Chapter 16
Savannah
Even though we were here relatively early for a night out, the Bull Pen was busy, blasting a mix of country and rock music that made the walls shake.
We all gathered around the bar, all of us holding a shot. “To Colt and Britt!” Claire yelled, doing a little shimmy, while holding her shot in the air.
“To Colt and Britt!” everyone echoed. I brought the glass to my lips, my eyes locking on Weston’s.
The whiskey burned as it slid down my throat, but not as much as his stare did.
I’d forgotten what it felt like to have someone’s constant attention, to have someone look at you with a kind of longing that made your knees weak.
Stewart never looked at me like that. Weston never stopped.
“Dancing now, girls!” Delilah yelled, and we all went out onto the dance floor with our drinks. I stood stiffly, laughing awkwardly while Claire, Delilah, and Brittany flitted around me. Their hair twirling, boots stomping, screaming their heads off.
I sipped on my drink and glanced back at the bar. Weston was leaning against it, nursing a beer, and looking honest to God like sex on legs. He gestured to the dance floor and mouthed, “Go on, angel.”
Heat crept up my neck, and I shook my head. I’d never been much of a dancer and would need way more alcohol than this to get me to let loose.
“Come dance with your big brother,” Emmett said in my ear from behind me, his tone light and teasing. For a moment, I second-guessed whether it was him or not.
I turned, and sure enough, it was him. “No way in hell are either one of us going out there,” I said, laughing.
Emmett, Tess, and I were the shy ones when it came to things like this, while it didn’t take Claire much to let her hair down when alcohol was involved. But when I scanned the dance floor, I found Tess with Levi, their hands joined as they danced in a fit of laughter.
“Maybe I’m tired of watching everyone have fun from the sidelines, and I think you might be too.
” The teasing tone in his voice was gone, and when his eyes met mine again, they were full of unspoken understanding.
We had our own different reasons for staying out of the fray, but in this moment, we were the same.
Letting out a heavy breath, I set my drink down on the half wall I’d been hovering next to. “You’re lucky I love you, Em,” I said and took his hand, pulling him out onto the dance floor.
The lights flickered, blue and purple rays swinging around over the crowd, as “Fake ID” by Big & Rich came on. Probably the most popular line dancing song there was.
“You better not make me look like an idiot.” I hadn’t line danced in ages, and wasn’t sure I even knew the steps anymore.
“I’ve got my own self to worry about,” he chuckled. “Just hope you can keep up.” And there was a flash of the brother I knew in the smirk he sent my way.
We stumbled on the first few steps, laughing together when we ran into one another.
But then, something inside me clicked, something buried under corporate pantsuits, law textbooks, and fake smiles.
And before I knew it, I was dancing. Even hitting every step perfectly.
My heart pounded with the beat, my face hurting from my smile.
I felt genuinely happy since…since I was a teenager.
I wanted Weston here, wanted to tell him to come dance with me. But when I looked up, my feet glued themselves to the ground, and Emmett’s big body collided with mine harshly.
He grabbed me before I toppled over. “Shit, Savvy, you okay?”
“Oh God,” I breathed, as I made eye contact with Stewart. He cut his way through the crowd like he owned the whole damn building, the arrogance pouring off him like steam.
I didn’t understand why he was here, or how he even found me. I never told him where I was going. Not that he ever cared to ask.
“Who is that?” Emmett asked, his voice carrying a protective edge.
“Stewart,” I whispered.
“The Stewart?” He stood in front of me, eyes wide. “The one you were engaged to?”
I didn’t have time to answer before he was in front of me, glaring down at me with that same vaguely disappointed look I realized he’d always looked at me with. “Savannah.”
I flinched at the sound of my name. “What are you doing here?”
“I should be asking you that.” He looked around the bar, his upper lip curled with disgust. “Do you know how long I’ve been trying to track you down? And I find you here in this place with these…people.”
My stomach turned. Not because of him, but myself. What had I ever seen in him? He was pretentious, judgmental, and egotistical. And his rotten insides ruined anything worth looking at on the outside.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Well, you found me. So what do you want?”
He scoffed, narrowing his eyes at me. “What do I want? I want an explanation, Savannah.” He took a step towards me.
“You blow me off for two months, and then you try to break up with me through a fucking text last week? What kind of kindergarten shit is that?” His voice was sharp, accusing, and loud enough for people to notice something was happening.
“You need to back up, buddy,” Emmett warned, reaching over my shoulder to keep Stewart out of my face.
He smacked Emmett’s hand off his chest. “And who the hell are you? Her boyfriend?” He let out a sound of disgust, shaking his head at me. “Didn’t know you were such a whore, Savannah.”
The words landed like a slap, the sting reverberating through every inch of my body. “The fuck did you just say?” Emmett snapped, wedging himself between Stewart and me. My heart flew to my throat, and I tried to pull Emmett away, but he was like a brick wall.
Stewart puffed up and doubled down. “I said she’s a whore.”
“You need to leave before things get ugly,” Emmett said, his voice lethally quiet. A last warning. That’s when I realized just how intimidating my brother was: all dark tattoos, solid muscle, and vicious glares. Like a guard dog waiting for the order to strike.
At this point, we’d drawn a crowd, and I couldn’t stand all the eyes on us. Shame crawled up my spine, my chest tightening. I wanted to scream, cry, disappear. But I didn’t have time for any of that because Weston was already storming over with Beau and Colt.
Stewart tried to come at him, but Emmett had him pinned to the wall in under a second. My hands flew to my mouth with a gasp. I’d never seen Emmett do anything like that, or look like that, before. He wasn’t my brother then, but a soldier going after the enemy.
Stewart shoved Emmett off at the same time Weston wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me back.
My hands curled into his shirt, my heart racing so fast I thought it was going to burst through my chest. The weight of every stare on us pressed in, making it harder to breathe.
“I got you, angel,” he said softly, and I clung to him harder.
“What the hell is going on over here?” Colt demanded.
Stewart straightened his clothes, breathing hard and glaring at me. “That’s between my fiancée and me.” I winced.
“Doesn’t look like she wants to talk,” Beau said, his voice low, as he crossed his arms over his chest.
My voice shook as I said, “I’m not your fiancée, Stewart. I never was. I’m sorry I dragged things out, but I told you last week I didn’t want to marry you.”
His eyes narrowed at Weston and me, jaw clenched tight. “Because of him?” he asked, gesturing to Weston. “And how long did it take before you spread your legs for him? Huh?” I flinched. “A day? An hour? Or are you fucking all four of them?”
Weston was on him in a split second, his fist meeting Stewart’s jaw with a sickening smack. “Weston, stop!” I screamed.
“I should fucking kill you!” he roared, getting another punch in before the guys pulled him off. He fought against them the whole way out of the bar, people gasping and staring at the whole scene. My eyes burned with humiliation. Whoever wrote the Whispers was going to have a field day with this.
I turned to look at Stewart, who was groaning on the floor, clutching his bloody nose. “In case it’s still unclear to you, this is me declining your proposal, you piece of shit. Officially,” I said, voice shaking.
“Now get the fuck out of here, you asshole.” Delilah dumped out her drink on him and threw her arm around my shoulder, walking me out.
Outside, I ran to Weston, who was shaking his hand out, knuckles raw. Our bodies collided with a thud, and he hugged me instantly, his arms tight around me as if he couldn’t bear to let go.
“What were you thinking?” I yelled, shoving him. “He’s going to press charges, you know.”
He was sweaty, breathing hard. “I don’t care.” He cradled my face, eyes intense with devotion. “Over my dead body does someone speak to you like that and get away with it.”
My heart swelled as I looked into his eyes. Those gorgeous dark blue eyes I’d spent countless hours of my life gazing into. Countless hours missing. And I suddenly realized I didn’t have to keep missing them. He was right here, waiting for me to catch up.
And I finally had.
So I kissed him. I kissed him in front of our families in the parking lot of the Bull Pen like my life depended on it. And just like every other time I’d kissed him, my mind went blissfully silent. The only thing left was him, and the way I loved him with every piece of me.
“Oh, that’s hot,” Delilah said. And there was a giggle that sounded a lot like Tess.
I smiled against Weston’s lips, heat rushing to my cheeks. “Take me home,” I told him, biting my lip.
Weston’s eyes widened slightly before he looked around. “I need keys,” he said, but no one moved. “Someone give me their keys!”
I buried my face in his neck, chuckling, not wanting to see the look on everyone’s faces. Maybe never even see them again after this, knowing they knew exactly what we were leaving to do. Or what I hoped we’d do, anyway.