Chapter 22 Abby
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Abby
“Do I look okay?” Sienna asks, spinning around in a circle.
She’s the perfect depiction of sweet meets sexy in her flowy yellow dress and knee-high leather boots. Her vibrant red curls just add to the whole vixen yet girl-next-door vibe.
I don’t know how it’s possible for one person to be both things at the same time, but Sienna absolutely is.
“You look perfect,” Hadley says.
“You sure?” Sienna asks, eyeing herself warily in the mirror.
The rest of us ladies echo our agreement that she looks great.
It’s girls’ night, and Hadley offered to have us all get ready at her place. We’re all gathered in her bedroom and the connected bathroom.
Avery and Riley are currently in the bathroom finishing up their makeup. I’m sitting on the edge of Hadley’s massive bed beside Leah.
I didn’t know if she was going to accept my invitation to come with us, but I’m glad she did. She deserves a night of fun after everything she’s been through lately.
She has been quiet since we got here about an hour ago, but I can see her coming out of her shell a little more with the way everyone instantly accepted her into the group.
I felt the same way last year when I hung out with all of them for the first time, thanks to Riley dragging me along with them. Now, I’m just part of the group.
Hadley’s dog, Cash, nuzzles his big head between Leah and me. He peeks up at both of us with hopeful eyes, obviously wanting some love. How can anyone resist a face like that?
Leah and I start petting him at the same time, and his eyes flutter closed. I feel as relaxed as Cash seems to be as my fingers run through his fluffy, black fur.
“He’s so cute,” Leah says.
Hadley turns to face us. “He’s great, but I promise you he isn’t always this calm.” She glares at him playfully. “He’s a menace half the time.”
He buries his face under one of his paws, making all of us laugh.
“I’ve always wanted a dog,” Leah says.
“You should get one,” I tell her.
Sienna steps a little closer to the bed. “We have a couple of pretty wonderful pups at the shelter right now. If you want to come by sometime, I would be happy to introduce you to them.”
She runs the animal shelter here in town, so she knows the ins and outs of all the animals they have.
Leah’s eyes light up. “I’d love that.” Her face falls a little. “It would be nice to have a dog so I’m not alone all the time and…” She trails off, her eyes falling to her lap.
Cash must sense her discomfort because he moves his head from the bed onto her lap. She just smiles down at him, smoothing the fur between his ears.
Avery and Riley step out of the bathroom. We’re all patiently waiting for Leah to continue. None of us wants to pressure her, but we’re here to listen to whatever she has to say.
“Having a little more protection would be nice, too.” She doesn’t need to elaborate. We all know what she’s referring to.
Aspen Springs is a small town. Even if everyone doesn’t know the intimate details of what happened, most know the basics.
Sienna’s face softens. “You know what? I think I know just the dog. He arrived a few days ago from a shelter a few towns over that was over capacity. He is a pit bull mix, so he is protective by nature.” The corners of her mouth tilt up.
“But he is the biggest cuddle monster I’ve ever met.
He’d lie in my lap all day if I let him. ”
Leah nods a few times, her smile growing. “What’s his name?”
“Zeus.”
“Zeus,” Leah echoes. “I think… I would really like to meet him.”
Sienna claps her hands together. “Perfect. Tomorrow?”
Leah nods. They exchange phone numbers and finalize plans to meet up. I hope this works out for her because Zeus might be just what she needs in her life right now, a piece of the fresh start she deserves.
Ten minutes later, we’re all piling into Riley's SUV. Luckily, it has a third row, so we can all fit without doing something illegal. She’s automatically the designated driver with her whole bun-in-the-oven situation.
She doesn’t seem to mind right now, but I don’t know how she is going to feel about it once the rest of us are a few drinks in.
“Hadley, get your cute butt in the car,” Sienna yells out the window.
Hadley is a little too preoccupied with Austin, who is currently kissing the life out of her on the porch. He has her back pressed against one of the pillars.
I don’t think their lips have parted from each other’s for several minutes. Oh… to be that level of in love with someone.
“Hads, I’ll go over there and rip you away from him,” Avery shouts.
Austin pulls back just enough to look down at Hadley with so much love it makes something ache inside of me. He kisses her one last time, then turns her around to face us. She has stars in her eyes when she climbs in beside me.
It isn’t the same thing at all, but seeing Hadley with one of her men makes me think of the guys. The giddy excitement I’ve been trying to keep at bay all night flares back to life.
I can’t guarantee I’ll see the guys tonight, but it is their bar.
The guys? Really?
I guess my mind has taken the liberty of assigning them that title. There could be dozens of different men in that bar tonight, but that title only belongs to three of them. At least in my mind.
I run my hand over my face as we all climb from the car when Riley parks on the side of the road about a block from the bar. It’s Saturday night, and it looks like there are quite a few people here.
The sound of the music playing from the jukebox hits me before we even step inside. The place isn’t packed, but for a small-town bar, there’s a decent crowd.
My eyes immediately go to the bar. At first, I don’t see anyone, but then Wyatt’s head pops up from where he must have been crouched behind the counter.
He slides a beer across the bar to someone. His eyes roam over the room and settle on me. A smile takes over his gorgeous face.
I can’t help but smile in return.
“Well… that’s interesting,” Avery says, nudging my shoulder with hers.
“Wait,” Riley says from my other side. “That’s a different hot biker man.”
Avery’s head whips in my direction. “What do you mean, different hot biker man?”
I open my mouth to say something, but I’m too distracted by the wink Wyatt gives me after giving someone else their drink.
“Looks like you have some explaining to do,” Hadley says, grabbing my hand and pulling me across the bar.
By some chance, there’s an open booth behind the pool table that’s big enough for all of us. Hadley, Leah, and I slide into one side, while Sienna, Avery, and Riley sit opposite us.
“Spill,” Sienna says the second our asses hit the wooden bench.
“I need a drink before I talk about any of this,” I sigh. There’s no way in hell these women are letting me leave this bar until I tell them all the gritty details behind that look I shared with Wyatt.
“I vote you go order our first round,” Avery says. “I don’t think the bartender would mind one bit.”
“I don’t think it would be a hardship for you either,” Leah says, shoving me out of the booth.
I give her a what the fuck look as I scramble to get my feet under me.
“What?” she says with a shrug. “You think I didn’t see all the mornings you brought them coffee when they were at my house?”
“Traitor,” I grumble.
“Them?” Sienna asks loudly.
“Yup… them,” Riley confirms, wiggling her eyebrows.
I glare at her, but she just laughs. She knows about everything with Kane, but that’s it. I take it she’s putting the pieces together rather quickly, though.
“What do you all want to drink? Since apparently I’m a waitress now,” I ask all of them.
They all rattle off their orders, which thankfully aren’t too complicated. Their laughter follows me all the way to the bar.
Wyatt isn’t the only one here now. Linc has joined him. I find an empty spot where I can lean my forearms against the wood while I wait.
They move in perfect sync around each other, like they know exactly what the other is going to do before they even do it.
I guess that’s probably one of those twin things. I don’t even have a sibling, let alone a twin, so I would have no idea what that’s like.
Linc notices me first. His eyes sharpen as he walks straight to me.
“I didn’t know you were here,” he says, not unkindly.
“Well, I am,” I say with a shrug.
He hums in agreement, dragging his teeth over his bottom lip.
He’s wearing a black V-neck T-shirt that shows off a lot of his tattoos, but I find myself wanting to see even more of them. Somehow, I know he has many more that are hiding under his clothes.
His dark hair is pulled back into a messy bun, and he looks hot as fuck. My mouth goes dry, and I have to swallow past it if I’m going to have any hope of saying anything else to the man.
I’m having a hard time remembering that this is the same man who unabashedly showed off his nerdy side while chatting with my son about techy crap I don’t understand.
Right now, he just looks like a sex god, and my mind can’t focus on anything else.
His eyes dance with amusement at the way I’m obviously ogling him. “Do you want a drink?”
“Yes.” My voice comes out all dry and raspy. Great. “Six, actually.”
“Planning on getting shit-faced?” he asks, quirking a brow.
“I’m guessing they’re for the five beautiful ladies you walked in with,” Wyatt says, stepping in beside his brother. He nods his head toward the back corner of the room.
I glance over my shoulder, and sure as shit, they are all staring right at me. All of them are smirking, and I know I’m in for it as soon as I get back over there.
With Linc’s appearance, I’m going to have even more explaining ahead of me.
“As appealing as it would be to just get drunk, I think I’ll settle for one drink for myself,” I say. Then I mumble, “For now,” under my breath.
I rattle off the drinks everyone wants, and they get to work making them.
Wyatt is closer, so I call out his name. He steps over with a glint in his eyes. “Instead of the Sprite I ordered, could you make some kind of fun drink without alcohol?”