She moves close enough to cup my cheek. She no longer hugs me because my dad said it makes us weak. “Be strong, Blake.”

No I love you, but instead, be strong.

It’s harsh, but this is what we’ve come to. In order to thrive in this family, we need to conform. And strength trumps emotion.

I work my mouth into a smile. “Always.”

My dad must have given the nod, since a hand clinches my elbow. I say goodbye to my mom then allow myself to be guided through the house. I don’t see my brother anywhere, but chances are he’s been ordered to stay behind a closed door. He’s much better at obeying than I am.

I’m push-walked out the front door. It’s a cool night. The wet ocean air whips and curls around my face, and I take my final breaths of it, knowing that I’ll be in the desert soon. My dad leads us to the open double doors of a black van. Once there, a hand from behind puts pressure on my head, trying to get me to duck and climb in.

I force my spine straight so they can’t fold me into the van. “Sir, one thing before I go?”

My dad looks down at me through narrowed eyes. “What is it? You’ve got a long drive ahead of you.”

I step close, grateful that my last growth spurt put me just a few inches shorter than him. “I just want to say…” With a quick step back for momentum, I slam my forehead into his nose. Stars dance behind my eyes.

He doubles over with a howl, putting his hands to his face. Blood pours through his fingers.

A smile curls my lips. Damn, that felt good. The quick high dissolves as I’m pulled back and shoved face first to the concrete driveway. The rough soles of combat boots press into my back and hold me down, crushing my ribs.

My dad groans and stumbles on his feet. “Hold him up, boys.” His pained grunt makes whatever’s about to happen totally worth it.

I’m hauled up by my T-shirt and shoved forward.

His face is red, colored by fury and blood, and inches from mine. “’Bout time I taught you a lesson.” Standing back, he raises his fist.

Knowing the unavoidable is on its way, I decide to leave him with a parting thought. “Fuck you, Dad.”

Pain explodes in my jaw. The world spins and goes black.

One

Thirteen years later…


Blake

“I’d like to make a toast.” I’m drunk as hell, feeling zero pain. The club’s crowded and humming with energy, just like every other club in town tonight.

It’s New Year’s Eve in Las-motherfucking-Vegas.

I climb my barstool and stagger-stand on the bar. So ready to put this fucked up year behind me, I check the countdown clock—fifty-two minutes. I raise my glass, and the crowd below cheers.

Yeah, bitches. You all love my ass.

“Here’s to a new year. May it be filled with knockout punches in the octagon.” I lock eyes with two chicks at my feet. They’ve been hanging on me all night, rubbing me ready and begging for it. I wink. “And knockout babes in your bed.” I squint into the crowd, looking for the band, and find them huddled next to the stage. “And cheers to my boy, Rex.” Holding my drink high, I motion to his band, Ataxia. “Make rock and roll history, brother.” With one last thrust of my glass into the air, I toss back two fingers of whiskey and savor the burn.

Everyone in the club follows suit, finishing in a symphony of hollered agreement. I hop off the bar and into the tentacle arms of my admirers.

“Great toast, baby,” the platinum-haired beauty to my right says as she rubs her body against mine.

I bend down, sliding my tongue into her eager mouth and grabbing a fistful of her ass. Nothing gets a second girl’s interest like pure, hot, jealousy. And sure ’nuff, her friend presses herself to my side and slides her hand down my stomach to the waistband of my pants.

I’m numb and can’t taste or feel much. But my dick roars to life, searching for somewhere hot and wet. It’s not even midnight yet, and I’m trashed. If I don’t get these girls home and naked soon, I may pass out before getting laid.

“Dude, get a room. Or at least find a dark corner.”

I pull back from my blurry make-out session and focus my drunken gaze on Caleb and the new guy—what’s his name? Caleb invited him out tonight. He moved here from a beach town, and being a transplant, he had nowhere to ring in the New Year. He’s supposed to be the next hot-shit UFL fighter. Looks like a lifeguard from Baywatch to me.

“You assholes jealous?” I tuck a girl under each arm and lean against the bar.

The guys laugh, but I don’t miss the flash of envy in their eyes.

Rex and his drummer, Talon, show up with a few girls in tow. They’re all hot, dressed in barely-there clothes for easy access, and asking all sorts of naughty questions with their eyes.

One of the many things I love about Vegas is that there’s no shortage of women who’re looking for the no-strings kind of hook-ups I’m all about.

Fuck, I love my life.

“Great set, T-Rex,” I say, and mean it.

Ataxia is the perfect combination of old school and melodic punk rock. And Rex, that fucker can write a song.

“Thanks, man.” Rex shifts his gaze around the group. “Where’s Jonah? I thought you said him and Ray were coming by.”

A burst of laughter unexpectedly flies from my lips. “Yeah right. That dude’s been shacked up with his new wife at home since they got back from Bora Bora. I bet they haven’t worn clothes more than a few times since they’ve been married.”

Not that I blame the bastard. Raven’s not only hot, but she’s tough. The shit she went through last fall at the cabin… no typical woman could have done what she did. I’ve never seen anything like it.

Women are weak. Raven’s an anomaly.

I blink and shake my head against my conflicting thoughts. While I’m happy for the pussy-whipped Jonah, I’m glad that ain’t me. Raven carries more baggage than Boeing. He acts like it’s a damn pleasure to lug that weight around. No thank you.

I’m no fool to the ways of women. And I’d prefer to stick with the ones that are cool with casual sex without complications.

Speaking of which, my enthusiastic dates for the evening are getting restless, the strokes of their wandering hands growing even more bold.

“You girls hungry? I got something in my pocket that should fill you up.”

The blonde moans and licks her lips before running them along my neck. Her friend tosses her chestnut curls over her shoulder, a look of jealousy flaring in her eyes.

I smile and pull her to my side, leaning in to speak in her ear. “Don’t worry, babe. There’s plenty of me to go around.” In an effort to punctuate my words, I grab her ass and grind her against my thigh.

She slides her hand into the back pocket of my jeans. “Both of us?” she asks, with what sounds like a mixture of curiosity and excitement.

“Yeah, both of you.” I pull back to meet her eyes. “It’s a New Year. Try something new. You’ll be glad you did.”

It doesn’t matter if she agrees or not. There’re a handful of women who would take her place. A few I can see from where I’m standing, the rest an easy speed dial away.

She chews her lip, thinking it over.

The blonde has made her way to my mouth, grabbing my chin to pull me to her parted lips. Vodka on her tongue mixes with the sugary flavor of her lip-gloss. I sink into her kiss, making sure to give decision girl a visual that she won’t soon forget, a taste of what she’ll be missing.

Before long decision girl is tugging on my arm. I break the kiss and give her my ear.

She flexes her hand that’s still in my back pocket, and she runs her other up my chest. “I’m in.”

“Great news, babe.” I study her expression. Everything about her body language says she wants to go home with me, but something in her eyes puts my alcohol-flooded mind on alert. “You ready?” I press her, testing.

“Yeah, just let me hit the ladies room and make a phone call. I’ll be right back.”

She pushes up on her tiptoes, going for my lips.

I turn my head, taking her kiss on the cheek. “Phone call? Let me guess, husband?”

She recoils, her eyebrows pinching together. “No.”

“Boyfriend?”

“No, it’s nothing like that.” She looks around then leans into my ear. “I have to call my sitter. Let her know I’ll be late.”

This shit ain’t happening. “Whoa, whoa.” I hold up my hand. I don’t need any more information than that. “No.”

“No?” Her mouth hangs open.

“Um, more like hell no.”

“I don’t—”

“Sorry, babe. You’re good looking, but I’ve got to send you packing.”

She gasps and pulls her hand from my back pocket. “I… I…”

“Yo, Baywatch,” I call out to the new guy, motioning for him to come over. He’s what I would think most girls would find attractive. A little too pretty, but muscled enough to look straight.

“What’s up, Blake?” He eyes the young mother who’s still standing there stiff and offended.

“I want to introduce you to…” I’m not hiding the fact that I don’t know her name. I swing my gaze to her and wait.

She glares at me. “Alana.”

“This is Baywatch.” I put pressure on her lower back, pushing her to him.

Baywatch looks pleased with his gift. “Hey, it’s nice to meet—”

Alana jerks her head around. “You’re a dick.”

I shrug.

The blonde at my side watches me brush off her friend. “Alana, are you okay?”

Nothing will kill my buzz faster than a nasty chick fight. It’s not personal. Hell, I’m probably doing the girl a favor. I’m definitely doing her kid a favor. Girl with a mouth to feed doesn’t need to be paying a babysitter overtime so she can go home with a dude that’ll fuck her and never call her again.