Stealing His Thunder (Masters of Adrenaline 1)

“What?” Carlos grinned. “She’s meaner than she looks.”

“Like English school teacher mean?” Fox asked, unable to resist.

“Mmm . . . with that ruler and the pencil skirt . . .” Carlos whistled, and Fox got a visual of the guy and his wife that he didn’t really want right then.

“Just don’t tell me you wear short pants and a blazer and I’ll be okay,” Luke teased.

“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it,” Jimmy shot back, grinning at Carlos like the Cheshire Cat. “Julia has me over when Carlos is working overtime.”

Carlos snorted. “Like she could even find your dick.”

“Firsthand knowledge there, Carlos?” Luke grinned crookedly.

“Hey, he’s not unionized,” Fox reminded him. “I’m sure getting a raise is a bitch.”

Carlos chuckled. “It’s barely a mouthful, so it’s not so bad. I just pretend it’s a big clit.”

With a cocky smirk, Luke pushed his entire pile of chips into the center of the table. Carlos gave him an incredulous look.

“I’m out,” Atlas said, throwing his cards down.

Jimmy folded too.

Carlos and Luke were waiting for Fox to do something, but Fox was studying his cousin. “You have a shitty poker face,” he told Luke, although Fox could never tell if he was smiling because he had a good hand, or because he had a private joke. His cousin found a lot of things funny. Crazy bastard. Fox pondered his cards. He had a full house—not good enough to bet all of his chips on—but Luke was known for big bluffs and reckless bets.

Still, he wasn’t in the mood to lose another bet. The one he was currently losing with Addison was damaging enough to his ego.

With a grunt, he threw down his cards and folded. Carlos and Luke had a brief stare down before Carlos folded too.

Luke’s grin widened as he collected his earnings. “Suckers.”

“So?” Carlos said. “What’d you have?”

Laughing, Luke slapped his cards, faceup, on the table and everyone groaned.

“Bastard.” Carlos shook his head at the two pair.

Atlas pushed back from the table. “I’m getting more food. Anyone want anything? Pretzels? Lube?”

Jimmy leaned back in his chair to yell after him. “You should call the girl while you’re up. Tell her to come over. I want to meet her.”

“Cold day in hell.” Luke smiled wolfishly. “There are already three of us with our eye on her. Get in fucking line.”

Fox glared at his cousin who smiled back, cocky and unperturbed. The line began and ended with Fox and they both knew it, even if Luke thought it was funny to bust his balls about her. If Luke and Atlas wanted her, they’d have to go through him first.

***

The whistle that came from behind him—long, low and incredulous—made Fox grit his teeth.

“You could have taken it to the shop. Carlos has ways of finding things.” Atlas sounded both amused and appalled.

“That,” Fox grunted out with a breath, “wouldn’t be very sporting of me.” He wrestled the passenger seat out of the car and set it on the lawn not far from where he’d torn apart the driver’s seat. There was nothing underneath it, and he flipped open his pocketknife, wondering how he’d explain it to Carlos when he’d need help putting it back together again. It had been a decent car, especially after the upgrades, but the possibility of having little Miss Cocky at his mercy for a night was more than worth the desecration.

“You sure you don’t want my help?” Atlas murmured. Both he and Luke had been coming out to check on him all afternoon, and Fox could tell they were itching to get in on the hunt.

“What? And have you try to claim my fucking prize? Do I look like an idiot?”

“Well . . .” Atlas trailed off.