Page 9 of Tracked By Sasquatch

It also made him nervous though. If she found him worthy, the pressure to live up to the expectation was there.

He could do without that part.

Quickly changing the direction his thoughts were headed, he slid the quarter back across the table. “Ladies first.”

“Okay.” She retrieved the coin. “Trailer park rules.”

Devin was relaxed, unlike he’d seen her in months. Her smile was a little wider, her voice a touch higher, and her eyes were absolutely beaming.

“What, pray tell, are trailer park rules?”

“It’s the rules I made up to this game in high school. We were basically trailer trash, thus the name. Anyway, if you make it, you get either a truth or a dare, victim’s choice. If they don’t complete it to your satisfaction, they do a shot. If they do, you do the shot. If you miss the shot glass, you do a shot. Simple.”

As soon as the last syllable left her mouth, she leaned forward and rolled the damn thing off her nose. It bounced off the table right into the empty shot glass.

“Goodie.” She clapped like a loon. “Truth or dare, big guy. Truth or dare?” By the time she finished talking, she was rubbing her hands together.

“You’re doing that like a cartoon super villain. Should I be worried, Dev?”

“Who me?” She placed a hand on her chest with exaggerated feigned innocence. “Why, sir, you have wounded me.”

“From now on I’m gonna call you Devious Devin.”

“Well then, which do you want first, big guy, truth or dare?”

“First? I thought it was either or?”

“Oh, did I fail to mention that part of trailer park play? If at any time the victim offends the quarterer, then they can claim both a truth and a dare from the quarteree.”

Devin crossed her arms over her chest in mock offense, but her glittering gaze told him she was enjoying the whole experience way too much.

“Quarterer, quarteree? I may not be a smart man, but I’m fairly certain those are not words.”

“Another offense. That means you will also have to take a shot. That’s in the rules too.”

“Are these written somewhere? I’d like to see a copy if they are, because I have questions.”

“Why yes, they are. They’re written on your momma.” She laughed her ass off at that response, but Squatch stilled. The earlier warm and fuzzy feeling their banter had given him washed away with a few careless words.

He knew he shouldn’t let it get to him, she didn’t know. Hell, almost no one did, but that didn’t bring his good mood back.

Fuck the lime and fuck the salt, Squatch grabbed a shot and threw it back. When he slammed the glass on the table, Devin looked up at him, the laughter still shone from her eyes but died on her lips.

Squatch hated himself for ruining her good mood, but it was what it was. His mom dumping him with her mom and little sister just to jet off with his sperm donor at the ripe old age of sixteen still hurt like a bitch.

Was he so unfuckinglovable that even the one person who should’ve loved him beyond all reason couldn’t even spare him a note or a name?

He lit a cigarette and took a deep draw, trying to calm the anger that was rising inside him at thoughts of the past.

“Oh shit, I’m sorry. That was thoughtless of me. Has your mom passed.”

Squatch met her eyes and there was nothing but sincerity there. She hadn’t meant to cause him pain and was hurting for it. That just made him feel worse. He didn’t want to cause Devin pain, never. A few more pulls on his smoke went a long way to calming him down.

“Honestly, I don’t know. Maybe, maybe not.”

Devin slid her hand across the table, palm up in invitation. Squatch stubbed out the cigarette and placed his hand in hers.

The contact soothed him. He rolled their hands over so hers was on top, almost completely engulfed in his. His skull ring caught the light, and her French-tipped nails showcased their differences.