Rome (Marked Men #3)(27)
Author: Jay Crownover

CHAPTER 7

Cora

It had been a week since I let my inner slut out. A solid week that I hadn’t thought of Jimmy and the upcoming wedding one single time, let alone done any Facebook stalking. It had also been a week that I walked on eggshells waiting for the Terrible Trio to lay into me, to grill me about the overnight visit with big brother, but it never came. Apparently the idea that Rome and I could be anything but mortal enemies was laughable, and aside from the third degree I had to suffer from Ayden and some curious looks from Shaw, it wasn’t a big deal at all. Now, had they known that I let it go from babysitting a blacked-out drunk to something else entirely, that might have been a different story. It sucked because I couldn’t get the something else entirely out of my mind no matter what I did.

Rome had stopped at the shop once to drop off Nash’s cell when he forgot it at home and another time to ask Rule if he would come and help strip the floors at that dive bar he seemed to be spending all his time at. On both occasions he had been achingly polite and totally normal. There was no hint of anything inappropriate or even flirtatious. He acted like we had never been naked together, let alone screwed each other’s brains out, and it irked me to no end. Especially since every time I saw him I was reminded just how out-of-this-world hot he was. It wasn’t fair. Granted I had been the one to deny that the act meant anything other than scratching an itch, but it rubbed me the wrong way that he seemed so blasé and unaffected by it. I responded by being even more flippant and sarcastic than normal. It didn’t seem to bother him at all.

I was at Cerberus after a particularly long day at the shop having drinks with everyone and waiting for Jet’s band to play. It was a typical Saturday night except for the fact that instead of having fun with my friends, I was busy trying not to watch Rome and the chick in leather pants who was practically dry-humping him at the table. I knew it shouldn’t bother me, we weren’t even friends really, but it was taking every ounce of restraint I possessed, which wasn’t a lot to begin with, not only to keep from screaming at him, but to keep from murdering the chick with her own tacky necklace. To Rome’s credit, he didn’t look like he was interested in what the girl was throwing at him, but he sure as hell wasn’t pushing her away either. I wanted to dump the pitcher of beer in front of me over both of them.

“What’s up, cranky pants?”

Rowdy’s amused voice broke through my dark musings and I tore my gaze away from Rome to look at him. Jet had dragged Ayden off backstage with him saying something about how she needed to see the bathroom here as well; Shaw and Rule were deep in conversation with Nash about Phil, nobody had seen or heard from the shop owner in over a week and everyone was concerned. Rome was busy with Catwoman, so that left me and Rowdy alone at the table. There were way worse drinking partners to have, but at the moment I didn’t need those perceptive ocean-blue eyes picking me apart.

“I’m not cranky, just tired. It was a long day.”

He lifted a blond eyebrow and picked up his pint of Coors Light. “You’ve been off all week. Quiet. That’s not normal.”

I just shrugged and hoped silence would make him drop it, but then the girl with Rome threw back her head and let out a loud laugh that had me biting down on my tongue to avoid creating a scene.

“There is no way he said anything that funny. I don’t even think he has a sense of humor.” I was aware I sounded snarky and mean but I couldn’t seem to help it.

Rowdy stretched one of his arms out along the back of my chair and wrapped his fingers around the back of my neck. I sighed a little when he started to rub some of the tension out of the muscles.

“You wanna tell me what’s really going on or do you just want me to jump to my own conclusion, which is probably right anyway?”

I scowled at him and looked back at Rome and the leather-clad bitch. I couldn’t hold back the tiny snarl that formed when I saw her tuck her fingers under the edge of the leather belt he had on.

“It’s possible, I mean highly likely, that I think big brother Archer is a total babe.”

Rowdy laughed. “No kidding.”

I elbowed him in the side and rolled my eyes. “It’s also entirely possible that said babeness is hard to resist, and I may or may not have let his sleepover get out of hand.”

The gentle rubbing stopped and he let out a low whistle. I looked up at him and frowned when I saw that he was frowning right back at me.

“What?”

“That’s just surprising and kind of messed up.”

“Why? You guys do it all the time.”

“Not with anyone the rest of us are related to. We like to get away clean.”

I elbowed him in the ribs again. “Pig.”

“If it was just a onetime thing then what’s with the death glare you’re giving the brunette that’s all up on him?”

I heaved a deep sigh. “I don’t know.” And I really didn’t. Rome was not on my agenda, he was not what I was looking for, but I couldn’t stop thinking about him and all his imperfections. That wasn’t good. I put my chin on my hand and looked at Rowdy.

“Don’t you get lonely? Rule’s with Shaw, Jet went and got married, for Christ’s sake. Don’t you look around and wonder when it’s your turn? I know you well enough to know that the endless girls, the one-night stands, are what they are. You could do without, but if the right one came along you would be all over her.”

He laughed without any humor and leaned back in his chair. When the waitress came by he ordered us a round of Jäger shots.

“The right one came along forever ago, only I wasn’t her right one, so now it is what it is and I’m just killing time.”

I blinked at him in surprise. He never really talked about his past much. I knew he grew up in the system in Texas, that he used to play football, and that he had left the game and college unexpectedly and decided to tattoo instead, but that was really it.

“So you don’t think there’s anyone else after that? You’re just going to spend the rest of your life going girl to girl and being alone?”

It made me think of Jimmy, of the life I thought I was supposed to have by now. I had invested everything in him, had thought he was my everything, and now I wasn’t so sure. Nothing had flipped me upside down the way the pain and passion that burned in Rome’s bright blue eyes had. I wasn’t a person affected by a lot, but he affected me, no doubt about it. He was about as steady and secure as a tropical storm, though, and that made him more than a little dangerous to my sense of what was right for me.