Provoke

Throwing my phone down on the counter, I stripped out of my clothes and went back to bed.

#

“’Sup, man?”

Dex slapped my arm, a joint hanging from the corner of his mouth as I walked into the room. The rest of the guys stood around the pool table—except for Max, who was passed out on the couch with Teegan collapsed on top of him. I shot Dex a look. He shrugged.

“What? Can’t hold their alcohol.”

It didn’t seem to bother him that his girlfriend was straddling his brother. I shook my head and shrugged off my jacket, throwing it on the table to the right of the door.

A bottle of bourbon sat open on the countertop. Grabbing it, I took a swig, gagging as the liquid burned down my throat. I wiped my mouth on the sleeve of my shirt and downed another mouthful before setting the bottle back down.

“Big day, Mace?” Jon asked, taking a break from sticking his tongue down some random chick’s throat.

I snorted and nodded. I looked over at Finn, who was wincing, already aware of how badly it had all gone down with Leet’s parents.

“Yeah. I met the parents last night,” I explained, making a face.

Cheers erupted from the guys, which woke up a startled Teegan, who glanced at me in her drunken stupor before face-planting down on Max’s chest. I shook my head.

“No. No cheering,” I grumbled, clenching my fists. “It was a train wreck.”

The whole fucking night had been a disaster. How had I let her talk me into that? I didn’t do parents—especially stuck-up snobs who looked down on useless pieces of shit like me. Fuck t

hem for treating me like shit, and fuck Leeta for being so sweet and understanding. Fuck everything and everyone.

“What, Little Miss Perfect’s parents didn’t approve of gangland spawn Mace Jordan?” Max gasped and widened his eyes in mock horror, slapping his hand over his chest.

“Go fuck yourself, Max.” His comment hit a little too close to home.

When people found out who my father was, they immediately assumed I was like him. The reality was that we couldn’t be any more different. The only thing we had in common was we both put family first.

God help anyone who fucked with a Jordan.

Dad was big into crime: car theft, drugs, fraud, murder—you name it, and chances were he’d had his fingers in that pot at one time or another.

I tried my best to keep myself clean. While it didn’t always work out that way, I ran a legitimate business that made me a legitimate income.

Grabbing the cue off Finn, I aimed for the small six, socking it right into the left pocket. I winked and threw it back to him.

“Show off,” he muttered.

“Can’t help it if I’m good.”

“Whatevs.”

“Mace!”

I glanced over at Teegan, who had just woken up—again. Her eyes lit up when she spotted me. She stood up, unsteady on her feet. She stumbled over to me. I patted her on the back awkwardly as she threw her arms around me. I could feel Dex’s eyes on me.

“How are you?” she asked, batting her eyelashes as her fingers tugged at the cleavage of her low cut shirt. This girl was a mess.

“So, how did Leeta react to the night?” asked Max.

“By taking me back to my place and fucking me senseless,” I muttered.

Shit. I hadn’t meant to say that aloud.