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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
This book is intended for adult readers only.
Any sexual activity portrayed in these pages occurs between consenting adults over the age of 18 who are not related by blood.
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Contents
THORN
1. Hawthorne
2. Allie
3. Allie
4. Hawthorne
5. Allie
6. Hawthorne
7. Allie
8. Allie
9. Hawthorne
10. Allie
11. Hawthorne
12. Allie
13. Hawthorne
14. Hawthorne
15. Allie
16. Hawthorne
17. Allie
18. Hawthorne
19. Allie
20. Hawthorne
21. Allie
22. Allie
23. Hawthorne
24. Allie
25. Allie
26. Hawthorne
WYATT
1. Georgia
2. Wyatt
3. Georgia
4. Wyatt
5. Georgia
6. Wyatt
7. Georgia
8. Wyatt
9. Georgia
10. Georgia
11. Wyatt
12. Georgia
13. Wyatt
14. Georgia
15. Georgia
16. Wyatt
17. Georgia
18. Wyatt
19. Georgia
20. Wyatt
21. Georgia
22. Wyatt
23. Georgia
24. Wyatt
25. Georgia
26. Wyatt
27. Georgia
28. Wyatt
HUTCH
1. Veronica
2. Hutch
3. Veronica
4. Veronica
5. Hutch
6. Veronica
7. Hutch
8. Veronica
9. Veronica
10. Hutch
11. Veronica
12. Hutch
13. Veronica
14. Hutch
15. Veronica
16. Veronica
17. Hutch
18. Veronica
19. Hutch
20. Veronica
21. Veronica
22. Hutch
23. Veronica
24. Hutch
25. Veronica
26. Hutch
STERLING
1. Ophelia
2. Sterling
3. Ophelia
4. Sterling
5. Ophelia
6. Ophelia
7. Sterling
8. Ophelia
9. Sterling
10. Ophelia
11. Sterling
12. Ophelia
13. Sterling
14. Ophelia
15. Sterling
16. Ophelia
17. Ophelia
18. Ophelia
19. Sterling
20. Sterling
21. Ophelia
22. Sterling
23. Ophelia
24. Sterling
25. Ophelia
26. Sterling
SAM
1. Presley
2. Presley
3. Sam
4. Presley
5. Sam
6. Presley
7. Sam
8. Presley
9. Presley
10. Sam
11. Presley
12. Sam
13. Presley
14. Sam
15. Presley
16. Sam
17. Presley
18. Sam
19. Presley
20. Presley
21. Sam
22. Presley
23. Presley
24. Presley
25. Sam
MATT
1. Matt
2. Cannon
3. Matt
4. Cannon
5. Cannon
6. Matt
7. Matt
8. Cannon
9. Matt
10. Cannon
11. Cannon
12. Matt
13. Cannon
14. Cannon
15. Matt
16. Cannon
17. Matt
18. Matt
19. Cannon
20. Cannon
21. Matt
22. Matt
23. Cannon
24. Cannon
25. Matt
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THORN
1
Hawthorne
“Check out the blonde in the pink dress.” Sterling Mallory whistled under his breath. “Da-yum, she’s a looker.”
I’d already noticed. I’d also gone back to her place the week before.
I stretched back in my chair and flashed a wide grin. “Go ahead, call her over. It’s been what? Twenty minutes since the last time you struck out with a woman? ‘Bout time for you to try again.”
Sterling’s big brother, Hutch, clapped me on the back and huffed a laugh. “Twenty minutes? Hell, you must’ve missed that bouncy little redhead not ten minutes ago.”
Sterling shook his head. “She was a lesbian. Don’t count as striking out.”
It counted. I slid a glance towards the bar. Abram, my assistant manager, nodded. Everything was fine, which meant I could stay and relax for a bit longer in my favorite chair at the corner table with my lifelong buddies, Sterling, Hutch, Sam and…
“Where’s Wyatt?”
Sterling ignored me and left his chair to approach the blonde, who was eyeing me, a coy smile playing at the corners of her lips. I just shook my head and tipped my old John Deere cap at her. Sure, she was a beauty, but I wasn’t about to give false impressions. I didn’t go back for seconds.
“Last I knew, Wyatt was headed up the mountain with another group of would-be survivalists.”
A shudder ran down my back. “How he deals with some of those crazies, I’ll never know. I swear that bear attracts the nut-jobs.”
Hutch nodded and then nearly snorted out his beer. The pretty blonde had just slapped the hell out of Sterling. “Another strike out. Looks like little brother is going home alone tonight.”
“Nah. He always manages to find himself a pity screw.” Even as the words left my mouth, a tall brunette came up to Sterling and cupped his bright red cheek. “See. I don’t get it, but some women love the wounded ego thing.”
The ear-splitting sound of shattering glass echoed through the place followed by a collective groan from a group sitting at one of the tables up near the juke box. As the crowd parted, I spotted Cammie rushing to clean up
a massive mess of spilled beer and broken mugs. From what it looked like, she’d dropped an entire tray of drinks. Damn.
Sam Jennings chose that moment to plop down in his usual seat beside me. He followed my eyes to Cammie and her disaster and shook his head. “What’s that? The fourth time this week?”
I pushed off from my chair and stretched out my legs. “Fifth. I don’t think this is going to work out.”
I left them sitting there and joined Abram at the bar. He’d been my assistant manager for years and knew what I wanted before I did most of the time. “What’s the deal with her?”
His eyes went to Cammie then trailed over to Sam. “Your buddy bedded her and hasn’t called her back.”
Fuck. I had a strict policy about my friends staying the hell away from my waitresses. It was hard enough to keep good help around, what with dealing with a bar full of drunk shifters, and humans alike, day after day. I glared over at my best friend and decided I was going to bleed him later.
“Think she’ll bounce back?”
Abram expertly shuffled a few beers into customers’ waiting hands. “Not a chance. She’s already told me tonight’s her last night.”
I grunted. At least she was going to finish her shift. That was more than they normally did.
As if she’d heard my thoughts, Cammie plunked the tray she’d been carrying onto the bar and without a word, without even meeting my eyes, yanked the apron off her hips, and tossed it on top of the tray before turning and sprinting out the front door.
“Dammit.”
Abram laughed like it was the funniest thing he’d ever seen. He slid another couple of beers down the bar and shook his head. “Looks like you just got a promotion, Boss. I don’t reckon that apron is going to fit you, though.”
I tossed the apron towards the bin of soiled towels and picked up the tray. “Do we have some resumes left over from last time we hired?”
“I’ll figure it out,” he nodded, “You just get your cute little butt out there and earn you some tips!”
I flipped him off and grabbed several beers, assuming that’s what most of my patrons would be drinking. When I stopped by my table, Sam looked up at me with a hangdog grin.
“Sorry, Thorn. I didn’t expect her to run.”
I smacked him on the back of the head and handed a beer to Hutch. “Keep your fucking dick away from my waitresses, Sam. This shit is getting old. I got a business to run.”
He still didn’t manage to wipe the grin off his face. She must’ve been worth my ire. I shook my head and headed back to the bar, ready for what would no doubt be a long night.
The little blonde cut me off and smiled up at me. “Hey, Thorn.”
The pink dress she had on certainly did hike up her girls, and I found them distracting as hell. “Hey.”
“I haven’t heard from you so I thought I’d stop back by and say hello. I had a lot of fun the other night.”
I let a crooked smile tilt my mouth. “Me too.”
She rested her hand on my arm and batted her eyelashes. “I’m free later tonight.”
Damn. I looked around the bar and saw how busy it was. By the time the night ended I’d be exhausted and cranky. I decided that it’d be kinda nice to have a little something soft and warm waiting on me. I slipped my arm around her side, brushed my lips against her ear, and growled, “I’ll come around to your house after I close up.”
She shivered and pressed herself against me. “I’ll be here. Just find me when you’re finished.”
I watched her saunter over to her friends before I turned back to the bar. Abram had been observing with a grin on his face. When I got back to the bar, he just laughed.
“You’re just as bad as Sam. Only difference is you don’t screw the waitresses.”
Which is the point.
2
Allie
Texas. Hmm… not exactly where I’d planned on ending up, but, then, I didn’t really have a plan to speak of. Who knows, this might just be the hand of fate guiding me, right here. Burden, Texas. Hell, the name alone seemed to foreshadow my destiny.
I’d run out of gas on the side of the road with absolutely no money left in my bank account. My sporadic road trip was just that - completely and utterly sporadic. I’d thrown a few things in the back of my old Mustang and just headed the old girl west. What I hadn’t done was make sure I had the finances for my travels.
My phone died somewhere in the middle of Arkansas and I’d left the charger back in North Carolina. The snacks I’d packed had been depleted in Tennessee. I’d grown tired of sleeping in my car the first half of Texas.
I’d gotten off the interstate in Arkansas to enjoy the scenery and crossed over to Texas in the same way, on back roads. Going through the small towns had been stunning, until I found myself on the side of the road, stranded with not another soul in sight.
I’d just passed the sign for Burden when the damn car sputtered to a stop. I looked around and rolled my shoulders. The outskirts of Big Bend National Park had spectacular views. Burden was at the bottom of the far west side of Texas, on the Mexican border. I’d driven far off the beaten path for a chance to see Big Bend and now, here I was, stranded in what was potentially a ghost town.
I wasn’t entirely sure it was abandoned, since I didn’t actually know the first thing about Burden, Texas. I think I remembered seeing it on the road atlas I’d studied at a gas station outside of Austin. But, I’d driven through several ghost towns that had also been listed on the atlas, so the prospects of Burden actually being inhabited was somewhere around fifty-fifty.
Anxiety started to wear at the edges of my consciousness. I snatched my backpack from the trunk and tossed it over my shoulder. I’d hike through the park and hope to find a park ranger. Hiking the last thirty miles into Big Bend hadn’t been my plan, but then again, I didn’t exactly have a plan. And besides, this trip just might be my very last taste of freedom. The last chance I had to throw caution to the wind. My final hurrah as it were.
It was May, so not the hottest month of the year, but the daytime temperature was still in the high nineties. I’d dressed in simple, loose cotton shorts that morning that stopped just below my ass and a spaghetti strapped tank top. My clothes were perfect for the weather. My flip flops sucked for hiking. No matter, I tied my hair out of my face with a bandana and marched on.
This might be an unexpected hiccup, but I wasn’t one to let something like this get me down. Sure, it sucked to break down. Even more so outside a place called Burden, a place that was probably just some rugged land with a few abandoned adobe style structures on it. But, technically I was still on the road, which had been the point of leaving in the first place. To experience an adventure. I wanted to see everything. I wanted to spend as long as I could seeing everything.
It had nothing to do with me running scared from the marriage proposal my boyfriend had sprung on me. Nope. Nothing at all.
Summer hadn’t taken over yet and wildflowers were still blooming on each side of the road. As I walked, the blooms charmed me and I couldn’t help but smile. Green grass blew in the hot breeze. In the distance, the road dipped and I lost sight of whatever it was that I was walking towards. Only when I got closer, could I see the town spread out in the valley below.
Burden looked like a perfect little town. I could see enough movement to convince me that it wasn’t an abandoned ghost town. Awesome luck!
With a pep in my step, and my flip-flops slapping the soles of my feet, I headed towards this little slice of salvation. The first structure I came across was a large log cabin style place. A rustic wooden sign mounted over the door read ‘The Cave’. I peeked in the window, and the sight of neon beer signs made me feel like I’d won the lottery. Looks like I wasn’t gonna die from heat stroke or dehydration out in the middle of Nowhere, Texas after all.