Chapter 6
— Remmy —
“Help,” Scout mouthed from the dance floor, unable to escape Ella and her bossy little ass. For the last twenty-ish minutes I’d been sipping a drink at Mom and Dad’s table while they joked around with Mercedes’ parents (my aunt and uncle on Dad’s side).
I wasn’t following their conversation; I was laughing on the inside each time my eyes snagged Scout’s. His last mouthed call for help seemed a little more desperate than the previous five, but I simply raised my glass at him and grinned.
Beside me and also ignoring the conversation between our parents and aunt and uncle, Bass scoffed. He shook his head before taking a quick swig of his beer. “You’re cruel, Rems.”
I hastily swallowed my mouthful of juice. “What?”
My brother smirked. “You’re toying with him.”
“I like to play with my food.” The casual remark had him rolling his eyes and shaking his head. “Besides, I secretly think he likes it,” I added through a smile when Scout gave me big “help me” eyes from the dance floor again.
“Then the guy’s a fool,” Bass drawled.
“Hot though. A guy can’t have it all.”
From the outside, Scout Gatlin really did have it all. Between his country boy perfect white smile and the cocky swagger of a sports star, he exuded both charm and charisma without coming across as a complete twat. Confidence and assertiveness I could handle. Head so far up his own ass, I couldn’t. And if Scout was the fool who wanted a little fun at the end of a night shackled to a wedding dance floor, then I’d take one on behalf of all the girlies wanting to lick their way up the center of his sculpted chest. It was simply for the greater good.
“Did you just lick your glass?
My glazed-over vision snapped back into focus, then flicked to Bass. He grimaced so damn hard his chin all but disappeared into his neck.
I frowned and looked at the glass in question. “Did I?”
“Yeah. You did. And it’s scarred me a little more on top of all the other shit you’ve done.”
Snickering, because I fucking loved winding him up, I leaned in and lowered my voice. “Just as well you haven’t seen me deep-throat a beer bottle, then, eh?” My wicked little smirk sealed the taunt.
“Oh, come on!” Bastian exclaimed, then ran a hand down his face. “Jesus, Remmy. I don’t need to hear that from my own sister.”
At the other end of the ten-person table, our parents, aunt, and uncle stopped mid-conversation.
While I threw my head back and laughed, my brother said curtly, “Before any of you ask, no, you don’t need to know what she said.”
The sass in his voice made me laugh harder. The most carefree I’d laughed around anyone other than Bass, or my besties Bren and Steph, in as long as I could remember. And fuck, it felt good.
“My god , woman,” Bastian groused, eyeing his beer bottle like it was going to jump down his throat and defile him from the inside. “I need some fresh air after that comment.”
“I’ll come,” I said, already on my feet, immediately hungering for a change of scenery.
Despite wanting to appear like I didn’t give a fuck, I couldn’t help casting my eyes toward the dance floor as Bass and I exited stage left. Scout’s gaze was already on me, as if he’d never stopped watching me from across the room.
Something flashed through his expression. The widening of his eyes spoke of fleeting questions, perhaps a plea for help—again. And even as I gave him a sweet little smile, I saw him making excuses to leave Ella on the dance floor.
Shamelessly, my heart beat out of rhythm knowing that I had him following me. Without a single word exchanging between us. Maybe he felt it too. The pull. The lure between us. Invisible but undeniably electric. I blamed that on the reason I couldn’t not splice my gaze his way. And that little kick my heart gave when I caught him already watching me? A secret smile slid across my mouth as I followed Bastian out of the lodge and into the pleasant night air.
“Okay, first rule,” he announced as he flopped onto an outdoor couch, “is no deep-throating talk at all .”
I scoffed while easing down next to him. “And the second?”
He pondered for a second, beer poised in the air, before throwing up the other hand. “No deep-throating, period.”
“Yeah, not gonna happen,” I said with a cavalier wave of my hand.
Bastian had pulled me through the hell I’d been trapped in. He’d seen things. Seen the harrowing ordeal I endured as I fought to break free of the claws that gripped the depths of my soul. We’d always been close growing up, but the experience had brought us closer. I could tell him anything. Open and honest, not to mention straight-up wild. I guess in his mind, if I was talking to him about anything , I wasn’t hiding shit—again.
His laughter breezed across the courtyard, drawing a few curious pairs of eyes from another seating area.
A spear of sadness washed through me when I noticed how he locked eyes with one woman and smiled gently. Yet here he was, hanging with me instead of making hookup plans.
I tilted my head in the direction he stared. “Go over.”
Bass’ shadowed face cut my way. “I’m hanging with you.”
“I don’t need a babysitter.”
As if planned, a long shadow fell across us. I twisted and squinted against the background light but made out Scout’s shape striding our way. I turned back to Bass and thumbed over my shoulder. “See. We’ve got company.”
Instead of a smart-assed remark, Bass smirked and lifted his chin at Scout’s arrival. “Hey, man. Care to join us for a drink?”
“Heya. Actually, I’ve come to steal Remmy away,” he replied, eyes never leaving mine for a moment.
My spine straightened and crossed one leg over the other. “Oh yes? And where to, exactly?” I felt the coy little smile play at the corner of my mouth, and it flourished when Scout smirked.
“I need to show you something in your room.”
Bass scoffed against the top of his beer. “I’m sure you do.”
After slugging my brother on his arm, I fluttered my lashes at Scout. “Will I like it?”
Against the odds, he managed to school his wicked smirk. “You’ll love it.”
I nibbled at my lower lip. “Is it fun?”
Scout stood a little taller. “Most fun you’ll ever have.”
“Does—”
He cut me off. “Remmy, get the fuck up and get your ass walking. Now,” he added in a lower tone.
It sent a shiver across my shoulders and a bolt of anticipation through my lower abdomen. With Bass forgotten, I rose on my high heels and, with no more than two tiny steps, came chest to chest with the man issuing commands that, secretly, drove me wild.
I lifted my chin a fraction. “And what if I say no?” Defiance was part of my personality. From experience, if a guy couldn’t handle it from the literal start, I’d eat him alive within the hour.
Scout, however, smirked. He leaned in, his presence engulfing me. Consuming and commanding all at once.
His lips brushed my ear, causing a skitter down my spine, then again when he whispered, “You won’t.”
A shuddering breath entered my lungs. The hunger that vibrated off him, the heat radiating from his torso onto mine… it had me hooking a finger through his belt loop and towing him behind me across the courtyard.
On our way past the gals lounging on another grouping of outdoor couches, I smiled at the woman who’d been making eyes at Bastian. “My brother is lonely over there. Care to keep him company?”
Scout’s hand met my lower back, propelling me forward at a pace more urgent than before. And while I didn’t look back, I heard Bass drawl, “Welcome,” as Scout and I left the courtyard.
As soon as we were out of sight, Scout pulled me off the garden path and into the shadows, and I didn’t question why. With pent-up desire created from a night of flirting, I grabbed him by the lapels and hauled his lips to mine. We collided with force, setting the tone for the rest of the night.