Something Wild: A Reckless and Real Prequel Novella (8 page)

H
er date is
at least fifteen years older than her and could probably find steady work as a stunt double for Smokey the Bear.

Not that I care. I definitely don’t care who Liz Thompson is sleeping with.

She laughs at something Smokey says and then excuses herself and heads to the restroom, her tight ass swinging with every step.

“You’re staring,” Max says.

I bring my attention back to my table and find William and Max both studying me. Max is smirking.
Asshole
. “I’m not staring at anything.”

“You were definitely staring,” Will says. “And before you were staring at
her,
you were giving her date the I’m-going-to-hang-you-by-your-balls-over-a-pit-of-vipers
look.”

“Don’t give him a hard time,” Max says. “That’s a completely normal reaction to have when you catch someone out with your wife . . . but wait. She’s not your wife, is she? Or your girlfriend even? Huh.”

Will smirks. “Can’t tell by the way he’s looking at her.”

I lean back in the booth. “You’re both assholes.”

“You could just ask her out,” Max suggests.

“I’ll pass,” I say, but the words come out as a growl, revealing too much. I clear my throat. “Excuse me.”

I head back toward the bathrooms with a half-cocked plan to corner her and make her talk to me. But about what? We haven’t talked since last summer—out of respect for my sister Della, I’ve kept my distance. The last thing my pregnant sister needs is to see her big brother making nice with the woman who nearly tore her world apart.

When I reach the back hallway, I spot Liz and my steps slow. Smokey the Bear must have snuck back here to meet her when I wasn’t looking. He’s shoving his tongue down her throat and feeling her up.
Jesus
. Couldn’t they at least go somewhere private?

Smokey goes in for another kiss, and Liz turns her head to the side. “Sorry,” she says. “I don’t have sex on the first date. Ever.”

I grunt and watch for a minute, wondering if he’s going to buy the shit she’s shoveling.

“Want me to take it slow, baby?” her date asks. “I can take it slow. With me, you’ll want it to last all night.”

“Listen, Ha—”

“If you’d excuse me,” I say, interrupting. I can’t stomach much more of this.

Liz narrows those pretty blue eyes at me and lifts her chin. “Did you need something?”

“Restroom.” I point behind her.

She blushes prettily. Everything Liz does is pretty. The way she drinks a beer is pretty, the way she nuzzles her pillow in her sleep, the way she kisses her way down my stomach before . . .

Fuck that.
I skim my eyes over her date. If that’s what Liz wants, she can have it. There’s no reason for me to stand in her way. I attempt a smile. “You two kids have fun.”

I push into the bathroom and let the water run hot in the sink as I stare at myself in the mirror. “You don’t need her, Bradshaw,” I mutter at my reflection, and my stomach knots at the words. I may not need her, but I want her—a
want
that’s so intoxicating, so potent, it masquerades as
need
. I want her. I miss her. But none of that matters because I can’t forgive her.

This is the end of Liz and Sam’s prequel, but it’s not the end of them. I hope you’ll follow their story in the
Reckless and Real
series, beginning with
Something Reckless
and concluding in
Something Real
(March 2015)
.

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.

T
he New Hope Series

Unbreak Me

Stolen Wishes
(A
Wish I May
prequel novella)

Wish I May

H
ere and Now (A
New Hope Series)

Lost in Me

Fall to You

All for This

R
eckless and Real
(A New Hope Series)

Something Wild
(A Reckless and Real prequel novella)

Something Reckless

Something Real
(Coming March 2015)

H
ot Contemporary Romance

Text Appeal

Accidental Sex Goddess

D
ecadence Creek Stories
and Novellas

Just One Night

Just the Way You Are

A former college English professor, Lexi Ryan now writes full time from her home in rural Indiana. She loves to hear from readers!

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