“Three times. It never took. He’s an addict. It’s all he’ll ever be.” Trev was an asshole, too. But he hadn’t always been. Bo remembered a time when Trev had been a goddamn lifeline. Trev had reached out and pulled Bo out of the abyss.
And then tossed his ass right back in. Trev was like everyone else. Everyone left. Everyone but Mouse. Even though his brother was back in his life, Aidan had Lucas and Lexi. He didn’t really have time for Bo.
“He’s obviously trying to get better. Why else would he be here?” Mouse asked.
Sweet, naïve Mouse. “He hasn’t got anywhere else to go. No one will have him. He got dropped by everyone. He got fired from his job, and his agent quit on him. All of his sponsorship deals dried up. He’s got nothing.”
A gentle smile crossed her lips. “And now he’s come home. This is where he should be. This is where he can find himself again. Everyone deserves a second chance, Bo.”
But Trev had had more than his share of chances.
“You used to be friends with him, right?” Mouse asked the question as Darlene, the waitress, put a Coke in front of her.
Darlene, Patty’s daughter, was just about the biggest gossip in town. She smiled conspiratorially as she pulled out her notepad. “Are y’all talking about Trevor McNamara?”
“No,” Bo said immediately. The last thing he needed was to get caught talking about that idiot.
“Yes.” Mouse just leaned in close to Darlene.
Darlene obviously chose to ignore Bo. “My momma says he’s not welcome in this town anymore after all the bad things he said, but damn, that man is hot. And he has a reputation, if you know what I mean.”
“Yeah, he has a reputation. As a cokehead and an asshole,” Bo complained.
Mouse ignored him, too. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Darlene’s blonde ponytail bobbed as she got to one knee. “I’m talking about sex, Mouse. He’s got a real bad reputation when it comes to sex. And by bad, I mean good.”
Bo thought seriously about poking out his own eyeballs with the knife on the table. Then he wouldn’t have to see his best friend glancing that jerk’s way and blushing. Blushing.
“He’s good at sex?” Mouse asked, her breath hitching just a little.
Darlene nodded. “The way I hear it, he can go all night. Some of the women who went to high school with him talked about the fact that he liked a lot of foreplay, but once he got in there, he didn’t leave for a long time. I know that everyone in this town hates him, but I think that won’t keep some of the women from crawling into his bed, real quiet like.”
Women. They were so much worse than men. “Darlene, I’d like to order now.”
She popped back to her feet. “Of course.”
Bo gave her his order, and she took Mouse’s, too. The minute she bounced off, Bo turned to his best friend. He gave off what he sincerely hoped was an air of paternal authority.
“Darlene is talking crap, you know.”
Mouse’s eyes trailed off. He knew who she was looking at. “I don’t know about that. Why would she lie?”
Bo rolled his own eyes. “Because that girl likes to gossip more than she likes to breathe. All right, let me let you in on a little secret. A man like Trev McNamara is never going to be good in bed.”
Now he had her attention. Her face caught his. “Why?”
So naïve. She really did need him. “Because he doesn’t have to be. That man sitting over there was born with everything he needed to attract a hundred women at a time to his bed. He has looks and athletic ability. He can be a charming bastard when he wants to be. From what I’ve heard, the asshole’s even got a monster cock. No man who has all those things is going to give a damn about foreplay. He doesn’t need to. All he has to do to get a woman to open her legs is to smile at her. That’s going to be his version of foreplay.”
“How do you feel about foreplay?”
A sudden vision of stripping Mouse down and finding out if she tasted as innocent as she looked assaulted him. He loved to eat pussy. He could spend hours with his tongue up a woman’s cunt. Would Mouse taste sweet and delicate? Or would she get wet and creamy and tangy? How long would he have to lick her before her juice flowed over his tongue?
Fuck. He was thinking about Mouse and getting a goddamn hard-on in the middle of the diner.
“Sorry,” she said, looking down at her hands. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
She’d utterly misread him, but then Bo knew she probably did that a lot. She had very little experience. He wanted to let the whole conversation drop, but his hand came out and slid over hers.
“I like foreplay. When you decide to make love for the first time, you need to tell that man that you want a lot of foreplay. Don’t let him cheat you out of that.”
What was happening between him and Mouse? God. He wasn’t sure if he was ready for this. He wasn’t sure of anything at all. He loved Mouse. He knew that deep down. He loved her probably more than he’d loved anyone in his life.
But he wasn’t ready to commit to anyone. Hell, if he did commit to her, it didn’t mean everything would work out. He could ruin the only good relationship in his life by letting his dick lead him on.
Besides, if he slept with Mouse, it would mean something. She wasn’t a good-time girl. She wasn’t someone he could fuck and laugh when the next night she fucked one of his buddies. If he spent the night inside Mouse, it would mean she belonged to him. It would mean everyone would know about them. Right now, they were a weird pair. His friends and the rest of the town thought Bo was nice taking care of the odd girl. It would be different if they knew he loved her. He would be lumped in with her—an odd, misfit outcast.
Damn, he really hated himself sometimes.
“I want to go to the honky-tonk tonight.”
Bo let go of her hand. “What? Why?”
Mouse didn’t belong at The Rusty Spur. It was a dive bar just outside the county line. It was one of Bo’s favorite places in the world. It was also the part of his life he kept hidden from Mouse.
She leaned back in the booth. “I’ve never been. I’m almost twenty-six years old. I haven’t lived at all. I’ve spent every ounce of my energy taking care of my parents. I didn’t do a lot of the things other women my age have done. I want to see what it’s like.”
It was smoky and nasty. It was filled with energy and life and beer and a whole bunch of men who would be all over her in a heartbeat. No way. No how. No go.
“You’ve never been to a crack house, either, Mouse. That doesn’t mean you should go. You just cross that right off your bucket list. I’m not taking you.” He was supposed to meet Clarissa. He was going to drink for a while and then head on back to her place for a nice long screw. He wasn’t sure how that would work when he explained he needed to drop off Mouse before they got to the fun bit.
Her chin came up. “Fine. I can go by myself.”
Had something happened to her in that house? Where was this coming from? He stared at her like he’d never seen her before. “How are you going to get there? You don’t even like to drive.”
Those smooth, white shoulders shrugged. “I can drive when I want to. Or I can ride my bike.”
He slapped his hand on the table. This was getting ridiculous. “You will do neither one. That road is dark and dangerous. You could get killed.”
She bit her bottom lip, and a frustrated huff left her mouth. “I could get killed walking down the street. I want to go, Bo. I’m tired of being alone. I want to meet someone. I joined this online dating service, but I haven’t found anyone yet. It seems like we’re a little isolated. I’ve exchanged a couple of e-mails, but no one lives close enough for me to date.”
Bo felt like his head was about to explode. “You did what?”