Chapter 12 #2
My oldest brother leans across the table and snatches the phone from my hand. He watches for a moment, his jaw getting tighter and tighter until his entire face seems to be cut from granite. Then he stands suddenly, pushing his chair back from the table with a loud scrape.
“I’ll drive.”
“What?” Lawson asks, confused. “You’re going over there?”
“They clearly need some supervision,” Mac says, patting his pockets. “The fuck are my keys?”
I’m already on my feet. I barely even started on my first beer, what with the inquisition from my brothers, so I’m good to drive.
“You’re in charge of the kid,” I tell Sawyer. “He usually sleeps like the dead, but if he wakes up, just get him some water and read a few of his picture books.”
“Hang on,” Lawson says, looking up at our oldest brother, who looks impatient to get moving. “I get why they’re acting like idiot cavemen, but what about you?”
“Because that’s my little sister and I’m the oldest,” he snaps, but he doesn’t meet anyone’s eyes and he’s striding out of the kitchen before Lawson can ask more questions. “Let’s go.”
The club in Mount Casper is only a fifteen-minute drive. Mac makes it there in twelve. I don’t know what the hell got up his ass, but I can’t say I mind. Anything to get me to Ellie faster.
Mac knows the bouncer and he lets us bypass the line, ignoring the complaints from those still waiting.
It’s crowded as fuck inside, neon lights flashing from the ceiling, the dance floor thick with people.
The three of us are taller than the average guy, though, so it’s not too difficult to look out over the crowd.
The girls are right there, in the middle of the dance floor.
Ellie and Jules have their arms around each other and they seem to be swaying more than dancing.
My girl’s eyes are closed, a dreamy smile on her face, and I curse myself for letting her come out without me.
I remember her sipping on her white wine that first night at the Low Bar.
She definitely struck me as someone who didn’t have a lot of practice handling her liquor.
She’s going to feel like shit tomorrow.
“Motherfucker,” Mac mutters, already striding toward the girls.
I tear my eyes away from Ellie and my sister and see Arden and Trisha a few feet away, both of them dancing with guys.
Trisha—who, as the group’s DD for the night, is completely sober—has a good amount of distance between her and her partner.
But Arden’s ass is pressed right up against her guy, who’s gripping her hips and looking like he’s trying to decide on the best way to get her naked.
Mac bypasses our sister entirely and goes to Arden. I’m still too far away to hear them, but she doesn’t look at all pleased by his presence. I ignore them, focusing on Ellie. She opens her eyes when I get close, her face immediately brightening into a smile.
“You’re here!” She throws her arms around my neck. “I was just thinking about you, and now you’re here.” There’s a slight slur to her voice and her eyes go suddenly round. “Are you magic?”
“Nah, darlin’. Just a little overprotective.”
Her face clouds. “Are you mad I’m drunk?”
“Not in the slightest. Just wanted to see you, that’s all.” And make sure none of these fuckers got their hands on you.
She smiles again. “I always want to see you. Sometimes I think it’s too much and I should try to quit.” She sighs. “But I just can’t seem to do it.”
“Quit me?” I ask. God she’s cute when she’s drunk.
“Quit wanting you so much.”
“Now why on earth would you do a silly thing like that?”
She frowns. “Because you could leave.”
“Hey,” I pull her closer in my arms. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“You promise?”
She probably won’t even remember this tomorrow. But as I look down into her gorgeous face, I know I can’t lie to her. This isn’t a promise a man should make lightly. My brothers absolutely had a point about the stakes being higher with a kid involved.
But I wasn’t lying either, when I told them I was all in.
“I promise you, Ellie. You’re stuck with me as long as you’ll have me.”
She looks so damn happy it makes my chest ache. She lifts up on her tiptoes to press her lips against mine. I’ve just started to kiss her back when a commotion at our side steals our attention.
“You’re not the boss of me, McKoy Barlowe,” Arden shrieks. “I’ll dance with whoever the hell I want.”
“You’re trashed,” Mac says in a low, even voice.
“So what if I am? It’s none of your business!”
He crosses his arms over his muscular chest, giving her a very familiar look.
It’s his “I’m-not-fucking-around” glare, the one he gave his younger siblings a million times over the years.
As the oldest kid, he took up all the slack from our shitty parents, taking on responsibilities no one his age ever should have had to.
He’s looking at Arden the exact same way now. Like she’s a responsibility he’s determined to get under control.
“Your night is over,” he tells her. “Let’s go.”
She looks like she wants to claw his eyes out, but Jules takes her arm. “We’re all going to go,” she says soothingly, shooting our brother a weird look. “Look, Nick and Jonah are here, too.”
“So because you want to go home with your guy and get laid I have to leave, too?”
“Oooh,” Ellie says, very loudly, as she grabs my arm. “Do I get to get laid tonight?”
I snort out a laugh. “Maybe once you’ve sobered up, sweetheart.” Her pout is the cutest fucking thing I’ve ever seen in my life.
Arden and Mac are still going toe-to-toe.
“I’m not going with him.” She points at my brother. “I’ll take a fucking Uber.”
“You absolutely fucking will not,” Mac says calmly.
“I can take you home,” the idiot she was dancing with offers, clearly not understanding he’s about two seconds from getting his face rearranged.
“Arden,” Mac snaps, his calm starting to crack a bit. “Let’s go.”
“No. I’m still dancing.”
She starts to turn back to her partner but Mac doesn’t let her get very far. He grabs her around the waist and lifts her up to toss over his shoulder. She shrieks in outrage and he completely ignores her, marching straight to the door, leaving the five of us standing there in shocked silence.
“Um, what the hell was that?” Jules finally asks.
“No idea,” I mutter, sharing a glance with Nick. “But we should probably follow them so security doesn’t try to detain him for kidnapping.”
I pull Ellie to my side and take Trisha’s arm with my other hand. “Come on, ladies. Time to go home.”