Chapter Eighteen
Levi walks ahead while Hudson and Walker walk alongside me. Walker has his arm over my shoulders while Hudson holds my hand, swinging it between us. Only when we approach the entrance of the bar does Walker take a step back.
“Thank you,” I murmur as Levi opens the door into the bar.
“You’re welcome,” he tells me as I pass by.
Hudson leans in and whispers in my ear, “Back to the scene of the crime.”
Laughing, I slap his chest lightly. “You’re ridiculous.”
“You love it.” He winks.
Shaking my head at his antics, I look around. The place is busy, but then again, it is a Friday night.
“Our spot is open,” Levi points out.
“I’ll go get us drinks. What would you like? Anything specific, or should I surprise you?” Hudson asks.
“Surprise me, but something fruity if you don’t mind.” I smile up at him.
He drops a quick kiss on my lips. “You got it.”
“Come on.”
Walker places his hand on my lower back and ushers me across the room while Hudson moves to the bar. Walker sits down on the same chair he did last time, pulling me onto his lap.
Laughing, I shake my head.
This man.
He takes every opportunity he can to hold me close. He never stops touching me, and I love it.
“I can sit in the chair next to you, you know,” I tease.
Walker shrugs. “I like having you in my lap.”
“He likes staking his claim,” Levi says as he sits in one of the chairs across from us.
“And here I thought you guys liked to share,” I quip.
“We do with each other, just not anyone else,” Levi says.
“Fuckin’ facts,” Walker mutters.
“All right. I have a pitcher of beer for us and a mixed drink for the lady,” Hudson says as he sets everything down on the coffee table between us.
“Thank you,” the guys and I say in unison.
I lean forward and pour some beer for them, hand one to Walker, and then grab my drink.
“You didn’t have to do that, but thank you,” Walker says quietly.
“You’re welcome.”
“So what do you want to do, Esme? Want to dance, play a game, or just hang out?” Hudson asks.
“Yes.”
I feel Walker’s silent laughter behind me and don’t miss the way Levi smirks.
“Where would you like to start?” Levi asks.
“Probably a game. I’m not big on the song playing right now.” I look over my shoulder at Walker. “You’re going to have to let me go, though. Unless you don’t plan on playing.”
“How about I just watch while you play?” he says.
“Are you sure? I want you to have fun too.”
“I always have fun with you. Trust me, I’m sure,” he says, squeezing my hip.
“Okay, if you’re sure.” I look back at Levi and Hudson. “What do you guys want to play?”
Hudson looks under the table and starts pulling out games the bar keeps on hand. He holds up a deck of cards.
“Do you know how to play rummy?”
“I do.”
I haven’t played it in years, but I used to love it. It was one of the games we would play in the group home to pass time. Excitement fills me as I think about playing again.
“Cool. Does this work for you guys?” Hudson asks Levi and me.
“Deal us,” Levi tells him.
“What he said.” I smile.
As Hudson shuffles the cards, I can’t help but watch. While I can do a basic shuffle, I’ve never been able to do the bridge or anything else. Here he is doing fancy tricks as if he is a professional dealer. It’s mesmerizing.
“You’re staring,” Hudson teases.
“You’re just so good with your hands, it’s almost not fair,” I say without thinking.
Walker and Levi both groan.
“Now you’ve done it.” Levi sighs.
Hudson wiggles his eyebrows. “If you think this is good, you haven’t seen anything yet.”
“Just deal, you flirt,” I tell him.
“Yes, ma’am.”
For the next thirty minutes, we go round and round, collecting and dropping cards like it’s a job. For a while it feels neck and neck until finally, Levi drops his cards and calls rummy.
“Son of a bitch, I only needed one more,” Hudson says.
“Sore loser,” Levi teases.
I laugh as I watch them go back and forth with each other for several minutes as Hudson picks up the cards. I like this. It feels comfortable. Right. I haven’t even thought once about the people milling about around us.
Hudson finally raises his middle finger toward Levi but looks at me. “Dance with me?”
I can’t withhold the beaming smile on my face. “Sure.”
Turning around, I press a quick kiss to Walker’s lips before I stand. Leaning forward, Levi meets me in the middle and kisses me softly.
“We will meet you out there,” Levi tells me.
“Sounds good.”
Hudson pulls me onto the dance floor and into his arms.
“Are you having a good time?” he asks.
“I am. I should probably warn you, though, I’m not a very good dancer.”
Hudson rolls his eyes. “You say that like you think I am. Trust me, as long as I have you in my arms, I’m good with us just standing here swaying side to side.”
“You say the sweetest things.”
I don’t mean it in jest; he really does say the sweetest things. Hudson has a huge heart. He never fails to lighten the mood when it’s needed or to make one of us smile.
He grabs my hand and spins me, making me laugh as my dress flares between us.
When he pulls me back into his arms, he murmurs in my ear, “Please tell me you have some shorts on under this thing or something. Walker and Levi look like they are about to pound me for that spin.”
“Don’t worry, no one saw anything.”
“Thank fuck,” he mutters, making me laugh.
When the song ends, Levi and Walker join us. At first, I feel awkward. I know how to give one man attention while dancing, two seems easy enough, but three feels daunting. The guys don’t let me overthink it, though. They pass me around, dropping kisses on my lips every chance we get.
Only when I’m breathless do I stop moving.
“You good?” Levi asks.
“Yeah, but I could use a break and a drink.”
“I’ll grab the drinks, you guys head back to the table.” Levi steps forward and kisses me. “Be good.”
“Always.”
Walker grabs my hand and gently pulls. “Come on. Our area is still open.”
“Lead the way.”
I clocked him as soon as he walked in, and I know Levi did too.
Walker quickly picked up that something was amiss but knew that we had it under control.
We change positions, and Levi discreetly points him out to Walker, making him frown.
The dumbass doesn’t notice though, he’s too busy staring at us, or more accurately Esme, from his place at the bar, glaring at us like we kicked his puppy. Then again, maybe we did.
I’d be fucking pissed at myself too if I let someone like Esme slip through my fingers.
Then again, I don’t plan on letting her go, so that will never happen.
We make it to the area we’ve claimed as our own. Without putting up a fight, Esme sits on Walker’s lap, once again proving how right for us she is.
I take my seat once more but move my chair so I’m sitting right next to their chair.
She lifts her hair off her neck. “I didn’t realize how warm I got.”
“You good? Need anything?” Walker asks.
She smiles and shakes her head. “I’m perfect.”
Reaching up, I fan the back of her neck, making her shiver. “Want me to stop?”
Chest heaving, Esme closes her eyes. I look over at Walker and nod. Without needing to be told, he grabs her hair, holding it to the back of her head. She leans back into him but turns her head toward me.
Desire.
She looks at me with so much desire, I don’t think twice about leaning forward, covering her lips with mine. She opens her mouth instantly, and I take advantage. Her breath catches as Walker’s free hand starts to roam on her thigh, making me smile.
“You like that?” I whisper against her lips.
“You know I do,” she says breathlessly.
“Fuck me, I can feel how hot you are, and I’m not even touching you,” Walker rasps.
Fuck yes.
Before it can go any further, though, a bucket of water is dumped over us in the form of a pissed-off ex.
“Wow, Esme, I never knew you were such a whore, and here I thought you had some morals. Do you have no shame, doing this in public? Letting these men touch you like that…” Troy sneers.
Esme goes tense in Walker’s arms, instantly shutting down.
“Go away, Troy,” she mutters.
I look over at him. “You should listen to her.”
He scoffs. “Fuck you. She and I are having a conversation.” He looks back at her.
“When the hell did you become so easy, huh? Is this what gets you hot? All you ever did when we were together was lie there like a limp noodle and expected me to do all the work. Here I thought I knew you. Thought that you were wife material, but clearly, I was wrong. You’re nothing but a two-bit whore. ”
“What the fuck did you just say?” Levi asks harshly.
I can feel the tension wafting off of Walker. He’s like a snake, ready to attack. The only thing keeping him in place is the fact that Esme is on his lap, holding him down.
I’m not, though.
Without thinking twice, I jump up and grab him.
Fuck him.
Who the fuck does he think he is, talking about my woman like that? Esme is full of class. She is the gold standard. Just because she lets us have her, lets us love her, doesn’t mean she’s a whore.
I’m usually the levelheaded one of our group. The one who talks Levi and Walker down, but not today. This motherfucker went too far. Every man has a reason to go from zero to one hundred, ready to rage war, and Esme is my reason.
“Hudson,” Esme pleads as I grab onto him.
“No, let him,” Walker tells her.
“No, he needs to stop. I don’t want him to get in trouble,” she tells Walker.
Knowing that my girl is safe, I take care of the trash.
“What the fuck are you doing? Get your hands off of me,” Troy says as he tries to bat my hands away like a little bitch.
“Take it outside!” the bartender yells.
I look over at him and nod, letting him know I heard him.
That’s why we come here. The owner is a friend of the club, and all his employees know to treat us with respect. The cops won’t get called tonight. Not for us.
With my hand wrapped around his throat, I drag him out the back door of the bar and slam him against the brick siding.
“Let me go,” he hisses, trying to put up a fight.
Still pressing him against the building, I lift him just enough where his feet can’t touch the ground.
Troy makes a choking sound, and his face turns a shade of red.
I typically don’t like using my height to my advantage, but this time I do.
Or maybe he’s just short. Either way, I don’t speak until I have him where I want him.
He wraps his fingers around my wrist and tries digging his short nails into my skin but fails.
I lean in close and hiss, “I know words are hard, but I don’t know how many different ways we need to explain this to you, buddy, but Esme isn’t interested. She wants you to leave her the fuck alone. When you see us, you walk the other way. Do not engage.”
“He’s turning purple,” Levi says calmly.
Even though it’s the last thing I want to do, I drop him.
Troy catches himself before he can crumple to the ground.
Surprising me, he lunges toward me, making me laugh.
I let him get one good hit, before I push him against the wall.
I draw back my arm to knock his lights out when the back door of the bar swings open.
“Hudson, stop, please,” Esme sobs.
Stop? Does she really want me to stop? This motherfucker called her a wet noodle and slut shamed her.
Surely she doesn’t still have feelings for him, right?
They were together for years, though. I look at him again.
Do you still hold her heart?
That only has my anger getting worse. She is ours. Her heart is ours.
Walker pushes her into Levi’s side and stalks toward me. “She doesn’t need to see this, brother.”
I know he’s right, but my anger is a hard thing to grip when I’m this far gone.
I want to kill him for no other reason than she may still love him.
It kills me.
I glance back at her.
Choose us, darlin’.