Gross. Really?
I flashback to the scene at upstate’s clubhouse last night. She’s probably not lying.
Doesn’t matter. Rooster and I can discuss it later. I can’t let this lady think she’s rattled me. This woman’s giving off serious spotted hyena vibes. If she smells fear, she’ll probably claw me to ribbons.
I shrug, all casual, like I couldn’t care less. “Well, he’s pretty snarly around most guys I encounter. And I don’t share, so, guess those days are over for him.”
“Well, just make sure they know it too.” She points one manicured finger in the direction of the two girls perched on bar stools watching Rooster carry a heavy stack of boxes. “They’ve probably both fucked your man at some point. You’ll want to make it clear he’s no longer free dick.”
Tawny’s still chuckling to herself—miserable old bitch—as I stomp over to the bar.
The spark of jealousy burns maddeningly hot inside me. This right here is what I don’t need in my life. Why I shouldn’t be in a relationship.
I catch the eye of the darker-haired girl and she beams at me, throwing a little wave. The urge to slap her scares me, it comes on so strong.
Rooster’s mine. I don’t care who he’s banged in the past.
What a whopper of a lie. I care way too damn much.
Thinking about him with either of these broads has me madder than a three-legged dog trying to bury a bone on an icy pond.
“Hey.” I boost myself up on one of the bar stools and none-too-subtly drape my arm over Rooster’s shoulder.
To my great relief, he slips his arm around my waist. “Hey, chickadee.” He leans down and kisses my cheek. “This is Delilah and…”
“Sheila,” the blonde answers for him.
Phew. So either he’s never slept with her or he’s slept with so many girls he can’t remember all their names.
Oh, this is so bad.
“Right. Sorry, hon.” He squeezes me closer. “This is my girl, Shelby. We’re actually headed upstate again tonight, but I wanted to show her around.”
“How’d it go up there?” Delilah asks.
“Good. You could’ve come up.”
“Nah, I had to work.” She winks at him. “My real job.”
Rooster chuckles. “Appreciate you lookin’ after things here for us.”
“No problem.” She nods to the staircase in the corner. “Sway and Tawny have been here to ‘monitor’ things as well.”
She says it in a neutral tone but I sense she’s not too thrilled. Maybe Tawny’s full of “helpful” tips for all the women who stop by.
Rooster finishes and walks me down the long corridor off the main room. At the end, we take a left and he pulls out a key to open one of the doors. “This is my room,” he explains.
“Oh.” I step inside, admiring the dark gray, weathered hardwood floor that matches the rest of the clubhouse. The walls are painted a lighter shade of gray than the hallways, except for a deep blue accent wall behind the bed. While the colors are calm and soothing, the masculine vibe is reinforced with leather and metal details in the bedframe and a reading chair in the corner. “This is nice.”
He shuts the door behind us. “What’d Tawny say to you?”
Biting my lip, I back into the room, not wanting to answer the question. Now I feel a little silly for letting that woman bother me.
“She’s the last president’s ol’ lady,” he explains. “So I still gotta show her respect, but she’s not always kind to the girls.”
The last flames of jealousy flare and die out. “Some stuff about you liking to share girls? And that you’d probably fucked both bartenders at some point.”
“Jesus.” He pinches the bridge of his nose and drops his head. “Fuckin’ pain in the ass.”
After a beat or two, he glances up, meeting my eyes. “For the record, Sheila just started hanging around here, helping out, more recently. Delilah’s more like a kid sister than…anything else.”
“Oh.” Funny how he sidestepped the first part of what Tawny told me.
“To me,” he clarifies. “What she does with anyone else isn’t my business.”
“Well, I don’t care what anyone else does.”
“Good.”
We stare at each other for a few beats.
“Tawny loves to stir up trouble.”
Rooster’s frustrated tone plucks my guilt strings. I shouldn’t hassle him for horseshit someone else said to me.
“I’m sure she’s still salty that she’s not in charge of the girls around here anymore,” he continues. “Lilly’s too nice to say anything, so I’ll talk to Z.”
“I don’t want to start trouble.”
“It’s not a big deal. I told her you were my