Torn Bond (Bonded Duet 1)

“Asshole!” I shouted at the retreating car and then sauntered onto the sidewalk where Ford was staring at me with a small quirk of his lips. “What?”

“You’re trouble, you know that? Trouble with a big fat capital T.”

My head flung back, and a brash laugh burst out of me. I jabbed my finger into his chest, feeling his muscles against my fingertip in the same kind of sensation as if I’d poked a brick wall. “And don’t you forget it.” He murmured something behind me, but I couldn’t hear what he said as I walked toward the main doors

of the bar. There was only one man standing at the door tonight, and I didn’t recognize him.

I felt a hand against the base of my back, and I turned my head just enough to see Ford directly behind me. My mouth went dry at the contact, and even though he didn’t look down at me, I wondered if he could feel the way I’d tensed and then relaxed at his touch?

He pushed forward and through the doors with me in front of him, and as soon as we were inside the bar, I scanned it, looking for Stella and Justin. Usually, they’d be standing at the bar talking to Curtis, but I couldn’t see any of them there.

“I can’t see them,” I said, but Ford shook his head as if he couldn’t hear me, so I lifted up onto my tiptoes and shouted, “I can’t see them,” in his ear. He pulled back a fraction, his face so close to mine I could see every speck of honey and green in his hazel eyes. His lashes framed his almond-shaped eyes perfectly and led down to what I was assuming was once a straight nose, but now had a crook in the middle.

Ford’s gaze batted behind me, but I didn’t flatten my feet to the floor. I liked being this close to him, more than I ever had. I’d always wanted to be near Ford, but something had changed in the last week. I craved being near him. Craved it so much I wasn’t sure I could breathe if he wasn’t close by.

“Someone’s waving at you,” his gruff voice said.

I spun around, trying to spot who he was talking about, and then saw the top of Stella’s head and her frantically waving arm. Lifting my arm, I waved back and then proceeded to move through the crowd around the bar and toward the booth she was sitting in near the dance floor.

“What are you guys doing in a booth?” I asked, wrapping my arms around Stella in a greeting and then nodding at Justin.

“Curtis isn’t working tonight, so we didn’t want to stand at the…” Stella’s eyes widened, her mouth opening as her jaw dropped. “Who is this?”

I pulled in a breath, spotting Justin staring at Ford with the same kind of awe, and realized they were seeing what everyone else saw. Something I never fully understood. To me, Ford wasn’t scary, but as I turned and faced him, I could see why he’d come off like that. He’d perfected his broody, don’t-mess-with-me look. His defined muscles couldn’t be mistaken, and the tattoos on his arms didn’t scream rainbows and unicorns. To the outside world, he was a threat, but to me, he was just Ford, the same guy who had let me paint his nails bright pink and played tea parties with me until I fell asleep on the floor in my bedroom.

“Stella, Justin, this is Ford.” I waved my hand at him. “Ford, this is my roommate, Stella, and her boyfriend, Justin.”

“Nice to meet you,” Ford greeted, his deep baritone able to be heard over the music. He held his hand out to both of them, the veins in his arms popping under the surface from the movement. They were in a daze as they greeted him, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “Drink?” Ford asked, raising his brows at me.

“Tequila,” I said, pushing into the booth opposite Stella and Justin.

“You do realize that’s illegal, right?” Ford commented, but I just shrugged. I’d been drinking tequila since my first party on my first night here, and I was only a few months away from turning twenty-one.

“I’ll…erm, I’ll come to the bar with you,” Justin stammered, his face paling, but from the jab Stella gave him in the ribs, I didn’t think he had a choice in whether he would accompany Ford or not.

They both maneuvered away from the table and through the crowd, and I stared at the back of Ford’s head, surprised by how well he fit in with all of the college students. But then I shouldn’t have been really, because it was his job to go unnoticed, to fit in with the crowd, to blend in seamlessly.

“So…” Stella started. I could feel the burn of her stare on the side of my face. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

Ford had pushed his way to the bar and was ordering drinks, but his gaze veered back over to me. I wasn’t stupid enough to think it was because he wanted to look at me. He was making sure I was okay. Making sure I was safe.

“I…” I turned to face Stella, my gaze finally meeting hers. “You can’t tell anyone what’s going on, okay?” She raised her brow as if to say she would never, but I had to make sure I said it. “There’s been a threat.”

Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and she practically lunged across the sticky table at me. “What?”

“It’s nothing serious.” I wasn’t sure whether I was trying to get her to believe my lie, or to convince myself. “But Dad has sent Ford to make sure I’m safe.”

“So Ford is”—Stella glanced around us, and I did the same, spotting Ford weaving back toward us with Justin following him—“DEA?”

I nodded, not wanting to say anything else because if I opened that can of worms, I wasn’t sure what would pop out of it. “He’ll be staying with us for…a while—on the sofa. Is that okay?”

Stella’s gaze slid to my right as Ford pushed into the booth. “Yeah, I’m good with that.”

“Good with what?” Justin asked, glancing at all of us in turn. His expression looked like a weird mix of scared, excited, and apprehensive. It was not a good look on him—at all.

“Nothing.” Stella pushed closer to him and smiled. “Belle was just asking if it was okay if Ford stayed on the sofa for a while.”

“You need a place to crash?” Justin asked, leaning his elbows on the table. I cringed, thinking about the last time it was probably wiped down, and then reached for the glass Ford placed in front of me. I took a sip, knowing full well this definitely wasn’t the tequila I’d ordered. “You can crash with us if you want.”