And then I started laughing all over again, pulling the extra pillow over my face to muffle it. I really had no idea why I thought it was so funny. It wasn’t like I hadn’t been around Will the Farting Machine most of my life. His goal for the longest time had been to fart the alphabet. I mean, everyone passed gas. Everyone.

But this was Dex. My smoking biker boss that wore black on a regular basis.

I pulled the pillow away just long enough to hear him having another laughing fit as well.

So I said what came to mind. “You’re funny.”

Because he was, who would have known? My chest felt all loose and fun for the first time...in forever.

It might have been because the dark took away the intimacy of my admission but whatever. It just came out of my mouth. “I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much.”

“Me neither,” his low voice carried across the room right before I felt something hit my stomach. It was a pillow. He’d thrown a pillow at me. “Night, baby.”

I rolled over and tossed my leg over my new pillow with a snort. “Night, Charlie.”

I fell asleep with my cheeks hurting that night.

~ * ~ *

“I don’t f**k my employees, man.”

Shane shook his head, and then tilted it forward just a little. “Not even that one?”

I was trying my best to pretend that I couldn’t hear them. Like I was so wrapped up in watching Slim transfer the fresh stencil onto the customer in the chair, that I was able to zone out my boss and his friend. But I couldn’t, and a huge part of me, the sadistic part, didn’t want to.

For the last thirty minutes I’d been trying to ignore Dex and this Shane fella talk about who'd they’d seen up until that point at the convention. Up until Shane had shown up, I’d been having a good time with both of my coworkers. Dex had teased me about how I thought everything was cool while we’d walked around bringing the shop's things in.

That’s right. Dex was teasing me. Apparently our middle of the night hysterical laughing session had been a transition in the Iris/Dex battle. Who would have known? I still felt a little uneasy and unsure but it wasn’t anything like before. I’d take it. I had told myself before I wasn’t going to be pissed off at him any more, and I was going to stick to my guns and go with this new attitude for however long it lasted.

Because it wouldn’t last but I’d worry about that when the time came.

We spent the morning making our way around like zombies trying to set up the booth before opening. The people, the colors, the designs, everything in our surroundings sucked me in with the back and forth trekking from the truck.

The people and the piercings were beyond interesting. I'd seen one girl who had rows of piercings that lined up her back with streams of ribbon laced through that made it look like she was wearing a corset. Another man I’d seen setting up a table down the row from ours had tattoos all over his face. There was literally no inch of clear skin on his entire head except around his eyes. That was just the start, Slim had warned me.

It was fun. Taking in all the unconventional people, imagining what kind of stories the tattoos on their bodies told. There was no doubt in my mind both Slim and Dex could sense my curiosity and excitement.

We were having a really good time.

Until Shane came in with his big, ringing words, retelling stories about how many girls he and Dex bagged every time he visited Shane's shop in Dallas. From the amount of time he'd spent with us, I figured his booth wasn't exactly busy. I’d stood up to grab Slim a new water bottle for rinsing, and that was when Shane noticed me. Leading to the question that made me wary. The same question that had me clocking in our wagon of friendly as a twelve hour truce.

Well, it’d been fun while it lasted.

I saw Dex cut me a glance out of my peripheral vision, though I’m not sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, before sighing out, “No.”

Sheesh.

“Especially not that one,” he added.

Dick!

The stab to my pride flared up my chest painfully.

Screw him for not wanting to sleep with especially me. Dick face. It's not like I wanted someone like him to add to the nonexistent list of people I'd slept with in my life.

I flicked my gaze over in their direction, catching Shane’s eyes on me, and forced a hard smile to my face. I wasn't a vain person. I was happy with myself and regardless of whether Dex thought my B cups were too small or whether my facial features weren't up to par. I had some pride. So I gritted my teeth, locked my gaze on Dex's throat and grabbed the bottled water I'd filled up hours before.

Dick. Dick. Dick. Dick. Dick.

"What's wrong with her?" the snooty little jerk asked.

Was there something wrong with me? Besides my arm, which no one friggin' knew about, I didn't think there was anything wrong with me. I wasn't going to be on the cover of a magazine anytime soon—or ever—but I didn't look like I’d gone head to head with a surgeon’s scalpel and lost.

"Nothin' besides the fact Sonny would rip your ass**le outta your mouth if he saw you lookin' at her ass," Dex replied in a low laugh.

There was a low groan. "That's Son's sis?"

"The only one we know of."

God, the thought that there could be another Curt Taylor offspring in the world made me want to vomit even more than the realization that Dex didn't find me at least attractive enough to stand up for me.

Dickface.

Shane made a humming noise. "So I can't try—"

"Shut the f**k up, man," Dex groaned.

"Dude. You can't tell me you haven't thought about hittin' that."

Oh God. Was I mad or annoyed? I should feel insulted or pissed that I was being objectified, but strangely, I think I was more annoyed than anything else.

Dex's answer only fueled the part of me that was pissed off. Completely overshadowing my annoyance. "Why would I?"

And here I thought we were sort-of friends. Jerk. Slimy, moody, tiny balls. Weren't recluse spiders common in Texas? Maybe I could—

"I think we're talking too loud," Shane stated.

There was a short pause before Dex stated evenly in the same volume, “Ritz.“

I ignored him, focusing at the thought of finding a spider to bite his precious arm.

Here was this man I thought was beautiful, nearly perfect on the outside, hotter than a light bulb that had been left on all day—a bit of a dick but whatever. And he didn’t even find me attractive enough to be polite when referring to my looks. Not even a little and it made my sternum burn.

"Ritz."

Dick.

"Iris," he said that time.

I looked over my shoulder at his chin, clenching my jaw. Dick. "Yes?"

Dex waved me forward with a flick of his tattooed fingers. “Babe, come here.”

I didn’t.

“Iris, come here.”

"I'm fine over here, Char-lee," I told him. Was I trying to piss him off by calling him that? Probably.

I could see Dex shake his head in Shane’s direction before splitting the distance between us. His gaze dropped to my eye level as he rolled my chair away from Slim's vicinity for me to face him. Dex's hand reached out to tip my face. I looked up at the rafters.