Chapter 12 #2
“Yep. And I’m drinking tonight. Boomer is going to Uber there with the guys, and then he’ll drive my car home.
He agreed to be the DD tonight. So, get ready for some fun.
We only have you here for the summer, Lila, and we sort of have this plan to make you love it so much that you never want to leave,” Sloane said as she turned up the volume in the car, and we all started singing to our girl, Taylor Swift.
Did I even want to leave?
I’d been really happy since I’d been home.
I’d never thought about staying, not with the way Travis carried on about the new job.
But the thought of sitting behind a desk ten hours a day and living in the city didn’t sound as exciting now as it did when I’d first graduated with a dual degree in business and finance.
But then I thought of Hugh, and what a jerk he’d been about me selling my car. About how horrified he’d been that we’d shared that moment out at the cove. And Travis was an overbearing asshole most of the time, and he’d never let it go.
This was temporary. I needed to stay focused on the goal.
Get Dad into treatment, and then I’d go back to my real life.
We all continued shouting out the lyrics to “Shake It Off” and laughing our asses off as we got out of the car.
Once we were inside, we settled at a high-top table, and the place was booming.
A few guys were looking over at us, and one even sent over a tray of drinks.
I was sticking to beer tonight, as I’d learned my lesson about being hungover, and I had no desire to do it again anytime soon.
The girls were drinking shots, and Del asked the bartender for an empty shot glass for me, and I filled it with beer so I could join in.
Rock music was booming, and a very sexy man in a leather coat walked over to our table.
“Ladies, you’re looking lovely tonight,” he said, his voice deep. His blue eyes were locked on mine, and I quickly looked away. The man had to be in his early forties, but he rocked the silver fox look rather well.
“Thanks,” we said in unison over a fit of giggles.
“Are you Tate James’s daughter?” he asked.
I straightened my shoulders. “Yes. Do you know my dad?”
“I do. He’s a good man. He did some work for me at my auto shop. I thought I recognized you from a few years back.” He winked. “Was it Lily?”
“Lila,” I said, feeling my cheeks turn bright red at the way he took me in.
“Not going to hit on you, darling. Not now that I know you’re Tate’s daughter. But damn, you’re easy on the eyes. I’ll be watching out for you tonight. You ask for Roddy if anyone gives you trouble, all right?”
I just waved as he backed away from the table and made his way to the group of friends he was sitting with.
“Hot daddy. I could be so down for an older man,” Sloane said, and we all gaped at her.
“If you weren’t in a relationship?” Rina shook her head with disbelief.
“Well, of course. But a girl can look, right? And that man right there is every woman’s wet dream. He looks like an older version of Jax Teller from Sons of Anarchy.” Sloane held up her glass for another round, and I asked for a water.
I thought over her wet dream comment. I’d found my wet dream, in the form of a six-foot-three, long-haired, stubborn, beautiful man, who happened to be my roommate at the moment.
I understood the concept of a wet dream more than ever now.
I’d actually been awake for it.
“Oh my gosh, what are you thinking about? You look very guilty,” Del teased, just as Parker, Boomer, Kline, and Quincy walked in.
A few people we’d gone to high school with came in behind them, and I realized this was a local hangout as much as a biker bar.
I liked the vibe. The music was great, and everyone was having a good time.
We ordered appetizers, and the girls continued drinking pretty heavily. I had a beer shot with them every now and then, but I’d switched over to water. My eyes kept scanning the door because there was only one person that I wanted to see tonight.
The one I lived and worked with.
The one who was probably coming here with a date.
“So, Del thinks we’re together, huh?” Kline asked, leaning close to me so only I could hear. The girls were too busy singing to the music and having a good time to pay us any attention.
“Yeah. It’s a long story. Thanks for playing along. That won’t mess anything up with Danielle, will it?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder to make sure no one was listening.
“Nah. That’s very new. She’s cool. We aren’t exclusive or anything, so if you have a change of heart with me, I’m still available.” He raised a brow, and I chuckled.
“I think we’ve got a good thing going just how it is right now, don’t you?”
“Sure,” he said, his words slurring a little bit.
“What are you two talking about?” Del sidled up to me, standing between our bar stools.
“Just catching up a little,” I said, anxious to get this conversation over with. When Del wanted to know something, she never backed down.
“I’m not interrupting anything, then?” she teased, eyeing us suspiciously. “From what I hear, you’re good at more than making the drinks, huh, Kline?”
I spewed water all over the table and started coughing before reaching for a napkin and wiping up my mess.
“I don’t know, but I think so.” Kline winked at me.
“Be good to my girl. Ooooookay?” she slurred.
Oh my god. Please make her stop.
“Oooookay, Del. I’ll try.” Kline looked at her like she had three heads before Quincy called her away when their drinks arrived.
“Sorry about that,” I said, just as the door swung open, and Hugh and Brax stepped inside with two women I’d never seen before.
The one standing really close to Hugh was pretty.
She looked older than me, for sure, and she was very curvy.
Her boobs were spilling out of her red tube top, and she was wearing dark jeans that fit her like a second skin.
Damn, I’d never seen a butt like that. It almost looked fake.
Her blonde hair fell in loose waves over her shoulders, and her red lips were overfilled but managed to look sexy as hell.
She was a total bombshell.
And I instantly hated her.
I’d never had that kind of reaction to someone.
But her hand trailed along his upper arm, and she moved it to his hair, and my hands fisted at my sides. I was grateful that I hadn’t had much to drink because I wouldn’t want to do anything to embarrass myself, and at least I could control my reaction because I was completely sober.
He was laughing with Brax, and a few guys walked over to him because everyone knew Hugh.
And his head turned slowly as if he knew I was watching. His sage-green eyes locked with mine, and everything else stopped moving.
I smiled. I felt bad for the way we’d left things earlier.
I couldn’t stay mad at the man for caring and trying to help me.
After all, he’d been the one to go with me today.
I should have been thanking him, not getting angry at him.
His tongue swiped out and slid across his bottom lip, and he tipped his chin up just a little bit.
Someone handed him a shot. He pulled his gaze from mine, and his head fell back as he downed the liquid.
Hugh didn’t drink often because the man worked so much.
So maybe he was blowing off some steam tonight.
“So how long has that been going on?” Kline pulled me from my daze.
“What?”
He smirked. “Don’t worry about me, Lila. I know what a crazy ass your brother is. I’m not going to say a word.”
“I think you’re misreading things,” I said, glancing back over to see that annoying woman squeezing herself into the space beside Hugh at the bar.
Kline chuckled. “Well, I may not know you well enough to read you, but I have been working with Hugh for a while now, and he doesn’t look at anyone the way he looks at you.”
My chest squeezed at his words. “How does he look at me?”
“Like you’re the only girl in the room,” he said, before taking the last pull from his beer. “And also, like he’s going to kill anyone who looks at you wrong. I’d been on the receiving end of that look a few times before I figured it out.”
“I think you’re probably confused. He’s Travis’s best friend, and he’s always been protective.”
He set his bottle down and chuckled. “I see how Travis is with you. And even though that bastard is crazy, there is no question that he’s your brother. But that’s not the way Hugh looks at you, Lila.”
“There’s nothing going on.” I shrugged.
“Well, if you’re telling the truth, and nothing’s happened between you, then that dude is fighting it hard. I know when a dude is struggling, and he’s definitely struggling.”
I watched as Hugh accepted another shot and downed it quickly.
Was he struggling?
I thought I was the only one who was having a hard time.
A part of me had wondered if what we’d shared was just a pity make-out session, and he’d wished it had never happened, and not only because of Travis.
But maybe I’d been wrong.
I felt bad because I cared much less about what my brother thought than Hugh did. Crossing the line would be an issue in their friendship, but it wouldn’t affect my relationship with my brother any more than Travis having a meltdown, which was nothing new for me.
Hugh had more to lose.
I hadn’t thought that through because I didn’t think it was any of Travis’s business.
I knew I’d be doing us both a favor to just leave it alone and focus on my father these next few months and then head back to Chicago.
But for whatever reason, I couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss.
And I wanted him more than I’d ever wanted anyone or anything.
But acting on that would only hurt the people that I cared about most.
And Hugh was at the top of that list.