Grinch (Cerberus MC)

My face feels like it’s on fire, and it makes no sense. This isn’t my first time around men with dirty minds. I was in the Navy for eight years. My daily life included men who had dirty minds and an inability to keep thoughts to themselves.

He’s acting this way because of what he knows. I don’t see any of these guys being unable to control the dirty talk and innuendo. It just doesn’t match the quality of men Kincaid hires for his organization.

“For fuck’s sake,” Spade grumbles.

I don’t know how to play this. Do I let him keep teasing and give as good as I get, or do I change the subject because there would be nothing more uncomfortable for me than keeping it going in front of mixed company?

Isaac has a challenge in his eyes as he watches me, waiting to see which direction I’m going to choose. Normally, I would straighten my spine and throw it right back at him, but one glance over at Trenton makes me choose differently.

I want to challenge the man across the room, not the one sitting in front of me, but at the same time, the jealousy swimming in his eyes could work to my benefit. It’s going to be a fine line between flirting enough to keep him jealous and pissing him off so much that he decides he’s done with me before he realizes he wants to keep me.

“I haven’t been horseback riding in years.” I lift my coffee cup to my lips, literally reminding my body how to work as I sip to prevent myself from choking.

Did I really just freaking say that?

Aro chokes on his coffee as a wide smile spreads across Isaac’s face.

Boomer doesn’t look up from the book he’s reading, but his shoulders tense a little, telling me I might be playing with fire.

“Is that right?” I nod. “Did you enjoy it?”

“I loved it. My aunt had several horses when I was younger, but as she got older, she had to sell them. The upkeep was just too much for her.”

“They’re definitely needy creatures,” Isaac says, clearly not willing to give up on the direction the conversation started to go.

I jerk my eyes up when I hear a low grumble from across the room, but Trenton won’t even look at me.

“It worries me that I’ve kind of taken off and left Peaches with her,” I say, still determined to steer the conversation away from anything that resembles sex. “But that old girl sleeps most of the time.”

“Your dog?” Aro asks. “A golden retriever, right?”

I nod. “I’ve had her forever. She’s almost fourteen.”

“You should bring her here,” Isaac suggests. “I’d love to meet her.”

I can’t tell this man that I may be gone quicker than it would take to make such arrangements. “She’s happy where she is. My aunt spoils her.”

Isaac nods, but my attention goes right back to Trenton. I talked about Peaches a lot while we were together, but I didn’t have her with me while I was on base. He had said the same thing more than once. He wanted to meet my dog and my aunt, but things didn’t progress far enough for that to happen.

I could ask him about the lies and the secrecy, but I have a feeling the answers will do more damage. I never looked at him and saw him as a man who would cheat, but what other reason was there? The proposal was the biggest slap in the face. I had pictured planning a life with a man who already had one foot out the door.

Has he changed, or am I wasting my time trying to fight for a man who’s even worse now? There’s no arguing that he’s different, a little more jaded than I remember. He’s harder, the edges of him and his emotions not as soft as before, but I just can’t move past the fact that deep inside, he may be the same person, that maybe he regretted the choices he made way back when. We were both very young, and as messed up as it is, many men in the military have that grass-is-greener-on-the-other-side mentality.

Fuck, am I making excuses now for his actions?

I shake my head, pulling my eyes from him. Jesus, am I clinging to a man who doesn’t deserve it?

My gut is telling me that he’s worth it, that things don’t add up between the way he looked at me when he was on one knee and the behaviors I presumed were happening behind my back. On the other hand, my head is telling me that first intuitions are always the closest to being right.

Trenton finally locks eyes with me, and I feel like the man can see inside of my soul.

I quickly drop my eyes, smiling at Isaac sitting across from me.