Dirty Toe Drag (Nashville Assassins Next Generation 6)

When my door shuts, I turn, glaring at her. “I am going to kill you.”

“Bring it. I’ll kill you twice!”

“How could you do this to me? He’s a real man.”

“What, did the others have fake dicks?”

Ah! She makes me crazy. The driver’s door opens, and Wes gets in, his huge body taking up most of the spacious cab. “All right, ladies. We ready?”

“Yup. Yeah,” we both agree, and off we go.

In total silence.

Bless Wes, he tries to make small talk, but I am so embarrassed and Emery sucks at small talk. I swear, each minute is six hours with her one-word answers.

“Do you play a sport?”

“Track.”

“That’s cool. I did track.”

“Neat.”

“What’s your favorite class?”

“History.”

“Why?”

“’Cause everyone we read about is dead.”

Oh shit, seven terrifying words. How nice. I cover my face as I groan silently in my head. Why are you doing this to me, God? Is it because I had improper, unwed, smack-my-ass, sexual thoughts about this man? In my defense, you can’t make a man look that good and not expect those thoughts!

“Well, that’s not concerning at all,” he laughs, and I wish I were one of those dead people in her history books. I feel his gaze on the side of my face, but I refuse to acknowledge him. He may decide to take me back home once we get rid of her. My brother is overprotective, and my sister loves history because of dead people. I don’t know if this winning personality and these good looks can help. Ooh, I still have the cupcakes. Maybe I should pull those out of my bag.

Before I can, though, and by the grace of God, we pull up in front of Leanna’s house. I smack my hands to my thighs and promptly say, “Bye, Emery.”

Alas, my sister doesn’t move. She clears her throat and says, “Wes, can I be honest with ya?”

“Su—”

“Hell no. Get out!”

Wes’s hand comes to my thigh, and I look at him with wide eyes. “It’s fine.”

“Is it, though?”

He laughs as he turns to look at Emery. “What’s up?”

I watch her in the mirror. Her brows lower a bit, and her eyes narrow to slits, and instantly, I know this is about to be bad. “Well, my friend—can I call you my friend?”

“Of course,” he says, all dewy-eyed and completely oblivious to the psycho that is in his back seat.

“Awesome. Like I was saying, my friend, I have been in the car with you for eight minutes now. I even walked with you from our front door to the car. There was a moment when it was just you and my sister alone outside.” She pauses, for nothing but dramatic effect. I know her. I know her ways. “In that time, you have not complimented my sister on how gorgeous she is.”

“Emery!”

But Wes holds up his palm to me in a calming way. “Give her a second. I want to hear what she has to say.”

“Thank you,” Emery says appreciatively as she sets him with a look. “My sister spent most of the afternoon getting gorgeous for you, which I know isn’t much of a feat for her, but she did. She pulled out her favorite shoes, the ones she only wears on trips to New York, to impress you. My sister shouldn’t have to do that. I mean, look at her. But not once did you tell her how beautiful she is. How pretty her eyes are, or even how cool those YSL shoes are. Nothing. You said nothing, and if I were on a date with you, I’d dump you.”

Wes blinks, completely taken aback, and I slowly slide down in the seat, trying to die. He looks directly at Emery. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure what she had told you, and I didn’t want to make either of you uncomfortable when I praise her. I figured I’d do it once we were alone, but I can now, if you’d like.”

“Nope. Don’t got time for it. But do better, Wesley. My sister deserves the best, and I watch murder docs for fun.”

With that, my sister jumps out and walks her happy ass through the grass.

“Wow.”

“Yeah,” I agree, but I refuse to look over at him. “You can totally take me home. I’m sorry. This is why I didn’t—”

“Don’t you dare apologize,” he demands, taking my hand in his. “She’s right.”

My lips tip up. “She’s crazy.”

“Oh, that too,” he says with a laugh before he takes my chin between his thumb and forefinger. “But you do deserve better. I should have dropped to the ground and let you use my body to walk to the car.”

I snort. “Stop.”

“I can totally get a red carpet off Amazon. It’ll be here by tomorrow if I order now.”

“Oh my God, shut up.”

“Or maybe I can rent a horse and we can gallop—”