Free Damaged and the Dragon by Bijou Hunter Page B

smiled whenever Raven leaned
over to say something.
    “ I’m planning to go redneck
chic with the wedding,” Maddy announced, looking through the racks
of dresses.
    “ What the hell is
that?”
    “ Redneck chic is a nice way
of saying I have bad taste, but I’m embracing it.”
    Sizing up Maddy’s blonde girl next door
beauty, I found her dressed normal. “Bad taste how? Is this about
Tucker because, yeah, I see it?”
    Maddy rolled her blue eyes then walked to
the next rack. “Tucker is gorgeous. He’s the classiest part of my
life.”
    Nearby, Raven burst into
laughter to the point of nearly pissing herself. I didn’t blame her
since we’d all seen Tucker fall off chairs and struggle with
push/pull doors. Classy, he was
not.
    Maddy ignored us both and focused on Winnie
who wasn’t laughing.
    “ What’s your name again?”
Maddy asked.
    “ She’s Winona. I call her
Winnie. She’s shy like the fat bear with the honey
addiction.”
    “ Winnie the Pooh isn’t
shy,” Raven said, still sitting next to Winnie. “He’s just
dumb.”
    “ Whatever,” I grunted. “I
call her Winnie. Suck it.”
    Winnie said nothing, just lowered her head
until her hair covered her face. Raven caught on and left her
alone.
    “ I have no regrets doing
the justice of the peace thing to make stuff official,” Raven said
about her quickie ceremony to Vaughn weeks earlier. With her
younger sister on bed rest, she refused to have a real wedding
until Lark could be her maid of honor.
    “ For the big wedding, I’m
wearing my roller derby outfit and skating down the aisle,” Raven
announced, standing up and wandering around the store. “Oh, and
I’ll wear a veil.”
    “ And Vaughn is okay with
that?” I asked.
    “ He ain’t the boss of me,”
Raven grumbled before smiling. “The roller derby outfit gets him
hard, so yeah, he’s okay with that.”
    Apparently thinking about Vaughn, Raven
strutted around the store, wearing a dumb smile. I wanted to strut
too.
    “ Did you guys like Nick?” I
asked, maybe a little too loudly.
    “ When you told me months
ago about the bacon guy, I thought you were mental,” Raven said.
“Nick is cool. He can’t bowl for shit though. You might want to
keep that in mind if things get serious.
    “ Things are
serious.”
    “ You know what’s funny? You
love bacon and Nick stinks of it apparently. I love chocolate and
Vaughn wears that great body spray. Man, he smells
good.”
    I flicked Raven’s nose. “You already got
your man. Now shut up and pay attention to me. It’s my turn.”
    “ Oh, sorry,” Raven said,
erasing the space between us. She looked deep into my eyes and
caressed my hair. “Share with me all the delicious details about
your bacon smelling stud.”
    “ Nick doesn’t stink of
anything. He’s very clean.”
    “ Even after you finished
with him? Your sluttiness has been known to mark a man.”
    “ I’ve been celibate since
the beginning of summer. My pussy has cobwebs at this
point.”
    While the clerk looked horrified at our
conversation, Winnie grinned under her hair. Everyone had an
opinion of my love life apparently.
    Raven tugged gently at my hair. “Nick’s a
nice guy. I hope you two make it work.”
    “ Are you being
snarky?”
    “ No, I mean it. He’s a good
guy. Not impressed with money or easy pussy. A guy like him will
make a good husband. You know, if it ever gets that
far.”
    “ I really like him,” I
admitted. “He makes me feel different than other guys.”
    “ Why worry
then?”
    “ I worry he’ll lose
interest like every other guy. Well, except for Deputy Dickhead who
keeps texting me.”
    Raven gave me her irritated big sister look.
“You should tell Kirk about the dipshit and make him go away.”
    “ I don’t want to run to Pop
over a guy. I’m trying to get them to respect me in the club.
Needing to be saved from a douche like Ennis makes me look
weak.”
    “ I guess, but don’t
underestimate a creepy stalker type. Especially