Chapter 22 #2
Levi shakes his head at Adam, clearly enjoying my comment. “Classy, Adam. You’ve resorted to fraternity tactics.” He looks at me again. “When you need me, I’ll be at the bar. I love rescuing damsels in distress.”
“She’s got her hero right here,” Adam says, and hands me the chardonnay he ordered.
Levi makes a sound of disbelief in the back of his throat, but he’s smiling. He nods to an area across the room. “The others are over there.”
Adam’s eyes widen and he glances in the direction Levi indicated. “Everyone?”
“Everyone,” Levi says, and slowly makes his way back to the barstool he must have been occupying when we arrived.
Adam takes a sip of his drink—a gin and tonic, by the look of it, with the lime wedge—his gaze distracted.
“Everything okay?” I ask.
He kisses my forehead. I could get used to the affection he’s been dishing out now that we’re on kissing terms. “Fine. I just wasn’t expecting my brothers to be here. I’m normally the only one who attends these things.”
“Is it bad that they are?”
“Not at all. It’s only…surprising.”
I glance at Levi, sitting alone at the bar a few seats away, watching the bartender instead of the crowded room. “Why isn’t Levi with them?”
Adam tucks a lock of hair behind my ear. “Levi’s had a rough couple of months. And he and my youngest brother, Hunter, don’t get along. At all.”
“That’s sad. I always thought it would be wonderful to have siblings.”
He pats my shoulder. “You might change your opinion once you meet my brothers.”
“I don’t know, are they all as handsome as Levi?” Adam frowns, and I laugh. “Gotcha.”
He sets his drink on the bar, then puts mine down too. He grabs me around the waist, bringing me to his chest. “Teasing me about my brothers?” He shakes his head. “Bad. I’ll show you later why I’m the cream of the crop.”
I laugh as he nibbles my neck, his smile pressing into my skin. “Knock it off. How am I supposed to look respectable with you giving me a hickey?”
“Mmm, hickies,” he murmurs. “Now there’s an idea.”
I lean away at the threat to my pristine neck, but he’s already reaching for our glasses, clearly only teasing. And thank heaven for that. I can just imagine the crap I’d receive from Mira if I walked into work with a giant hickey.
We make our way toward Adam’s brothers, and even if Levi hadn’t gestured in their direction, I could have picked them out in a crowd.
Because holy hell. I wasn’t kidding about Levi.
The guy is rugged handsome, and the other three Cades are varying degrees of Levi and Adam.
Tall, gorgeous, broad shoulders, and strong jawlines—each of them with jewel-toned eyes and medium to dark hair.
“Crikey,” I say. “How in the world are you and your brothers single?” Not one of them appears to be with a date.
He raises his brow. “Crikey?”
I grab his arm. “I was a Crocodile Hunter fan. Now explain, before we get too close.”
Adam tips his head toward mine, while his brothers conspicuously watch us approach. “Being single is a Cade tradition.”
“Then what am I doing here?”
“You don’t count,” he says.
My chest constricts and my face goes still.
I’ve dated, have even had a couple of decent boyfriends, but the past never seems to go away.
Adam invited me here tonight, and he’s kissed me like I’ve never been kissed before.
That was real. I’m not sixteen anymore. Still, I can’t help asking, “Why don’t I count? ”
He looks at me. Really looks. “Because you’re special. And when they meet you, they’ll know it too, just like Levi did.”
I swallow. And swallow again. Je-sus. When Adam Cade charms, he does it in a spectacular fashion.
The warm press of his hand on my lower back, the intense look in his eyes, and his words—all from a man who wears a sarcastic expression like it’s his second skin.
Except he hasn’t worn that look around me in weeks.
In fact, I don’t remember seeing anything on his face lately except humor and affection. Which has my head swimming.
He stops in front of his brothers, all of whom are smiling and discreetly checking me out, some more so than others. “Hayden, I’d like you to meet Wes, Bran, and Hunter,” Adam says.
We exchange greetings and Hunter flashes me a mischievous grin. “Do I get to dance with the charming Hayden?”
“No,” Adam responds automatically. The others laugh, but the air grows thick.
My face warms and Adam shakes his head. “Ignore him. He has no shame.”
Hunter downs his drink. “Well, Hayden, when you get tired of the cheap imitation, you know where to find the real Cade.”
I glance at Adam. “Is it a family tradition to steal each other’s dates?” I’m kidding. But the glare Adam shoots Hunter has me wondering.
“Don’t mind them.” Adam pulls me close. “They wish they had a date as beautiful and intelligent as you. Jealous—the lot of them.”
Wes raises his glass. “Truer words were never said.”
“There you all are.” Adam and I spin around at the voice from behind. An older man approaches, his rich, slightly cultured baritone much like Adam’s. He glances past us. “Where’s your brother?”
“Levi’s at the bar,” Adam says. “His leg…”
“Right.” The man nods. “Well, at least the four of you are together.”
Wes and Bran exchange an awkward glance.
“Father,” Adam says. “This is Hayden. Hayden, meet my father, Ethan Cade.”
Adam’s dad studies me like I’m an insect. “And how do you know each other?”
Wow, not exactly a warm welcome.
“Through work,” Adam answers, his voice laced with anger. “But Hayden is also my girlfriend.”
I squeeze his hand involuntarily and shoot him a nervous glance. What’s he talking about?
“Girlfriend?” his father says. “This is a first.”
My brows pinch together. What is it with firsts tonight? Adam has had girlfriends. I’ve heard about his past relationships. Well, little bits, anyway. He didn’t seem like much of a boyfriend, according to Mira and Cali. But the Adam they described isn’t the man I’ve come to know.
“Hayden, do you mind if I steal Adam for a moment?” his father says. “I’d like to speak with my sons.”
“No,” Adam says before I can answer. He takes a sip of his drink, his hand in his pocket, though his jaw is tense. “I brought Hayden as my date. I’m not leaving her.”
Adam’s brothers look between Adam and their father, then at me.
“It’s only for a moment,” his father says. “And then you can have your…girlfriend back.”
Adam stretches his neck, and I sense Wes inch between Adam and Mr. Cade. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Excuse me?” His father’s tone is filled with warning.
“Hey now,” Bran says. “Can’t have you two sparring. You’re the only ones who get along.” He smiles, but the gesture is strained.
Ethan Cade sucks in a deep breath. His eyes flicker for a moment. “I didn’t ask you here to argue.”
“Adam,” I interrupt, “I’ll be at the bar.
” I give his hand a quick squeeze and hurry away.
When I glance back, Adam is frowning and watching me leave, his brother Wes’s hand on his shoulder.
I smile back and keep walking. Because something serious is going down, and I get the sense Adam needs time with his family, even if he doesn’t believe it.