They flanked her on instinct. They had always been the ones to protect her, always been the ones who made sure no one fucked with her. They couldn’t stop people from talking, but they sure as hell could make sure they didn’t harass her. Rys and William had beaten enough asses over the years to make sure anyone and everyone knew that if they messed with Jane, they messed with the Holden twins.
Chapter 3
Ever the proper gentleman, William held the door open for Jane. Country music blasted through the jukebox in the far corner, and several people moved to the music on the makeshift dance floor. Rowdy’s was the only bar in the city limits, so it was safe to say it was the hottest spot in town, not just on the weekends but when the sun went down too.
The first thing Jane realized when she stepped onto the worn wooden floor was that half the town seemed to be crammed into the building. Smoke filled the intimate interior despite the smoking ban that had gone into effect in the state.
Jane never came to Rowdy’s alone, not when she got enough dirty looks and whispers behind her back everywhere she went. If Rys and William were with her, no one bothered her. Of course she knew the twins made sure she was safe and swaddled in bubble wrap, but they couldn’t protect her for the rest of her life. She didn’t want to be dependent on them like her mother had been on her father. Jane would not rely on a man, even if those men were the two most important people in her life. She might still be here because of her mother, but she wanted out.
She wanted to explore the world and leave behind the town of Ecstasy.
“Well, I’ll be damned. If it isn’t Jane Silver and the Holden boys.”
Jane smiled at the voice that pierced through the music. Brooklyn Iverson, the owner of Rowdy’s, pushed through the thick throng of people and smiled down at her. She might not be very popular in their small town, but there were decent people in Ecstasy, and Brooklyn was one of them.
He wrapped her in a one-armed embrace and kissed the top of her head. She knew if she did decide to come to Rowdy’s alone, Brooklyn would make sure no one bothered her, but she wasn’t blind or deaf. People didn’t have to call her white trash to her face for her to know that was what they were thinking.
“Hey, man.” Brooklyn and Rys clapped hands together in the way men do, and then William and Brooklyn did the same. “You guys thirsty?” Brooklyn gestured for them to follow him to the front of the bar. He slipped behind the scarred counter and grabbed two Sam Adams bottles for Rys and William. “What would you like, sweetheart?” He handed the beers to the guys on either side of her.
“Just a beer, Brooklyn. Thanks.”
He gave her the longneck and turned to help other customers.
“Come on, let’s find a table.” Rys grabbed her hand and gently steered her toward the corner and an empty table. She could feel William right behind her, his hand on the small of her back. She kept her head lowered, because she knew damn well if she looked at any of these people, they would all have the same expression. Disgust. Even though she knew they didn’t speak it out loud, she could hear their thoughts.
“Slut.”
“Whore.”
“She is such a bitch, sleeping with both of the Holden twins.”
She supposed their conclusions were to be expected. It wasn’t every day a girl was best friends with two guys. She supposed it was only natural for them to assume the worst about their relationship. After years of denying there was any kind of sexual relationship between them, Jane and the guys just stopped worrying about it. Well, the guys did. It still bothered Jane though.
For twenty of her twenty-five years of life, it had always been her, Rys, and William. From the first time she met them in kindergarten, she knew there was something different about the Holden twins. At first, the guys hated her. She could admit she was an irritating little girl who followed them around wherever they went. But all it took was one five-year-old boy pulling her hair for Rys and William to come to her rescue. After that, the three of them had been inseparable.
Silence descended over the table, and Jane looked at one brother then the other. They watched her over the rims of their bottles with identical expressions of worry and curiosity.
“What happened, Janey?”
Jane couldn’t help but smile at William’s nickname for her. He had called her that since middle school, and every time, it made her heart pound in happiness. Swallowing roughly after she took a small sip of her beer, she looked from one to the other. Why in the hell did they have to be so damn attractive?