Going Hard: Boys of Fall Read Online Free PDF Page A

guy know that I’m ready for some sexcapades.”
    “Sexcapades?”
    “Yeah. You know…experimentation.”
    “I got it.”
    She perused the room. “I’m thinking that I’m never going to find a guy that’s willing.” She popped another ice cube in her mouth and met his gaze. “Or able, for that matter.” She reached out and poked his chest. His very firm chest. She knew that chest was very impressive under there.
    Not only had she seen it and touched it, but she’d seen him grow from gangly teen to muscular man, and most of the process in between. He was a perfect specimen of male. Too bad he sucked at the follow-through.
    Some guys were just pretty.
    Maybe it was hard to have both. Darwinism. Couldn’t give the hot guy looks and prowess. Had to give something to the Average Joes in the world.
    That had to be it.
    He grasped her finger. “That’s dangerous, Hollie.”
    “You sound like my brother.”
    “That’s what brothers do.”
    “Well, I have enough of them. That’s why I’m in this predicament to begin with. No guy wants to come near me for fear of what the Bennett boys will do to them, though Colt’s oblivious half the time anyway. Still, when he clues in, he acts as overprotective as Wade. And that’s why I have to go to Tidal Junction tomorrow to test the waters.”
    He let go of her finger and curled his tighter around the bottom of his glass.
    “Got a problem with that?”
    “Yes,” he bit out.
    “Then why don’t you show me a good time?”
    His knuckles went white around the glass before he finally relaxed. “Looks like I need to.”
    She grinned. “Right. Sure you will.”
    He reached into his back pocket and pulled out two bills and dropped them on the bar. “I’m taking you home to get some rest.”
    “I don’t want to.”
    “You’re falling asleep on the bar, Hol.”
    Her eyes did feel heavy, but he wasn’t going to give her orders. She was so tired of taking orders. “It’s too early to go home.”
    “You need your rest. I’m taking you out tomorrow.”
    She slid off her stool. The alarm really was going to suck in the morning. A drink or two, no big deal. Five? Was it five?
    Yeah, if she couldn’t keep track then it was definitely time to say good night, Gracie.
    “Thanks, Grandpa, but I’ll be fine on my own.”
    “I insist.”
    She swayed a little and used his very impressive triceps to steady herself. “Did I, or did I not just convey that I was tired of overbearing men in my life? How am I supposed to find a man if you’re growling around me?”
    “Women who don’t look available are invariably more attractive than single women on the prowl.”
    She tipped her chin up to try to focus on his thickly fringed dark eyes. “Are your standards that low when you look for chicks? Single or not, no problem?”
    “I don’t go looking for chicks.”
    Maybe if he did then he would have been better in the sack, but that wasn’t really her problem.
    He stepped closer to her, until she bumped up against the bar. “And I didn’t say anything about my standards. What I said is that if you don’t look like you’re on the hunt, then men are more likely to be interested.”
    “I’m pretty sure you did, but my faculties are slightly impaired so I’ll give you that one.”
    “It’s time to go.”
    She rubbed her aching forehead. “I shall concede to you at this very moment.”
    “One time without an argument. I’ll take it.”
    She teetered around him and headed for the exit. “Don’t get used to it.”
    “Heaven forbid.”

3
    S he fluffed her newly fringed bangs in the rearview mirror of her little Mazda Miata. It was an older model, and completely impractical, but she loved it. The bonus of a mild winter in Texas was that she could put the top down even in February.
    She’d left work an hour early after she’d begged her stylist to squeeze her in for a color. An hour under the hood to bleach out her chestnut hair had been worth it. Courtney had given her