Free Croc's Return by Eve Langlais

her wetting her panties.
    It wasn’t fair. She tried to move away from his touch, sidestepping left then right. Caleb simply followed her, never relinquishing his claim.
    His stubbornness didn’t endear him to her in the least. “Hands off,” she hissed over her shoulder.
    Caleb completely ignored her, focusing instead on Wes. “If it isn’t my old school chum.”
    “Chum? I believe the trending word these days is frenemies. How have you been, snaggletooth? Did you run and leave behind a whole other bunch of people before coming here?”
    At Wes’s audacity, Renny sucked in a breath.
    The tension in Caleb rose a notch. His jaw hardened. “I didn’t run. I served my time with the military and left with an honorable discharge.”
    “Ah yes. The military. Can’t say as I ever felt the urge. I much preferred to stay behind and enjoy the benefits of home.” Renny bit her lip instead of giggling as Wes winked, so obviously baiting Caleb.
    Caleb, though, didn’t think Wes joked. “Stay away from Renny.”
    Jealousy. Oh my, there was no denying it. Caleb was jealous. A spurt of warmth curled low in her body. No. Don’t give in.
    Fight the attraction. Fight it with anger . “You can’t decide who I see.” This time, she managed to completely evade Caleb’s touch and stood apart from both men, arms crossed over her chest.
    Wes outright laughed. “You’ve been told. Hope you don’t lose too much sleep thinking about how badly you’ll fare when she compares me against you.”
    His smug assurance irritated her, too. “You might be cute, Wes, but I am not interested in dating a sexist thug.”
    “Thug?” Wes arched a brow. “I haven’t had an arrest since I turned eighteen.”
    “Doesn’t mean you’re walking the straight and narrow,” Caleb pointed out. “Every one knows the Mercers are dirty.”
    Wes lost his happy smile. “Maybe everyone should pay more attention before casting out insults. Now, while it’s been just fucking grand catching up, I’m going to have to ask you what you’re doing here.”
    But Caleb just flipped the query around. “What are you doing here?”
    “I’m here as part of the security detail for this party.”
    Something Renny had known, but she could see how Caleb might not have, especially since Wes was dressed just like one of the guests. Dark slacks, a dark mauve button-up shirt, the material filmy and light, and a dark gray tie.
    “You’re a guard?” Caleb let loose a derisive snort. “Isn’t that kind of like letting the gator into the henhouse? Also, since when does a Mercer have a real job? What, did you run out of contraband to smuggle? Lost the recipe for your grandpa’s moonshine?”
    Rather than flaring Wes’s temper, Caleb’s outburst served only to bring back his cool smirk. “I see serving time with the military didn’t improve your sense of humor. And being a veteran doesn’t give you an automatic invite to this party. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
    “Melanie invited me.”
    “Ask me if I give a fuck. I’ll bet if I ask her husband, he’ll tell me to kick your ass out to the curb.” Wes sounded quite confident, and Renny had a feeling Andrew wouldn’t side with Caleb. One too many swirlies in high school.
    “Andrew always was a whiny dick who couldn’t do shit for himself.”
    Renny winced at Caleb’s insult, yet couldn’t quite disagree. Personally, she’d always thought Melanie could do better. But then again, her friend technically had, seeing as how she was the one married and living in a real house.
    But speaking of Andrew drew Renny’s attention to something. “Melanie’s not back yet with Andrew’s change of clothes.”
    Surely she’d had enough time to get to the parking lot and back. A vague sense of wrongness made Renny gnaw her lower lip.
    “She probably got stopped for a chat.”
    “Maybe. I’m still going to go find her. It’s time I grabbed Luke and headed out anyhow.”
    “I’ll walk you to your