Free Sexy Bastards Anthology: Bad Boy, Biker, Alpha, Motorcycle Club, Contemporary Romance Collection by Lexy Timms, Dale Mayer, Sierra Rose, Christine Bell, Bella Love-Wins, Cassie Alexandra, Lisa Ladew, C.J. Pinard, C.C. Cartwright, Kylie Walker Page A

they screwed for like a week – right after he graduated high school. She had just moved into town and they’d hooked up at a club in town. He thought she had moved away awhile ago
    “Oh yeah,” he said, trying to muster a shred of enthusiasm. “How are you, Tiffany? Long time no see.”
    “I’m great! Just in town visiting some old friends. You look, like, really good Mikey. Like…really good,” she said, eyeing him up and down, her gaze lingering on his biceps.
    “Thanks, Tiff. You look great, too,” he said with as polite of a smile as he could manage given the fact that he wanted nothing more than for her to leave.
    She paused for a moment, twirling a long lock of golden hair.
    “Say, Mike,” her tone was laced with seduction, “I don’t have to meet up with my friends until later tonight. You wanna maybe get out of here? Catch up a little.” She added a not so subtle wink that would’ve had the Mike of just a couple weeks ago cocked, locked and ready to fire.
    She was beautiful. No doubt about it. Her hourglass figure and soft blonde hair were the things dreams were made of. She had long, tan legs that made the distance from her red, six-inch heels to the bottom of her short, black dress seem like miles. Maybe getting out of here and “catching up” would help him take his mind off of Kitty.
    Kitty.
    He thought back to their last night together, and shook his head slowly.
    “I’m sorry, Tiffany. I’m not interested,” he finally said.
    “Not interested?” she asked with a harsh laugh that made her look a lot less pretty than she’d been a moment before. “Since when is Michael Blade not interested in sex?”
    “Since now, with you,” he replied, more annoyed with himself than her, for exactly the same reason. Since when wasn’t he interested in sex?
    Since Kitty. How had his redheaded neighbor burrowed so deeply under his thick skin so fast? And how the hell was he going to get her out?
    But Tiffany was unaware of his internal struggle and leaned in, one hand cocked on her hip.
    “Um, excuse me ?” Tiffany’s cheeks turned beet red. “You’re a real asshole, Blade--”
    “Whoa, whoa!” a second, female voice chimed in, cutting her off before things got even uglier.
    Mike looked up to see Kitty’s high school friend, Cheri, standing there holding both hands up like a ref in a boxing ring.
    “No means no, okay, toots,” she muttered to Tiffany, and jabbed a finger toward the door. “And I’m afraid I’m gonna have to eject you for a low blow. Now hit the bricks.”
    Tiffany looked like she was about to argue, but the fierce expression in Cheri’s laser green eyes made her think twice.
    “Whatever,” she mumbled, and then tottered off on her too-high heels toward the exit.
    “What are you doing here, Cheri?” Mike asked, suddenly feeling like he’d aged ten years in the past few days. He’d never been very close with Cheri and seeing her now only reminded him of Kitty.
    “Last I checked, it was the only place with decent wings in town. Sit. I’ll buy you a beer,” she said with a gentle smile that seemed so out of character compared to her usual, brash self.
    He dropped back down in his stool at the bar. Cheri took the seat next to him and ordered two pints from the bartender.
    “I appreciate it,” Mike said, “but seriously, tell me why you’re here?”
    “Fine,” Cheri sighed. “I saw your bike in the parking lot and thought I’d stick my nose where it didn’t belong. Look, Mike. Kaitlin and I are best friends. She told me everything.”
    He would love to know what her version of “everything” was, but he wasn’t about to ask.
    “I don’t know what she told you, but she decided not to stick around so--”
    “She told me that part. That she left when you didn’t come back that night. She also told me you left to meet another woman without explanation. An ex, no less.”
    When she said it, brows raised like that, it did sound bad. He clenched his pint