Tap Out (Reaper's Den Book One) - Nikki Mays Page 0,37

hell is Marc when you need him? “But that guy, or boy-man, whatever he is looks as innocent as them come.” Stacey looks over at Jameson with sharp, assessing eyes. “Truthfully, I’m pretty sure that most toddlers are actually scarier than he is.” She looks at me with raised eyebrows. “Is he really a fighter? He just doesn’t, well, look it.”

“Isn’t he the reason that your arm is all jacked up?” Edge asks suspiciously.

“He is.” I nod my head.

Edge whistles lowly. “And you don’t want me to be the one to dole out the ass kicking?” Valid question. Most people probably would want to.

I scratch the side of my neck below my ear, a move that Stacey doesn’t happen to miss judging by how her eyes narrow. “What did you do?”

I blink innocently. “What do you mean?”

She crosses her arms and taps her sneaker clad foot. “You did that ear scratch thing that you do when you did something stupid but don’t want to admit to it.”

“If we didn’t know that you two were a thing before, it would be obvious now.” Kealy mumbles, making Edge and I chuckle while Stacey turns red again.

She playfully whacks Kealy on the arm. “We have no need for a smartass.”

Kealy looks at her with eyes full of mischief. It’s interesting to see the contrast of how she acts with someone that she’s comfortable with. I have a feeling this is exactly how she was before that asshole. “You mean because we already have you?” She smiles sweetly.

Stacey’s eyes narrow ever more. “Keep it up bitch and those unicorn pajamas that you love so much are going to mysteriously disappear.”

Kealy hisses in outrage while Edge and I look on in amusement. “You’re the one who should be careful.”

Stacey snorts. “And why’s that.”

Kealy puts her hands on her hips and gives Stacey a victorious smile. “Because we both know that Brad would easily let me into your place.” Stacey’s lips purse. “All those nice new bottles of wine that you got such a great deal on might just mysteriously disappear too.”

“Touché bitch, you won this round.” Stacey begrudgingly mutters.

Edge quirks an eyebrow. “Unicorn pajamas?”

Kealy turns so red that she almost looks purple. She gives a little shrug and looks anywhere but at us. “They’re bright, cheerful, and fun. Everyone can use some unicorns in their life.”

Edge holds up his hands and chuckles. “It was just a question darlin’.” He looks over at Stacey. “And what’s up with all the wine Betty Ford?”

Seemingly having heard this before, Stacey stomps her foot and huffs. “They were having a damn sale. It was buy one get one half off.” She looks at all of us accusingly. “I got a really great deal okay?”

Unable to keep the humor out of my voice I ask. “How many bottles did you get?”

She purses her lips. “A few.” Kealy’s cough sounds suspiciously like a laugh causing Stacey to roll her eyes. “Fine.” She grumbles. “More than a few. But I like being prepared. Who knows what type of wine I’ll be in the mood for on any given day! At least now, I won’t have to worry, thank you very much.” She sniffs and raises her chin.

Deciding to take pity on the woman who just doesn’t realize that she is still my woman, I steer our conversation back to our original topic. “Yo Jameson!” I shout, causing several heads to turn in our direction, but I only care about the blonde one who is now walking over with a smile.

“Hey Reaper. How you feeling?” He looks down at my arm like a sad puppy, just as he has every single time this kid has seen me. This is another reason why I can’t be mad at him. He’s been beating himself up more than I ever could. Plus, I may or may not have goaded him a bit since I was a little pissy about him even questioning if I should be in the ring with him. In hindsight, yeah I probably shouldn’t have been. But damn did that hit a nerve with my ego.

“Will you stop giving me that damn look. It was an accident. We both know that I shouldn’t have even been in the ring with you. It was my ego’s fault for stepping in when I should have had someone else who was already warmed up and ready to go. It wasn’t your fault kid. It could’ve happened with anyone. I’m older and knew better, end of story.”

“If