Despite her blatant hatred for me, I’ve caught Ivy watching us a few times while she’s been bartending. She may play it off like she hates me, but I saw the way her body reacted to my touch. The subtle tremble that raked through her, how her hands grabbed onto my forearm, holding onto me and not at all pushing me away.Not at first anyway.
Stepping off the stage and into the dressing room, I grab my handkerchief from my back pocket and wipe the sweat dripping from my brow. It was a packed crowd tonight and a ton of fun. Whiskey Barrel is one of my favorite places in town to play for this very reason.
“She really has you in knots, doesn’t she?” Tysin jokes. It takes me a second to realize he’s talking to me.
“‘Scuse me?”
“You heard me. That last comment at the end about being single. It got anything to do with Ivy rejecting you and talking shit about your diseased dick?” Tysin chuckles, his grin nearly taking over his face. He holds a fist in front of his mouth, attempting to contain his laughter.
“I don’t give two shits about what she has to say.”
“Is that right?”
“Yeah. Why don’t you worry about your own dick?”
“I think you care a lot more than you want to let on.”
“What makes you fucking think that?” I ask, picking up my hat from the table in the back where we left our stuff sitting. Pulling it over my head, I lean against the edge of the table and cross my arms. Tysin is always quick to run his mouth, and I’m sick of his bullshit.
“The first night she was here with Kyla, you were all up on her, hoping she’d come home with you. The second you found out who she was, and she rejected your ass, you were back to being the same piece of shit you were to her years ago.”
My eyes narrow, knowing he’s only doing this to get a rise out of me. I’m not going to give him the satisfaction.
“I could have her ass eating out of the palm of my hand if I wanted to. I’m not fucking interested in her. I didn’t recognize her from all those years ago, but it doesn’t matter. Now, I just like getting a rise out of her.”
“Mmmhm.”
I clench my jaw, taking the three steps separating us. We stand toe-to-toe. Tysin’s mouth curves up on the edges, loving how he’s getting under my skin.
“I bet by the end of the summer, not only will I fuck her, but I’ll send her heartbroken ass back to wherever the fuck she came from.”
“You want me to bet you you’ll fuck your stepsister?”
“You heard me.”
“You really are the asshole she thinks you are.”
“I’ll tell you the same thing I told her, I hated her then, and I hate her now. I don’t give a shit what she thinks of me. Hell, I don’t give a fuck what you think, either.”
“Well, this oughta be interesting.”
Tysin grabs the can of beer from the ice bucket left on the table, pops the tab, and takes a long pull. He tips his beer toward me before he ducks out of the room and into the packed bar.
“You don’t really mean that, do you?” Madden asks from behind me.
“Stay out of it, Madd,” I reply sternly, brushing him off.
“No, dude. You can’t tell me you’re actually going to go through with this shit, are you?”
He looks at me, trying to read my emotions, and I hate how he can always see through me.
“Man, you really can be a prick sometimes. Ya know that?”
“I hadn’t heard that before.” I roll my eyes. “What’s it to you anyway? Am I stomping on your pussy grounds?”
He barks out a laugh, shaking his head. “Nah, man. She grew up with Kyla, they’re like sisters, but it’s not what you think. Just let it go, will ya?”
“I need a beer,” I say, grabbing one from the bucket before I shoulder past him and head to join the rest of the bar.