Chapter 4 Jackson
Usually, I don’t enter closed doors in sketchy looking alleyways, but I can make an exception for a vintage themed speakeasy.
The four of us head down a dimly lit hallway, following the sound of slow, sultry jazz music.
“Are we going to get kidnapped?” Tyler whispers.
I flash him a pointed look. “Sorry the music isn’t loud enough to burst your eardrums and the lights aren’t crazy enough to give you a seizure.”
Tyler tilts his head back with a laugh. “Smart ass.”
The side of my mouth turns up as I shake my head at him. I can’t think of a better group to explore Las Vegas with.
Soft, golden light glows up ahead, and gentle chatter along with glasses clinking sounds nearby. We’re close.
Cassidy wraps her fingers around my bicep as she moves closer to me. “I’ve never been to a speakeasy before.”
“Neither have I.”
The four of us step through a doorway to the left, entering the main area where there’s a long bar with multiple shelves full of liquor bottles, round tables in the center for groups and couples to eat overly expensive small plates, and secluded booths toward the back for more peace and privacy.
Vintage bulbs hang overhead, reflecting off the polished wood of the specifically selected furniture. It really does feel like we’re in a different era here, and I have to say the vibe is pretty…seductive.
“Why don’t you go find us a booth? Tyler and I will get drinks,” I tell Marcus.
Marcus nods and holds his arm out to Cassidy.
I already miss the feeling of Cassidy’s touch, but I’m fine letting her go off with Marcus. He’ll keep a close eye on her.
Once they walk off, I head to the bar with Tyler and order a few drinks that none of us had ever had before. We might as well lean into the experience and get some of their fancy cocktails.
“Think she’s having a good time?” I ask Tyler.
“Hell yeah,” he says. “She looked miserable when we found her. Now, she can’t stop smiling.”
“I just don’t want her to get caught up on Derek. I can’t believe Ryan chose that asshole to be his best man. Did he not think it would hurt his own sister to have her ex-fiancé at the wedding?”
Tyler shrugs. “Maybe Ryan doesn’t know how badly Derek hurt her. You know how Cassidy can be. She bottles her feelings up.”
“She shouldn’t feel like she has to, especially around her brother.”
“Look who is talking,” he replies with a pointed look.
My eyes dart away from him. “If I’m too busy talking about my feelings, I can’t save people. Action saves lives. Not talking. Dad—”
“Yeah, your dad was some high ranking Army major and didn’t raise his son to talk about much of anything. Now, we have to deal with your emotionless ass,” Tyler finishes before giving me a light nudge. “I know.”
I give him a small nod, grateful that he knows me well enough to understand.
“I’m just saying that if we can help her feel a little better, we should,” I say. “It’s going to be hell for her having to be around Derek during the wedding.”
“We’ll make sure she has a good time. Derek will be the last thing on her mind,” Tyler assures me, giving me a certain nod.
I’m willing to do just about anything to make that happen.
Once the bartender hands off our drinks, we carry them to where Cassidy and Marcus are talking in one of the curved, cushioned booths tucked away in the back corner.
“Oh, wow. Those look amazing,” Cassidy gasps as I place a pink drink in a fancy glass in front of her.
“They’ve got some pretty frilly drinks here, but we might as well try something new,” I reply as I slide into the booth next to her.
Our arms and legs brush as we get situated, heating my skin. My eyes lower to where her dress stops above her knees, revealing a hint of her thighs.
It’s dangerous getting close to someone who I find so ridiculously sexy. She has no clue what seeing her in this little dress does to me, and I’m doing everything that I can to keep her from finding out.
“We should toast to that,” Cassidy says, lifting her drink once everyone has theirs in their hands. “To trying new things with old friends.”
“Cheers.”
“Hell yes.”
I nod and take a sip of my concoction made of spiced rum, bitters, and sugar. It throws me for a loop at first, but the aftertaste is pretty damn good. The second sip is even better.
“Damn, we should’ve started our night drinking here,” Tyler says with an impressed look.
Cassidy nods. “This is the best drink that I’ve had all night.”
“Nice pick, Jax,” Marcus tells me.
I had a feeling this place would impress.
“I’ll have to tell the girls about this place,” Cassidy says. “Maybe we can come here tomorrow instead of that country bar some of them want to try.”
I smirk. “Country bar?”
Cassidy playfully rolls her eyes. “They’re wanting to try all sorts of things while we’re still in Vegas. It’s been kind of a nightmare trying to make an itinerary.”
“What’s on it so far?” Marcus asks as he stretches his arm out across the top of the booth, his fingertips resting on the curve of her shoulder.
“Brunch. Manicures. Spa. Sightseeing tour. Lunch. Drinks. Tanning by the pool. Get ready for dinner with some more drinks. Catch our reservation at this fancy sushi place. Drink some more and probably end the night on karaoke at said country bar.”
I whistle. Damn, that’s a lot to do in one day. I was already surprised at the premise of bachelor and bachelorette parties being more of a weekend trip than a one night event, but Ryan and Sarah pull in enough money to do whatever the hell they want.
That’s why they can afford a week-long destination wedding in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
“What about you guys?” she asks, looking between us.
The moment her eyes catch mine, I forget her question. This is the closest that I’ve gotten to her the entire night, and that has been on purpose.
It would be so easy to drop my hand to her thigh. To trace the inner curve of it all the way up to her panties. To feel her writhe in ecstasy when my fingers reach where she wants them the most.
Fuck. I gave Ryan my word not to try anything with his little sister, but the longer I’m around her, the harder that is.
“I honestly have no idea,” Tyler answers for me when I just peer back at her. “I’m sure the others are going to be insanely hungover, so they’ll probably be slow to get up.”
Marcus nods, silently passing me a confused look.
I ignore him and drink my expensive cocktail.
“You sure you don’t want to be making questionable decisions with them right now?” Cassidy asks with a sly smile.
Tyler and Marcus laugh.
“Who says we need to be with them to do that?” Tyler replies, cocking an eyebrow at her. “We can get in as much trouble as them easily.”
Cassidy clicks her tongue at him. “I knew you were still a troublemaker.”
Marcus gently strokes a strand of her hair between his fingertips. “You’re not all that innocent yourself. You broke the rules now and again.”
Cassidy playfully scoffs at them before looking up at me, her arm grazing mine. “I behave perfectly fine. Don’t I?”
Talking about whether or not she behaves is minefield territory. I should not stray into it, but I’m a damn sadist when it comes to her.
“Depends on how well you follow orders now.”
Her cheeks flush, but she doesn’t shy away from me. Her eyes light up from the challenge.
“Depends on who’s giving them.”
I take her hand under the table and rest them both on her thigh just beneath the bottom of her dress that has slightly ridden up. Her skin is so soft under my knuckles, and I have to fight the urge to slip my fingers under her dress.
It doesn’t help when I feel her squeeze her thighs tighter together.
Is she feeling the heat that I do right now?
My hand slides toward the crease between her thighs, and I don’t feel any resistance from her. Her hand rides the movement, following my lead.
“You’re cute when you’re feisty,” Tyler teases her.
She wrinkles her nose at him. “Cute?”
“Your brother would break my nose for calling you anything else.”
Cassidy shrugs. “Well, what he can’t hear won’t piss him off.”
I love when she gets like this. Playful. Daring. Coy.
Like she doesn’t give a damn about the consequences.
“Tell her what you wanted to say,” Marcus tells Tyler, moving his hand to rest on her other thigh.
Cassidy draws in a deep breath, and her thighs part a little. Just enough to let my hand slip between them.
“Yeah, don’t hold back, Ty,” I say, my voice dipping lower. My fingertips brush the soft material of her panties.
Cassidy’s grip on my hand tightens for a second, but she loosens it the next moment.
Tyler chuckles. “You guys are trying to get me killed. Fine. She’s sexy when she gets feisty.”
Satisfaction flickers across her face, the sides of her mouth curling up. “Now, was that so hard?”
Her voice has a slight tremor to it, but she’s steady for the most part. She knows what she wants.
Tyler’s eyes darken, his grin turning coy. “I should put you over my knee for that.”
My fingers push against her core at that exact moment, feeling how soaked her panties are.
When her breath hitches, mine nearly does too. Fuck, are we really going this far? We’re saying things like that to our best friend’s little sister and I’m touching her under the table, and she’s liking it?
Tense silence radiates between the four of us as we gaze at each other, waiting for the tension to shatter. For there to be relief.
It takes everything in me not to pull her onto my lap. I need to pump the damn brakes before I do something that I’ll later regret.
“It’s getting late,” I say as I remove my hand from between her thighs. “We should probably wrap up soon.”
Cassidy nods, chewing on her bottom lip with eyes clouded with thoughts.
I want to know what she’s thinking, but I’m not brave enough to ask. I shouldn’t ask to begin with.
“I can Uber back to the hotel if you guys want to stay out,” Cassidy tells us once we finish our drinks and leave the table.
“We’ll take you back to the hotel and make sure you get to your room okay,” I reply, forcing myself not to touch her back or her hand despite the natural pull I feel to do so.
I need to shake these reflexes quickly before I fuck up in front of Ryan.
“I don’t think we should walk her all the way to her room,” Tyler says. “What if Ryan happens to see? I’d rather not get bombarded with questions about what we were up to.”
Marcus stiffly shrugs. “We were just hanging out. Not a big deal.”
Tyler gives him a pointed look. “You think he’ll see it that way?”
Maybe nothing actually happened tonight, but we still went what would be considered too far in Ryan’s eyes.
“Just walk me to the elevator. I’ll go up first,” Cassidy says.
The guys and I nod in agreement, and Marcus gets us an Uber back to the hotel. The ride there is silent, brief looks being exchanged between the four of us. There’s a lot to say, but I think most of what we would want to say would just get us in trouble.
Heading into the lobby of the hotel is bittersweet. This is a necessary goodbye, but it still sucks that tonight has to end. I don’t think we’ll ever be able to hang out again like we just did.
Not without it being super suspicious.
Cassidy stops in front of the elevator and hits the up button before turning to us, a warm expression filling her face. “I had a really nice time tonight. Honestly, I really needed it. The last three months have been pretty brutal.”
“You know, you can always reach out to us at any time,” Marcus tells her.
Tyler nods. “Ryan doesn’t have to know.”
I hate that we have to lie and sneak around, but if Ryan finds out that Cassidy confides in us in private, I have a feeling that he would suspect something else is going on between us.
Cassidy takes a deep breath and exhales when the elevator dings and the doors slide open. “I’ll be fine. Goodnight.”
I frown a little as I watch her step into the elevator, fighting the urge to join her and tell her to come back to the suite that the three of us are sharing.
“Night, sweetheart.”
Marcus lifts his hand in a small wave. “Goodnight.”
Our eyes meet as the doors start to close, not a single word leaving my lips. I don’t trust myself to speak right now.
I’ll just say something that I’ll pay for later.
“Someone got a little handsy at the speakeasy,” Tyler comments as he turns to look at me.
“Very handsy,” Marcus adds. “You were touching forbidden fruit. Ryan warned every single one of his friends back in high school not to mess around with his little sister. Us included.”
I scoff as I turn away from them. “Trust me. I remember that conversation clearly.”
“So, what are we doing?” Tyler asks. “Because if she wants anything more, I don’t think I can stop myself.”
“We know you don’t have the best self control,” Marcus mutters.
Tyler casts him a sharp look, but he doesn’t rush to defend himself. If anyone is bringing someone home from the club, it’s him.
“I don’t know what we’re doing. Everything we probably shouldn’t be doing,” I say as I fold my arms behind my head, taking a deep breath. “But damn it…it’s hard to stop.”
“What would happen if we didn’t?” Tyler asks.
I expect Marcus to jump in and say we shouldn’t, but he’s quiet. He’s just as hooked as we are, which means we’re fucked.
“Only one way to find out.”