Chapter 14 Gabe
GABE
I’m not going to lie, the parties that come along with this club might be the best part.
They throw parties every Friday and Saturday night.
There’s always a big crowd, lots of beer, and the hottest girls in this town.
Sure, they sleep with members or in my case, prospects, because they think it’ll get them a foot in the door, but what guy my age wouldn’t love that?
I don’t think I’ll ever settle down. Why would I?
Currently, I’m leaning up against the bar, a beer in hand, and Lily wrapped around me.
I take a swig as her lips meet my skin. She runs her tongue up my neck to my ear before whispering, “Take me upstairs?”
I pull away. It’s barely midnight. Plus, Shane’s here somewhere, and the last time I saw him he was well on his way to Mars. I know he isn’t my responsibility, but I feel obligated to make sure he makes it upstairs before he’s arrested—or dead.
“I gotta wait for Shane. Seen him?”
She shakes her head, and instead of being disappointed, she smirks and slides her hand under the waistband of my pants. I’m rethinking my previous statement, when a blonde with the tips of her hair dyed pink comes charging at me like her ass is on fire.
“You’re Shane’s friend, right?”
I’ve seen this girl before but can’t quite place her. I pull Lily’s hand from my pants and stand.
“Uh, yeah.”
“I’m here with his sister, and I can’t find her. Do you know where he is?”
“Like his little sister, Ash?”
“Yeah. Duh.”
That’s it. It was dark at Akers’s party, but this is definitely the girl that brought Ash. Shane’s going to have a fit when he hears what they’ve done now. “Why is Ash here?”
She releases an exasperated sigh, rolling her eyes. “We snuck in. Not the point. She was sitting over there.” She points to a chair near the pool table. “With some creep named Max, and now she’s gone.”
Shit. Dread coats my stomach. Max is one of the newer members, and something about him gives me a bad vibe. He always gets a little too rough with the girls, and there have been rumors about him being kind of pushy but nothing solid. I don’t like the idea of him anywhere with Ash.
“As soon as we find your friend, the two of you are leaving. Got it?” I snap, pushing past her to make my way through the crowd. She follows.
“I’ll help.” Lily trails close behind.
My pulse pounds in my ears, and my steps quicken. When I get to a closed door in the hallway and find it locked, all the blood drains from my face. If that fucker is in there with her, I might actually kill him.
Taking a step back, I drive my heel into the wood beside the knob. It splinters as the door flies inward, slamming into the wall inside.
What I find has my breaths turning shallow and the muscles in my jaw tensing as I clench my teeth. Shane’s sister is lying on the couch, black tears streaking her face.
Max, who was trying to undo her pants when I came in, has now shot back with both hands in the air like he doesn’t know what’s happening. What. The. Fuck.
“Are you fucking kidding me!” I charge toward him.
“Shit,” Lily mutters, moving to Ash and kneeling in front of her. “You’re okay.”
He mutters some bullshit, but I don’t care to hear anything he has to say. My fist connects with his face. Blood trickles from his busted lip. Pinning him to the wall with my forearm, I pull my handgun from behind my back and point it directly at him.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, huh?” Spit flies from my mouth.
“I-I,” he stutters. Blood coats his teeth, collecting in the spaces between them.
“Do you have any fucking idea who that is?”
“She’s just some chick. What’s your problem!”
I press into his throat harder with my arm, cutting off his oxygen. With gritted teeth, I lean my face so close, our noses almost touch, and I say, “That’s Shane’s sister, you dumbfuck!”
His eyes widen, and he drains of color. “What? No! She said she was eighteen.”
I pull my head back, pursing my lips, and pinching my brows. “So, this is fine as long as she’s eighteen?” I demand, still pointing my gun at him.
It’s taking everything in me not to blow him to pieces.
“I wasn’t doing anything! She was all over me.”
Nik snaps her attention to us. “No, she wasn’t!”
“I’m also pretty sure you don’t have to drug someone willing to fuck you, idiot.” I smack him upside the head with the gun. “She can’t even hold her head up. What the hell did you give her?”
“Look, she seemed like she was into me. I was just trying to help her relax.” He must see how close I am to ending him because he adds, “Please, put the gun away.”
I take a step closer to him, pressing it under his chin. The sound of Ashton sobbing pulls me from my murderous rage.
“You’re damn lucky she still had her pants on when I got here, or you’d already be dead.” I pull it away, shoving him toward the door. “Get the fuck out of here and pray Shane doesn’t find you.”
With a quick nod, he shuffles for the door, holding his bloody face. When I turn around, Ash is in Lily’s lap, sobbing and gripping her for dear life. Nik sits beside them with tears in her eyes. I squat in front of the couch.
“You okay? Did he hurt you?” I ask in the kindest voice I can muster with the amount of rage pulsing through my veins.
She shakes her head, still crying. It keeps rolling to the side as the drugs threaten to take over.
“Give her to me.” I pull Ash from Lily’s hold and press her to my chest. Her nails dig into my arm. “I’ve got you. You’re safe now, I promise.” I turn to her friend. “You need to go home. I’ll have Shane come get her.”
“I’m not just gonna leave her!” she demands.
“Yes, you are. I promise she’ll be fine, but I can’t babysit you both. So go home.”
She stares at me for a moment, obstinance in her eyes.
“I’ll take you home. She’ll be fine, I swear.” Lily stands, running a hand across Nik’s back.
Eventually Nik nods, stalking out of the room with Lily.
I sit on the couch and hold onto the girl as she grows increasingly relaxed in my arms. Pulling out my phone, I dial Shane. Of course, it goes to voicemail.
“Fuck!” I shout, and she grips me harder. “Shh. Everything is fine. You’re gonna be fine.”
Brushing a hair out of her face, I notice the blood under her nails and smirk.
Good girl.
After trying to call Shane a dozen more times and getting his voicemail, I stand and carry the now passed-out girl upstairs. On the way, she whimpers a little before cracking open her eyes.
“Wow. You’re beautiful.” She giggles, and I can’t help but smile.
Once inside my apartment, I try to lay her on the couch, but she holds onto me for dear life. So instead, I sit with her still in my arms and drift to sleep.
I’m startled awake when Ash shoots up from where she was passed out in my lap. “Hey. Morning.”
“Morning?” Her brows pinch.
I close my eyes and exhale. “Do you remember anything from last night?”
She shakes her head. “I remember sneaking in here with Nik. Then some guys came over.” Her eyes widen. “Oh, no. Did I do something? Oh, God! Did we?”
“What? No! I think… I think someone slipped you something in a drink, but Nik and I found you before anything happened.”
She nods, but her brows don’t relax.
“I couldn’t get a hold of your brother, and you were out by the time we got up here, so I let you sleep it off. I texted him, but he still hasn’t responded. I can take you home when you’re ready.”
She starts to nod again, but then her face turns a unique shade of green, and her hands fly to cover her mouth as she vomits into them.
“Oh, shit. Are you okay?” I jump up to grab a waste basket.
“I’m so sorry,” she cries, her face crumpling.
“Hey, it’s fine. It’s not your fault.” I scoop up her hair to hold it back as she starts to heave again, careful not to get a handful of puke.
“Listen, why don’t you shower, and I’ll get you something to replace what you just ejected from your stomach. Then I’ll take you home, yeah?” I rub my hand in circles on her back.
“Why are you being so nice to me?” she asks, lifting her head from the trash can.
“You’re Shane’s sister. It’d make me a pretty shitty friend if I let something happen to you.”
“You don’t have to feed me. I’ll just rinse out my hair, and we can go.”
“It’s fine, really. Plus, maybe your brother will finally show up.”
“Please don’t tell him,” she begs quietly, grabbing my arm.
“Ash, I have to. None of this is your fault, at all.” I crouch beside her.
“Yeah, you shouldn’t have been here, but that doesn’t give Max the right to do that to you.
” I grab her chin, lifting her eyes to mine.
“You didn’t deserve this.” Tears roll down her makeup-streaked face.
“But I need you to promise me something.”
Her chin quivers. “What?”
“I need you to promise you will never take a drink from someone you don’t know. Hell, don’t take them from guys you do know. You get your drinks yourself from now on. Got it?”
She nods. “I’m so sorry.” A sob breaks from her throat, and I pull her to my chest, running a hand down her hair before remembering the vomit and pulling it away. I feel bad for the girl, but that’s where I draw the line.
“It’s okay. Come with me. I’ll show you to the bathroom, and then we’ll get you out of here.”
After getting her everything she needs, I return to my bedroom to get her some clothes. She was terrified when she woke up, and I hate that. Her normal quick-witted, smartass comments have been stifled by whatever emotions threaten to pull her under.
I pull out a T-shirt and a pair of sweats from my closet. I’m a big guy, so they’ll probably swallow her, but it will have to work.
I’m laying them out on the bed when I hear crying from the bathroom. What the hell?
“Fuck me,” I mutter under my breath.
This is exactly the sort of thing I try to avoid. I don’t do drama or tears. I could leave and let her figure it out, but for some reason my heart hasn’t let me in on quite yet, I can’t. I knock, opening the door enough that she can hear me.
“You okay?”
At first, there’s no response, but then she lets out a cracked sob. “No. Not really.”
There’s only a little over a year between us, but I’m not about to open that can of worms. Driving her home last summer was one thing, but her naked in my bathroom is another.
“Take a couple breaths. I’m right here. You’re safe, okay?”
“O-okay.” She keeps sobbing.
Shit.
I wish her fucking brother would answer his phone. Making a mental note to beat the shit out of him, I ask, “Do you need anything?”
“N-no. I just—” She gasps a few more times.
I open the door more, covering my eyes with one hand even though it’s too foggy to see anything.
“Hey, I’m right here. You’re fine. Can I help you?”
What the hell am I doing?
“Yeah.”
“Shit. Okay, I’ll close my eyes, but can you stand and turn around? Here.” I hand her a towel while still covering my face with the other. “Wrap this around you. I’ll help you get the puke out of your hair, at least.”
She takes the towel from me, and I cover my eyes.
After a few seconds, she says, “I’m ready,” in a small voice that guts me.
She’s standing with her back to the foggy glass door, her face in her hands. Every gasp has her shoulders jerking. Her hair’s wet, weighing down her curls. I grab the shampoo from the ledge, pouring some into my hand.
“Okay, I’m just gonna wash your hair. That’s all. Can you lean forward?”
It feels like trying to approach a baby deer.
She flips her hair over, holding the towel with both hands in front of her.
I run my shampoo-covered hands through her hair, making sure to get all the vomit out.
She makes these little gasping noises every so often that feel like a sucker punch to my gut.
I should have just killed the motherfucker last night.
I’m certain after watching her break down like this that letting him go was a mistake.
Pulling the showerhead down, I rinse out the shampoo.
“You might want to shower again later, but at least you don’t have puke in your hair.” I wring it out, and she stands up straight.
“You okay now?”
“There’s blood on my fingers,” she whispers.
“Yeah, I think you’re pretty scrappy.”
She lets out a half-laugh with big round eyes, and my heart clenches.
I just want to fix it so she’ll stop making that face.
Nothing has ever bothered me the way that crease in her brow does, or the way the corners of her mouth turn down just slightly.
But the worst of it are the tears pooling in her eyes. I really hate that.
Her voice comes out small when she asks, “Do you promise nothing happened?”
“Yeah.” I nod. “I swear. Nothing happened.”
Leaving her to get dressed, I get started making breakfast and curse myself under my breath. How in the hell did I end up in this situation? This is what I get for being nice. If I’d minded my own business—
No, if I’d minded my own business, something would have happened.
A few minutes pass before she appears in the doorway, wearing my clothes, with her hair a wild mess around her. My breath hitches. It’s not even a sexual thing; she’s just so pretty. I’m not into art, but I could understand wanting to stare at something for hours if it were as perfect as her.
Her eyes move to the floor as she tries to blink away tears.
“I hope you don’t mind French toast. That’s all I’ve got.”
A smile spreads across her lips. “It’s my favorite.”
She pads across the floor, pulling out a barstool. “Thank you. I’m so sorry for everything.” Her gray eyes stay trained on the counter.
“Hey.” I wait for her to look up at me before continuing. “Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
She nods, her eyes glistening as she tries to sniff away the tears.
“Do you want a drink? Water, milk, coffee?” I ask.
“Water’s fine.”
Too late, I realize I’m missing a very important ingredient as I slide the glass of water and plate of food to her. “Shit. I don’t think I have syrup.”
She waves a hand in front of her face. “That’s okay. I don’t like syrup anyway.”
“What? Who eats French toast without syrup?”
“Me, I guess.” She shrugs.
I slide a fork over to her. “Okay, weirdo.”