Chapter 8 Crane
EIGHT
CRANE
I’m torn.
Kai would die if he knew what Sierra was doing; dancing on a fucking pool table in front of nearly every college guy we know.
She’s a senior, and a lightweight.
I pinch the bridge of my nose, knowing there is no way I can leave Sierra here, and Liza flips her shit when I tell her she’s going home alone tonight.
“I don’t owe you shit.” I shrug, aware that Jaden is staring at Sierra like she’s his girl. “I never said we were fucking exclusive, Liza.”
Liza is incensed.
I mean, I get it, we’ve spent most of the night making out fairly heavily, but I don’t want a fucking girlfriend.
I don’t need the extra stress.
“Crane, come home with me. Please,” Liza begs, and I sigh, shooting a gaze at my best friend’s little sister who is showing far too much fucking flesh for my liking.
“I can’t.”
Liza follows my gaze, folding her arms.
“Tell me you haven’t got a thing for Sierra-fucking-Carson,” Liza snarls, waving a hand in Sierra’s direction. “She’s a slut!”
“Fuck off, Liza.”
“Excuse me?”
I shake my head, not wanting an argument with her.
How did I get into this with her?
It’s casual sex, nothing serious.
“What's the difference with what Sierra is doing with your ex versus what you’re doing with me?” I shrug, getting more fucking annoyed by the minute. “In fact, fuck this. Shall I order you an Uber?”
Liza laughs, shaking her head.
“No thank you, I’m going to hang out with my girls. I’ll leave you to drool over a girl that you can’t have.”
Is that what she thinks this is?
I won’t be able to live with myself if anything happens to Sierra, and I’m quite enjoying getting out of my mind. I’m still cradling the whiskey that has plenty of life left in it yet.
It’s got nothing to do with anything like that.
But then I’m drawn to Sierra, like a moth to the fucking flame.
She’s doing that sexy dance girls do so well, even when they’re fucked up, the one where she gathers her hair into a pile on her head, shaking her hips from side to side as she releases her hair, her hands trailing over her curves as she mouths the words to the song.
Jaden is fucking mesmerized, and I can’t blame him; she is ridiculous.
Kiki is nowhere to be seen, but the guys are getting too close to Sierra for my liking.
I push through the crowd gathered around the pool table, and look up to get her attention.
Sierra is moving so fluidly I almost don’t want to stop her, her smile wider than I’ve ever seen it.
“What the fuck, Michaels?” Jaden snaps from beside me, his gaze hardening. “She’s going home with me tonight, so back off.”
I can’t help but laugh at him, and he blinks in disbelief.
“She’s going home tonight, Jaden.”
Jaden sneers, shaking his head as he points at me.
“You want her? As well as my ex?”
I shake my head, my knuckles itching to smash into his face.
Jaden is pretty solid too, but if he even starts this shit with me, I’ll bury him.
“I don’t want either of them.” I reach out to catch Sierra’s attention, my fingers wrapping around her ankle as she looks down with surprise, a lazy smile on her face when she realises it's me. “But Sierra’s not fucking going home with you or any one else tonight.”
Jaden is about to argue when Sierra kneels on the table, studying us through glassy eyes.
“Are you fighting?”
Her words are slightly thick, and I know this girl is going to give me a battle I don't need.
“No, babe, your bodyguard here seems to think you’re going home with him tonight.” Jaden rolls his eyes, his fingers trailing down her arm.
Break his fucking fingers.
Sierra blinks, turning to me with a frown.
“I am?”
“Yeah, remember?” I try to convince her, praying she gives me an easy ride.
But this is Sierra.
“But I’m having fun, and Jaden said I can go back to his,” Sierra says with a pout, leaning toward me. “Is that okay, Daddy?”
I freeze, shaking my head as she breaks into a fit of giggles.
“You’re like my daddy, Crane.”
I can’t ever hear her call me that again.
Or I swear, I’ll lose fucking control.
“I’m sure you’d like that.” I can’t help but smirk back, her eyes widening at my words.
Ah fuck, I’m too far gone for this.
“Please?” I add, as Jaden glares at me.
“She is safe with me, man; what do you think will happen to her by my side? Leave it,” Jaden barks, and Sierra looks up at me, her eyes falling on the bottle in my hand.
“Only if you let me have some of that.”
“Sierra?” Jaden lifts his brows as she leans forward, taking his face into her hands as she kisses him softly on the lips.
“Call me tomorrow, okay? We’ll reschedule tonight.”
Jaden nods stiffly, glaring at me as he watches her walk over to me.
“You’re doing the right thing,” I say, swigging from the bottle. “Let’s go.”
“Go?” Sierra frowns, moving us over to the wall, her eyes wide. “I don’t want to go right now; can’t we party for a bit more?”
I look down to see her hand on my wrist, her soft skin against mine sending all kinds of neurons firing in my brain.
“Fine, we’ll finish the whiskey, but you’re not having much more or you won’t be able to see.”
I don’t want to be here anymore, not with the state most people are in. Guys keep trying to call out to Sierra as they walk by, and I’m already pissed.
“I’m eighteen, Grandad. As I recall, you and my brother spent your eighteen to twenties permanently smashed.” Sierra rolls her eyes, reaching for the whiskey bottle.
She wipes the mouth of the bottle and I raise an eyebrow.
“Hygiene problems?”
Sierra shrugs, tilting the bottle back until I tug it back down.
If anything, it’s my whiskey, but I don’t want to have to carry her to bed.
“I’m always careful, Crane.” Sierra smiles at me so innocently I’m not sure if I’m just too dirty-minded.
“Yet you’re fucking Jaden.”
I can’t help it; Sierra is more naive than I thought if that’s who she chooses to fuck with.
“Oh, get over it, I’m not a pristine virgin.”
I wince, moving closer to her so someone can move by me.
“Oh, I didn’t think that,” I reply, my breath fanning her face as she studies me, her eyes moving from one to the other as I offer her the bottle. “I just think you’re better than him.”
Sierra drinks, and I watch the alcohol make its way down her throat, and I’m now imagining her swallowing other things.
Sierra pushes the bottle against my chest, the only thing between us.
“My brother doesn’t care, so why do you?”
I shake my head, wondering if she thinks Kai won’t give a shit about her dancing for most of the guys we know.
Let alone fucking Jaden.
“Kai cares. You’re lucky he cares as much as he does.”
“Yeah, but I get two of you going on at me. I feel like you both just want to ruin my sex life.”
I burst out laughing, and she watches me so intently my smile dies on my face.
“We don’t,” I whisper, wondering what she’d do if I kissed her.
What the fuck?!
Jeez, I need to stop drinking whiskey.
I’m about to move back when Sierra reaches for my hand, her fingers brushing against mine as she gazes at me, her eyes begging me to do something, anything.
“I saw you kissing Liza.” Sierra swallows, her tongue wetting her lips. “I was worried you were down or something...but then I saw you with Liza.”
I’m not sure what to say.
So what if she saw me with Liza?
“You were worried about me?” I allow her fingers to play with mine, but my eyes are locked on hers.
Sierra tilts her head to the side, her gaze dropping to my lips.
“You’re so hot, Crane, but fuck, are you miserable. Why?”
I force my eyes away from hers, glancing down the hallway as Sierra pulls me into her arms, burying her head in my neck as she holds me.
I’m not sure how to react, but slowly I raise my arms so they’re wrapped around her, my heart thumping in my chest. I dip my head down to her ear, the sweet scent of her perfume making me crazy.
“What’s this for?”
“I just wanted to hug you, you know?”
I relax, but my arms don’t dare move down the curve of her back; something about her in my arms feels fucking bizarrely right.
“Fuck,” I whisper into the air as Sierra grips my jacket in her hands, moving so she is in my line of sight, staring up at me.
“I know I’ll always be like your kid sister—”
No, you’re really not.
“But I want you to know you can always talk to me about anything.”
Oh.
Of fucking course, that’s what she means, dickhead.
“Crane?”
“Yeah?” I respond gruffly, releasing her from my arms reluctantly.
For the first time in a long time, I don’t feel the pain in my chest.
Because Sierra hugged me.
“Can I finish the whiskey?”