Chapter 24
Porter
Home just didn’t feel quite the same anymore.
Ever since I’d lost my mom, nothing was the same.
Christmas had lost its luster, and I didn’t look forward to it this year at all.
So, when my newfound brother invited me to come to spend the holiday with his family and clan, I jumped at the chance.
I hadn’t been to Bluewater Coast since spring when I came and met Jace, then hung out for the clan weekend.
As supportive as my clan had been through losing my mom and after, there was nothing like being with family.
Something about the clan in Bluewater felt like family.
My brother, of course, but even his mom had been welcoming, and Jace’s Aunt Missy had been the best host I could’ve dreamed of.
She’d taken me under her wing like one of her own.
I actually put on a few pounds thanks to her cooking.
Not to mention, Hayden called me Uncle P. That had been really cool.
I walked across the bar and set the beers down on the table, then slid them to my brother and his friends. My new friends, as well. “Stop fucking around and just move already,” Jace said.
We were having a rare night with Jace off duty. He had two guys working tonight when normally only one did. That way if anything happened, they’d have a spare to handle it. I’d insisted on it. He needed a weekend night off every once in a while.
“Every time I go home, it’s a little harder to leave.” I shrugged. “But jumping clans isn’t the easiest thing in the world. And I’d have to sell the house and deal with all that. It’s not simple.”
Jace’s clan alpha was a pretty cool dude. He’d come to hang out with us for a few hours. “All you have to do is ask.” Anthony grabbed a beer and grinned. “I’d be more than happy to make the necessary arrangements. Just say the word.”
I didn’t want to be too hasty about it. “Thank you. When I’m totally decided, I will. I’m really going to think about it.”
“Come on, let’s play some pool,” Jace suggested. “The backroom just emptied out.”
There had been a bachelorette party back there giggling and shooting on Jace’s only pool table. “You need more pool tables and dartboards,” I said.
He rolled his eyes. “If you figure out somewhere I can squeeze in another pool table without taking any space from the patron tables, I’ll order it right now.”
Chuckling, I conceded his point. “Okay, fair enough. What you need is a bigger bar.”
He shrugged. “Good location.”
I racked the balls and Wayne, another friend I’d made in the Bluewater clan, handed me a cue.
We played several games, betting each time, and each time, somehow, I lost my money.
It might’ve had something to do with the number of beers I’d consumed, but by the time I cried uncle, I was only down about fifteen bucks. We’d only been betting dollars.
“Let’s go order some onion rings,” Wayne suggested.
“That sounds delicious.” My stomach growled at the thought.
I led the way, and we found an empty table in the corner. It was lucky we got that. “Is it usually this busy on a Saturday?” I asked.
Jace nodded. “Yeah, business has been booming. I’m thankful for it, especially now.”
I grinned. He was a family man now.
As I opened my mouth to tease him, a scream a few tables over pulled all our attention away.
A blonde woman stood beside two men. The men were busy going to town on each other.
As soon as one landed a punch, the other twisted around and got one in.
They were too close together for it to be a real fight.
More like an upright wrestling match. “You’re both a bunch of fucking idiots!
” the blonde screamed. “I’m done with both of you. ”
The guys jerked away from each other and looked at the woman, both of them panting and red-faced. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the scene.
“Don’t you know who I am?” she continued. “You’re both easily replaced.” Damn. She was one hell of a ballbuster. There weren’t enough hot curves in the world for me to put up with shit like that.
She looked around the bar and her eyes landed on us in the corner.
“Shit,” Jace muttered.
“Shit is right,” Anthony said.
She stalked over to us and stood behind Jace and Wayne, across the table. Anthony and I were sort of wedged against the back wall. “Hello,” she said.
“You all right, Kaylee?” Anthony asked. “Need a ride home?”
She shook her head and her gaze landed on me. “I’ve never seen you before. You must be a pretty decent guy if you’re hanging out with Anthony and Jace.”
“I’m Jace’s brother,” I explained. I looked like my mom and he looked like our dad, so we didn’t resemble each other enough for anyone to notice.
Her eyes widened slightly before she shook out her blonde hair and schooled her features. “It’s nice to meet you. I assume you know who I am?”
I blinked and then smiled tentatively, trying to be polite. “I’m sorry. If we’ve been introduced, it’s slipping my mind. I don’t mean to be rude.”
Her face hardened. “You really don’t recognize me?”
I looked at Jace, and he’d turned his head away from the woman and was giving me the strangest look, all wide-eyed and panicked.
“I—” I looked at Jace again, and he was making subtle slicing motions across his throat.
Anthony, who was sitting in a position that he couldn’t hide his face from the woman, Kaylee, had a totally woodenly polite expression.
I wished I’d accepted him as my alpha already so he could tell me how to respond.
That would’ve helped immensely. “I’m sorry, I don’t. ”
She curled her upper lip. “Don’t you watch porn?”
I nearly choked on my own spit. “I’m sorry, how is that your business?”
She changed her body posture slightly and suddenly her chest was more prominent, her cleavage more in my face. “I’m famous for my live streams.”
Oh, shit. She got paid to entertain desperate men online for a subscription price. I didn’t knock her hustle, money was money. But I had no interest in making a life with a woman like that.
I grabbed my beer and nodded at her. “I see. Well, it’s nice to meet you.”
She leaned between Jace and Wayne with her hand outstretched.
“I’m Kaylee.” Jace leaned to the left and Wayne leaned to the right.
I set my beer down to shake her hand and immediately it fell over.
Scrambling, I righted it and threw a few napkins down.
Kaylee pulled back and the guys helped me mop up the mess.
“Sorry,” I said. “I’m Porter. I’d shake your hand but now mine is covered in beer.
” She took one step back with a slightly distasteful look on her face.
I didn’t need judgment from the lady who’d just been the subject of a fight.
I looked over her shoulder, remembering the men, but they’d melted away.
I guessed they took her rejection seriously.
“Well, anyway, would you like to buy me a drink?” She changed her posture again so that her chest was prominent.
I didn’t knock her method of earning money, but I also had no interest in drinking with her. “No, but thanks. I’m sure there are plenty of guys in here who would.”
She blinked at me like my rejection didn’t register with her. “I’m sorry? Can you repeat that?”
That came out a lot more hateful than I’d meant it to. I tried to be more diplomatic. “I’m enjoying my time with my guys here. But there are lots of men here who have their eye on you.”
She gaped at me, and so did Jace and Wayne. I didn’t turn my head to see if Anthony had a similar shocked expression on his face. Had no one ever turned this woman down before?
“You’re a dick,” she hissed.
I raised my eyebrows as she stormed off. Shrugging, I turned my attention back to the table. “I’m not a dick, but she can think what she wants to.”
Jace and Anthony sighed in unison.
“What?” I asked.
Wayne grinned. “I’m just glad it’s not me.”
“I’m going to hear it when I get home.” Jace moaned and took a long drink.
Anthony looked at Jace’s bottle, turned up above his face. “I wish I wasn’t the DD. I could use a beer.”
I didn’t know why they were upset. “What’s going on?”
“My wife and Jace’s mate are Kaylee’s best friends,” Anthony explained. “We’re never going to hear the end of this. They’re crazy overprotective of her and her wild ways.”
“Wild ways?” I asked. “Being a porn star?”
Jace turned and looked over his shoulder.
Bluewater Barbie had set her sights on some other poor sap.
“No, that’s just her job. She used to be a party girl, but here lately, she’s been in the bar every single night and leaves with a different guy each time.
Something about her has changed and she’s showing some self-destructive behavior.
I tried to tell Bri, but she chewed me out and said that Kaylee is fine. ”
“Skye gave me the same story,” he said. “I had to let it go.”
I wasn’t worried about Kaylee. There was no way I’d fall victim to her apparent spell on the other men of Bluewater.
No worries here. We were too opposite. It would never work out.