Whiskey Chaser (Bootleg Springs, #1)

by Lucy Score

Me, on the other hand, if there was a guy I liked? I let him know. Life was short, and orgasms were great.

Some upbeat country singer was infringing on my angst, and I didn’t appreciate it.

“Devlin, this is my brother Jameson,” she said, pointing her fresh beer bottle at a man in a gray t-shirt. His hands were shoved into his pockets, shoulders hunched, as if he too didn’t care to be here. I nodded. He nodded back. I liked him immediately.

“You broke into my house⁠—” “Granny Louisa’s house,” I corrected him. “You broke in here to cook me breakfast?” I was starting to wish I’d just ordered him a sticky bun for delivery and called it a day. He obviously didn’t know what an honor it was to have Scarlett Bodine cooking up a mess of scrambled eggs for him.

“Fuck it,” I muttered under my breath. I could climb a damn ladder and sit on a fucking roof. I still had my balls. Johanna hadn’t gotten those in the divorce.

“You, Devlin McCallister, are gonna be just fine.” It sounded like a promise. Or maybe it was a threat. I didn’t care. I clung to the words like a lifeline in a storm.

“I was married. Technically still am for a few weeks at least.” “Divorce or plotting her murder?” I asked lightly. The corner of his lips curved up. “I’ll let you know.”

“What’s a pepperoni roll?” “Are you fucking serious?” I gaped at him. “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Clarabell, get this man a pepperoni roll stat!”

Her frame was so small that it was still a surprise to me. It seemed like such a personality would need a bigger container.

“Are you two having sexual intercourse?” June asked. Her face remained impassive as if she didn’t really care if we were or not but was merely making small talk. I cleared my throat. “No. We’re not.” I noticed that the Bodine brothers relaxed visibly, and I realized I might have narrowly avoided a physical altercation. “We’re all here,” Scarlett announced, not the slightest bit perturbed by the sex question or the fact that her brothers looked like they would have cheerfully beaten me to death and dumped my body in the lake.

I didn’t even get the words out when Scarlett jumped, tucking her knees to her chest and spinning backward. “Wooooooo!” Cassidy shrieked in my ear. “Excellent form,” June commented.

They were overprotective to be sure, but had I been a man, they’d have no issue with me wrestling in the water with someone.

“It’s a diner,” I told him before he could ask. “Great pepperoni rolls.” Scarlett beamed up at me, and I instantly felt ten feet tall.

“I’m on leave and under orders to lay low because, on the last day we were in session, I assaulted the guy she was sleeping with.” Bowie slapped the table and hooted. Gibson gave an almost imperceptible nod of approval. “Bet that felt good,” he predicted. The corner of Devlin’s mouth quirked up.

“Jonah, you go on ahead,” Devlin decided. “I’m gonna stay here and kiss your sister.” “‘K,” Jonah said waving and stumbling over a hydrangea in the flowerbed he was wading through. I clapped my hands to get his attention. “Through the woods, Jonah. Not through the flowerbeds.” “‘K,” he said again and walked into a tree.

Tonight, I was on a mission. Scarlett Bodine was coming home with me, or I was going home with her. One way or another, we were going to end up naked together.

She’d invited me here, mentioning that Gibson was playing and I should come. Shit. What if she only invited me to be polite? Or what if it was a group hangout kind of thing, and I’d manscaped for no reason?

“A pig-in?” “Yeah, when you eat too much in your own house so no one sees your shame.”

But I’d never been kissed the way Devlin did it. He kissed me like he had to, like I was air and he needed me to live. I liked it and was terrified by it.

she grabbed the bottle opener out of the drawer next to the fridge. An accessory I didn’t know I had. Jonah and I had been opening beers using the railing on the deck... like real men.

I pulled her into my arms, settling her back against my chest, nestling her ass to my thighs. “What’s this? What’s happening?” “Just go with it,” I advised. “Fine, but I probably won’t be able to sleep,” she grumbled. I smiled into the dark and rested my chin on her head. A minute later, she was snoring softly, and I was still smiling.

And when I woke in the middle of the night, she was sprawled out on top of me, sound asleep, her face pressed into my neck. I smiled into the dark and stroked a hand down her naked back. She cuddled in even closer. It was going to be a good day.

“Oh, hey, Judge Carwell. Mornin’ Carolina Rae,” Bowie said, raising his free hand to a couple in a fishing boat. “Mornin’ Bodines,” Judge Carwell called. “He courtin’ Scarlett?” “What the hell kind of town is this?” I hissed. Jonah shrugged and grinned. “Bootleg, man.” “Yes, sir. We’re just remindin’ him to treat her right,” Gibson said. “Carry on, boys.”

“Multiple orgasms are a thing, Cass. A beautiful, beautiful thing.” I felt exactly like I did the time I’d told my six-year-old best friend that Santa wasn’t real. I was unveiling a truth of the universe. “I think I need to sit down,” Cassidy said,

It was strange to miss someone I’d known only a few weeks and weirder still to do so when she’d left my bed this morning and I’d be in hers tonight.

You only get a set number of days, a limited number of sunrises and sunsets. And it’s up to you to make sure you’re taking full advantage of them,”

“We haven’t talked relationships. We’re not even exclusive,” I scoffed. Though if Devlin McCallister thought it was okay to stick that fine dick in someone else, he was sorely mistaken.

My father had taught me a lot of things. He’d shown me how to use every tool known to man to fix just about every problem created by man. But he’d also taught me that no matter how much I hoped or prayed or tried, I couldn’t control other people. I couldn’t make them make the choices I wanted them to. I couldn’t drag them into health and happiness. It was a painful, essential lesson.

It wasn’t a Bodine climbing up the porch steps. It was Devlin. And I wanted to cry. “Hey, I thought I’d see if you needed a hand⁠—” The velocity of my body colliding with his cut him off. He was here to help me clean up a mess that wasn’t his because he cared. I clung to him like Virginia creeper. Gratitude made my eyes sting. “Thank you,” I whispered against his t-shirt. He held me close and stroked a hand down my ponytail. I breathed him in, stealing a bit of his strength, and then unwound myself from him. He was watching me with a soft look on his face. “Do you think you could greet me like that every time you see me for a while?” he asked. “Yeah. I think I could do that,” I said softly.

“McCallister.” I felt Devlin tense against me, and I turned to face the enemy.

“I feel real bad about eavesdroppin’ on y’all because now I’m just gonna make it my personal mission to find out everything there is to know about you.

“And just what the hell is this?” a sweet voice drawled with Southern charm. Scarlett stood with her hands on her hips just above her tool belt. She wore jeans and a Bootleg Cockspurs tank top. “This is Scarlett?” Johanna asked, aghast. “Oh, you must be the lying, cheating, piece of garbage ex-wife. Bless your heart,” Scarlett said, batting her lashes.

Johanna sputtered. “I’m not leaving. This is Devlin’s house, and I am welcome in it as long as he says I am!” “Oh, are you?” Scarlett drawled. “Devlin?” “Devlin?” Johanna glared at me, willing me to choose her. I wanted to calm things down. “Let’s just take a step back⁠—” The Bodines groaned behind me, and I knew immediately I’d made a huge mistake.

I loved Scarlett Bodine. She might not know it yet, but she sure as hell loved me back.

“She’s claiming that I’ve been diagnosed with a form of autism when really she’s just threatened by my superior intellect. While I was weighing college scholarship offers as a junior in high school, Misty Lynn was offering oral sex in exchange for Cs.”

“Now, what are you going to do about Devlin?” Bowie asked me. “Yeah,” the crowd demanded. “Bring him back!” someone started chanting. “Pepperoni roll!” someone else chanted.

“I love you,” I shouted. Granny Louisa looked a little surprised. Estelle reappeared and gaped at the evidence of my spectacular entrance. “Speak up, honey. I don’t think he heard you,” Estelle insisted.

“You broke Gran’s door,” he said quietly. “I also announced that I’m in love with you,” I pointed out just in case he’d missed the announcement.

You’re the color and music and flavor in my day. And life without you isn’t worth crawling out of bed for.

She was my adventure and my safe place. My best friend. And I was going to spend the rest of my life loving the hell out of her.

And, when I got the go-ahead to give my wife our first kiss, I leaned in so only Scarlett could hear me. “Just remember who proposed first.”