m going to give him a choice. He can get with the program, or he can lose what he loves. He needs this. He knows it deep down, but once he figures out Beth needs it, he’ll come around.”
Leo stopped for a moment. “That could work. You know Aidan has been worried about his brother for a long time. He says their father was always really hard on Bo. Aidan was kind of like you.”
Trev snorted. “What? Addicted and irresponsible?”
“Smart. Great at school. Popular and athletic.”
Yeah, but Trev had thrown all of those things away. “Bo was very good at football. He was a good linebacker.”
“After you took him under your wing and forced the rest of the team to accept him. I talked to Aidan about it. I can fill in the blanks. Am I wrong?”
“No.” He’d pretty much done exactly that.
Leo was quiet for a moment. “Do you ever wonder why you did that?”
He knew where Leo was going. “Because deep down I was a Dom, and I recognized what he needed.”
“Yep. Are you sure you can handle this? You haven’t been outside The Club in years. This could end up being very stressful and chaotic.”
“Then I’ll make it unchaotic. Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do? Impose order?” If he couldn’t manage it, then he’d turn in his leathers, but he had no intention of fucking this up. “I can handle it.”
Leo slapped a hand on his thigh. “The fact that you called me makes me think you can. All right, then let’s take that boy down. After what happened today, I’m just glad you’re not still spanking your sub. I expected that girl’s butt to be red for days.”
The gravel crunched under his tires, and the truck rolled toward the honky-tonk. It was utterly dark this far from town. “What are you talking about? Why would I spank her? All she did today was fix the front door and start painting a wall.”
Leo whistled. “Wow. That girl is in real trouble. Do you have your kit? I have rope in my Jeep if you need it. You might need a spreader. I’m sure Aidan will let you use his barn. It’s fully equipped for a torture scene. What are her hard limits? You might want to push those.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I ran into Shelley at dinner earlier.”
“I bet you did.” His sister was walking a thin line. “She’s married. I wish she wasn’t, but she is. Cheating would kill her.”
Leo’s mouth tightened. “I’m not sleeping with your sister. I won’t lie. We have an odd connection, but she made her choice when she married that man. I’m friends with your sister. Nothing more. She needs a friend since her husband is such a fucking douche bag.”
“Holy shit, you asked her to leave him.” How
much had been going on? Leo was a happy, affable guy on the outside, but Trev knew he kept a lot hidden.
“I haven’t touched her if that’s what you’re worried about. I haven’t kissed her or laid a damn hand on her, and I won’t. But I’m worried about Bryce. I’m worried he could be violent. He fits a certain profile. I believe he’s been emotionally abusive toward your sister, and that can certainly turn physical. The truth of the matter is I would like to do a little investigation into his background. Starting with his financials.”
Crap. Once again he’d been so involved in his own shit that he’d missed his sister’s problems. “I’ll take care of it. She’s my sister.”
Leo’s eyes narrowed. Sometimes it was easy to forget that Leo had been a SEAL and not the team’s medic. He’d been deadly, and though it didn’t show up often, that warrior was on his face now. “I’ll take care of it.” He shook his head as though to clear the violence of his thoughts. “She would be horrified if you started really looking into her marriage. She wants to protect you. Trust me on this. Let me take care of your sister. Besides, you have enough on your hands with your sub. Beth was shot at this afternoon.”
Trev nearly turned the truck into a ditch. “What?”
Leo handled it all with a calm sigh. “Shelley heard it from Patty who heard it from Wanda. Some kid named Austin Hall was in Beth’s house when she and Bo came home. The sheriff thinks he was looking for drugs. At least that’s what the kid says. He took a couple of shots at Beth, but Bo took him down. The sheriff says the kid’s in pretty bad shape, though not from Bo. Meth head.”
Trev forced himself to go very calm. His first instinct was to turn the truck around, find Beth, use the rope in his kit, and prove to her all the reasons she shouldn’t lie to her Dom. “All she told me was that there had been a little trouble, but she’d handled it.”
“Bo had a little scrape, but that was the extent of the physical damage,” Leo offered.
“She didn’t even call me.”
“She was probably afraid to. I don’t mean she was afraid of you. I mean she was afraid of being troublesome. She’s submissive, but she doesn’t understand the lifestyle. She doesn’t want to be a burden.”
The lights from the honky-tonk came into view. Neon reds and blues lit up the night. God, he’d loved this place once. He’d been allowed in despite the fact that he’d been underage. He’d been the quarterback who led the team to a state championship both his junior and senior years. He’d been a damn hero, so everyone looked the other way when he had a beer or two or ten. It had all started here.
Crap, he wanted to be back in The Club. Things had been easier there. He’d known there was no way he’d be allowed to step out of line. He could spend his evenings working with subs who never lied or tried to cover anything up. There wasn’t anything to cover up. Besides the occasional scene, he had no real ties to any of those subs.
That had been fantasy. This was real life. In real life, he could fuck up all he wanted and people would just help him along. In real life, in real relationships, he had to deal with the fact that he was going to get angry and irritated even with the best-behaved sub. Because she wasn’t just a sub. She was a woman, and women were irritating and aggravating and the only thing that made life really worthwhile. Fuck, he was in love with her.
He was going to spank her ass red.
He shoved the truck in park and got out. Leo was right behind him.
“So we go in, kidnap Bo, and get out.” There wasn’t a hint of worry in Leo’s voice. It was as though he wholly approved of the plan. “You know, I always did think Julian put far too much faith in contracts. A good kidnapping followed by some time on the rack. That’s what some subs need. A claiming. Everyone loves a good claiming. Lexi’s right about that. Now the whole ‘Dom submits to the sub to prove his love’ stuff is complete crap, but she’s right about the claiming part.”
Trev stopped and faced his mentor. He really was a pain in the ass sometimes. “I’m not claiming Bo.”
“Really?”
“Not in that way. I’m not taking him home and fucking him. It’s not going to be that way.”
Leo shook his head. “That’s what you all say. Then the butt sex starts.”
Trev turned. Leo was utterly obnoxious at times. This was one of those times. “I’m planning on talking to him.”
Leo slapped him on the shoulder as he fell in step with him. “That’s your first mistake. I don’t think talking to Bo is going to help. If you want your very own crazy three-way, you’re going to have to make it happen.”
“One of these days, Leo, you’re going to end up in a crazy-ass threesome, and I’m going to laugh. I’m going to sit back and laugh.”
Leo shook his head. “Not going to happen. A. I’m not even close to bisexual. B. Not interested in sharing.”
“I’ve met your brother. You have the same taste in women.” Wolf Meyer would probably have been all over Shelley, too. The Meyer brothers were incredibly different, but the same in some ways.
They reached the front steps. Trev got a little sick to his stomach. It had been years since he’d been inside a bar, and now he was going into the belly of the beast for a man who might hate his guts.
“I’ll kill myself before I share a woman with my brother. Wolf is intolerable. He’s my brother and I love him, but I want to kill him half the time. He has no organizational skills. He throws his clothes everywhere. He’s a slob, and he still eats like a five-year-old. I can’t live with Wolf much less share a woman with him.” Leo was looking at him with an outraged expression. It was actually slightly prissy.
All of his fear fled. He’d managed to make big, tough Leo Meyer look like a prissy schoolmarm. He could handle this.
Trev strode through the doors of The Rusty Spur certain everything was going to be fine.
Chapter Twelve
Nothing was ever going to be fine again. Bo scrubbed a hand through his hair as the bartender set another whiskey in front of him. He stared at it. He wasn’t so far gone yet that he couldn’t think, couldn’t see Mouse’s pretty face turned up to his telling him they couldn’t be together. He wasn’t sure anything would obliterate that sight.
He pushed the drink away. He was drunk enough. It was probably time to figure out how he was getting home.
“Hey, Bo.” Clarissa slid on the barstool next to him. Her blonde hair was tucked under a fashionably crushed, pink cowboy hat. Her breasts were practically hanging out of her tank top. “Sorry about last night. That Brian can get mean when he’s drunk.”
“He wasn’t the only one.” He hadn’t forgotten what she’d said about Mouse. Did she honestly think she could call his best friend a pathetic whore and he’d still sleep with her? Probably. That was his reputation. He’d take just about anything and laugh it off. He was the pathetic one.
Her hand slid across his. “Don’t hold that against me. Every woman you’ve ever dated hates that girl. I don’t intend to be another of your girlfriends who takes a backseat any time Mouse Hobbes scrapes her knee. You can’t blame us for disliking her. I was a little mad that you were dumping me for the night. I had big plans. I still do. I get it now. You didn’t want Melody. You just wanted me.”
He nearly came off his barstool as her other hand found his thigh. He knew one thing for sure. He couldn’t have Mouse, but he loved her, and he wasn’t about to start up with another woman. Now that he knew he really loved her, he couldn’t accept what Clarissa was offering. “I don’t think so.”
Her cold brown eyes rolled. She leaned forward, and her hand tightened on his thigh, dangerously close to his cock. Her voice was low as she leaned in. “Come on, Bo. Don’t be an idiot. No man turns me down. I’m not about to be made a laughingstock in this town. I won’t let anyone say Mouse Hobbes took a man I wanted. Now you’re going to get up off this barstool, and we’re going to get out of here. Or I’ll tell everyone here you’re just as queer as your brother.”
Bo froze. He didn’t ha
ve Mouse anymore. Did any of it really matter? And he was starting to hate these people he’d thought of as his friends. But did he really want this fight? Would it do anyone a lick of good? Bo felt slightly frozen.
“Or you can take your hand off him before I’m forced to do something I don’t want to do.” A low, menacing voice cut through the thudding music.
Bo turned and saw Trev McNamara and Leo Meyer staring down at Clarissa. He was damn happy they weren’t staring at him. Both men looked ready to commit murder or something worse. Clarissa turned on her stool, her hand coming off his leg. She looked Trev up and down, her lips curling up. She didn’t seem to pick up on what Bo was seeing. Bo didn’t think they were sizing her up for a fun night.
“Damn, Trev, you look fine. It didn’t take you long to find your way back here. But then everyone knows Trev McNamara likes a good time.” She actually smiled and leaned forward, letting her hand trail down his chest.
“You get your hands off me right now.” There was no way to mistake the coldness in his tone.
She turned toward Leo.
Leo shook his head, dismissing her. “I’m not interested, either. Go find easier prey. And think twice before spreading rumors about Bo. I can make your life hell, and quite frankly, I would probably enjoy doing it. I get bored.”
Yep, Leo was one scary dude, and Clarissa seemed to finally get the point. She stood up, and a look of fury crossed her face. She opened her mouth.
“I wouldn’t if I were you.” Trev’s face was a stony mask. Maybe Trev was a little scary, too.