Chapter Three: Who's the Cowboy?

Arson

'Who is the cowboy? Why is he calling our girl's name?'

He shouldn't be. Everyone here knows exactly who we are without knowing exactly what we are capable of. Regardless we are respected and we are feared. So who would dare be so friendly with the one girl who belongs to us?

'Or should I say we belong to her? ' I never would have expected the meek little girl would become this fiery goddess of a woman that would grab my dick with livid steel-blue eyes full of determination. 

My stomach growls in hunger. I should have eaten something instead of deciding to anger Carley and my friends in the process. Jase is going to make me regret my behavior later.

"Hey, Storm! How is your day going so far?!" She chirps excitedly at him and then greets him with a warm hug. 

I let a out low growl but I doubt either of them heard me. My friends sure did. None of us are happy with his hand lingering possessively on Carley's lower back as he talks to her.

Our arms are crossed over our chests and letting off such a dark aura that people are giving us a wide berth. All we see at this moment is the death of this man who is too familiar with our woman.

"So far so good," we hear this Storm Cowboy tell her. 

'What kind of name is STORM anyway?'

"I'm enjoying all this continued togetherness, Catcus." He gives a salacious wink. Nope. I don't like him.

"I should get going. I have a class in the next ten minutes," Carley tells him glancing over at us. Her eyes are pleading with us to either save her from him or pleading for us not to hurt him. 

"Can I walk you to class?" Storm asks.

Carley is biting her lower lip. When she does she is usually anxious or unsure. Was that move always this sexy? 

I saunter up behind Carley placing a kiss a top of her head and pulling her away from this cowboy and into my arms. 

"Thanks for the offer but we have the next class together, so I'm walking her," I say forcing myself to use a smooth friendly voice. 

Carley looks up with a questioning bow as if to say how did I know that. That's an easy answer because as soon as Jase saw her this morning next to his locker, he sent Lachlan in to flirt with the secretary into letting him take a copy of Carley's schedule. Lachlan messaged it to us as soon as he had the schedule. 

I smile down at Carley. "Come on babe, we don't want to be late." I use my best alluring voice that usually has women all over me. 

"Babe?" She questions then hums under her breath. I get the feeling she doesn't care too much for the nickname.

"Yeah. Babe. You did just stake your claim on me," I whisper in her ear before licking the shell.

These last six years without her have been our own personal hell. Some of us swore off women altogether. Some of us just stick to one-night stands or casual sex. Me? I tried to purge her away in every beautiful woman I could.  

The Storm cowboy is watching us closely with his dark eyes taking in every detail. I know that look well, my friends and I use it all the time. It's crucial because it could be the difference between life and death for us in our line of work. 

'Seriously? Who is this cowboy?' 

Carley glances at him and he smiles at her as if she hung his moon. "Okay I'll see you after class, Cactus," he assures her with a wink before walking away. 

Jase and the boys have moved closer to us. Jase arches a questioning brow. "While we walk, care to explain that guy to us, sweetheart?"

"I want to know the story behind Cactus Carley," Lachlan chirps with his blue eyes dancing with mischief as he wiggles her eyebrows at her. 

Carley's face flushes crimson. She groans, leaning her head back against my chest. I take a deep inhale of her rose mint scent. 

"Can we please save it for the loft?" She begs.

"That cowboy said he would see you tonight. Is he going to be there?" I bit the question out sounding harsher than I intended even to my ears. 

"At my house? Yes. In our sacred space? I hope not," Carley says in frustration. 

'Why is this guy frustrating to her?'

I move beside her, placing her small hand in the crook of my arm and Jase does the same on the other side. Weston and Lachlan follow close behind us as we amble to the next class.