Read Hawk: for Free Online

him.
    “Fabulous,” he said. “Sit,” he told Tildy. “Slick’s the best cook in the Dakotas.”
    “I heard that!” Tex growled as he entered the room.
    “Of course you heard that,” Slick replied. “In case you didn’t hear it, I’m putting up a billboard next week.”
    “Oh, is that right?” the Cowboy demanded, arms crossed.
    “Yeah. Right after I serve the World’s Best Chili tomorrow at your barbecue,” Slick announced.
    Tex’s eyes narrowed. “ I’m making chili!”
    “Good. When we run out of mine, we’ll serve yours as leftovers,” she countered.
    “Leftovers? Leftovers! How did you know I was making chili, anyway?”
    Slick was silent.
    “Vegas,” Tex grumbled. “Gonna tan her ass when I get home tonight!”
    “Who’s Vegas?” Tildy asked quietly.
    Hawk turned to her. “Tex’s... girlfriend .”
    “Hawk,” Slick said, voice full of warning.
    But Hawk grinned, not taking his eyes off Tildy. “And in case you were wondering, the hide-tanning will be literal.”
    “Hawk!” Slick yelled as Tildy gasped. Tildy’s face turned a whole new shade of red that Hawk hadn’t seen yet.
    Apparently Tildy hadn’t minored in spankings at college.
    Tex made an irritated noise, stomped past them, and washed his hands. Tildy bounced her gaze back and forth from Slick to Hawk. Slick shook her head ; Hawk nodded. Tildy didn’t know whom to believe. Hawk nearly burst out laughing when Tildy skirted around the table, further away from Tex, and planted herself beside him.
    Hawk normally didn’t go the spanking route, though he entertained any and all reasonable requests. He didn’t think Tildy would ever make such a request, but it was fun to tease he r anyway.
    “Are you from around here?” Slick asked.
    Tildy nodded. “We live on the north side of town. I just graduated from SDSU.”
    “That’s in Brookings, right?” Slick asked.
    Tildy nodded again. “You’re not from around here?”
    “No. I’m from North Carolina, but I...I’ve lived all over.”
    “Oh,” Tildy said. “Are you from a military family?”
    “Um...”
    Hawk watched Slick scowl and shift uncomfortably in her chair. “Tildy majored in finance, but she really wanted to be a teacher,” Hawk declared to defuse the situation. “Oh, wait,” he said, chagrined. “That was a secret. Sorry.”
    Tildy smiled though. “It’s okay.”
    “Why is it a secret?” Tex asked, pulling up a chair.
    Tildy pushed her egg salad around on her plate. “I told my parents I should minor in Spanish, that it would be useful at work. I love Spanish, but I really love teaching English as a Second Language. I got away with volunteering at the community center because I got course credit. I still teach a class there, but my parents don’t approve.”
    “Why not? ” Slick asked.
    “ The only Spanish-speaking people that north siders interact with mow their lawns and clean their mansions,” Hawk concluded.
    Tildy grimaced .
    “Hawk!” Slick chastised.
    Tildy sighed. “It’s true,” She admitted.
    “What’s true?” Easy asked, coming through the door.
    “That if you snooze, you lose,” Tex replied. “I ate all the egg salad.”
    Easy’s eyes hardened. “You did not.”
    “How much you want to bet?”
    Easy smirked. “I’ll just wait until tomorrow. Slick’ll have plenty of kickass chili.”
    Tex’s mouth dropped open. “How do you know about that? Why does everyone know about it but me?”
    “ ‘Cause you’re going down , Cowboy,” Easy informed him, reaching for a fork.
    As the youngest Ranger took a seat at the table, Slick produced another Tupperware bowl from a sack and pried off the lid. She passed it to Easy.
    “Ha!” he cried triumphantly, as more egg salad was revealed.
    “You and me, one-on-one tonight,” Tex challenged.
    Tildy gasped .
    “One-on- one?” Easy repeated, shoveling in a forkful of egg salad. “You sure? Seems to me you’ll need your girlfriend to beat me.”
    “Are they going to