The Land of Rabbits (Long Shot Love Duet #1) Read Online Free Page A

this, fucker. I’m gonna kick your ass.”
    He’s a spectacle, stealing the scene with a split lip, short spikey hair, and a chest twice the size of Quinn’s. Tall, muscular, his pants low, pubic hair showing, and that cackle...
    “Oh my God.” Jess gasps. “Naddie... Naddie.” She tugs at my aunt’s arm. “He’s mine. That one’s mine. My favorite movie man ever! Look at him. Look!”
    “She picked Tyler,” a woman says.
    After all that, the fake fight is quick, lasting only a second. Quinn goes down in one punch. On his back and pretending to be out.
    “Ahh, ha-ha-ha.” The bartender lights a cigarette, his cheeks sunken when he inhales. With a puff of smoke and a squint, he gives Quinn a swift kick before walking toward our table.
    “Who’s getting some of this tonight?” His voice is low and commanding, his walk dominant and fierce. “Who’s gonna take my stiff cock? Two, three, four times. Who wants me?”
    Women raise their hands, cheer, whistle, and paw his abs as he walks by. It’s a mad house.
    “Whoa.” Jess inhales. “Eeek!” She’s lifted over his shoulder, her red thong and dimpled butt fat surfacing as she’s carried off.
    “I won’t be able to walk tomorrow!” she shouts over a crowd of twenty applauding women. “Or a week!”
    “She’s a strange one.” I shake my head. “But definitely entertaining.”
    “Life would be bland if we were all the same.”
    “True.” I lean back as my salad’s served and my wine’s refilled.
    “Enjoy the pool and the beautiful grounds tonight, but promise me I won’t wake up and find you passed out at the bar,” Nadine requests.
    I nod.
    “Promise?”
    “Okay. If I pass out, I’ll make sure I’m in my room.”
    “Addie.”
    “I swear I’ll be all right. I’m not abusing liquor like I used to. I’m better... I’m getting better. I’ll stop after this one. Besides,” I swirl the liquid in the glass, “the guy poured such a small amount. See. Teeny-tiny.”
    We hear Brian laugh and Nadine bites her lip to stop a twitch, same as my mom used to do. The Moore women have twitchy lips. Plump, too, but most people are drawn to our broad blue eyes, not the lips.
    “Do you consider this cheating?” I question, grimacing at Brian’s hand on the woman’s leg. “I know I would if I were married.”
    “It can be to some,” she whispers.
    “What about you?”
    She offers a weak smile, touching my cheek like I’m too young and innocent to understand. “We love each other. Most of the time, we do. I guess it’s hard for you to comprehend what’s going on. All I can say is we need this. We’ve been married for nineteen years and making love isn’t the same as it used to be. Not terrible, but not exciting either. Think of this trip like buying new clothes and getting your hair cut in the spring—a pick me up.” She looks at Brian. “Sometimes you have to open the curtains and allow the sun to warm your face. You know?”
    “No, I don’t know.”
    “Well, if I were doing this on my own, or if Brian was, yes, then I’d call it cheating.”
    “And because you both agree, it’s not? That’s fucked up.”
    She pauses to think of a better response.
    “Don’t worry about it, Nadine. I was just curious about your feelings. Hiding the obvious makes me feel unimportant, like you can’t open up and speak the truth in front of me.”
    “This isn’t a masquerade. I’m being completely honest with you.” She twists her wedding ring. “Both Brian and I feel that this is part of our marriage. Without it we’d be dried up, disagreeable mutts with no release from reality. Just wait ‘til you’re with a guy for two decades. You’ll see. There’re only a lucky few who are suited to be with one person, and the rest of us wish those fully satisfied princes and princesses would be more open-minded.”
    I hit a sore spot. The protruding vein on her neck is a bad sign.
    “We do this together.” Her freshly painted pink fingernails