Chapter 3
CHAPTER
THREE
“WHY ARE YOU laughing?” Elijah grunted at her, while her brother was chatting with another group of people.
She flipped her hair over her shoulder. Where did she even begin with the current comedy show that was her life?
“Your reaction to how I’m George has been the real highlight of my evening,” she said, with no manners as she ate her burger with a fork. This little mix-up with Elijah wasn’t going to ruin the night. Georgia was out to celebrate, which meant dancing, drinks, and finding an eligible man to kiss.
Elijah was crossed off the kiss list.
He grabbed the fork out of her hand and dropped it on her plate. “Why didn’t you tell me that Nash, who is my best friend, was your older brother?”
“I had no idea who you were. With your subpar flirting skills,” she swatted back at him.
“You just learned my name. I was going to tell you, but Nash showed up. And to be honest, I’m a little annoyed with him.
I was looking forward to being the one who popped the bubble and told you I was the brother you were expecting to meet. ”
Elijah gripped the shaggy black hair on top of his head for a minute. While he appeared to be contemplating his life choices, she finished her food.
“It’s not like anything happened.” He was likely only reassuring himself. “We just talked for a few minutes. It was harmless.”
Harmless wasn’t exactly how she would have described it. Their intense connection was about to step into a PDA moment with a kiss at the bar. Wincing, Georgia tossed back the last of her whiskey.
“You wanted to kiss me,” she reminded him.
He peeked over her shoulder, making sure no one else was joining them in their little nook at the back of the bar. “It was a lapse in judgment. Fuck, I thought George was his brother, and Brooks was his sister.”
“Quite the mistake.”
“Do me a favor and please do not bring this up to anyone. Especially Nash.”
Georgia was a nice person, but the panicked look on Elijah’s handsome face didn’t make her want to play nice. “What’s in it for me?”
She brought her hand to Elijah’s glass to drink his last sip of whiskey, but he grabbed her wrist. “Nothing is in it for you. This is so your brother doesn’t rag on me from here until eternity that I slipped up and wanted to kiss you.
If I need to barter with you not to be a tattletale, you can finish my drink. ”
Yanking her hand out of his grip, she glared at him. “Keep your drink, asshole.”
“Is that better or worse than an anal gland?” He smirked.
Georgia rolled her eyes. “Worse. And I refuse to keep a secret from my brother. If he asks if you flirted, I won’t lie.”
Elijah darkly chuckled. “He won’t ask.”
She stood, ready to scour the bar for her friends. “Why do you sound so sure about that?”
“Because I don’t fuck women who live in Landmere,” Elijah started to tell her, but she cut him off with a harsh laugh.
“Who do you think you are, God’s gift to women?” Georgia was disgusted. It was a crime to have a man this sexy be such an, well, for lack of better words, an anal gland.
He reached for her, but she swatted him away.
She turned her nose up at him. “Do not touch me. I’m still recovering from all the ick that I wanted your hands on me when we first met. Luckily, the moment has passed. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I see my best friend has arrived, and I refuse to waste any more time on you.”
She stomped off into the sea of people to give Sophie a much-needed hug.
Elijah could go screw himself!
WANTING TO FUCK his best friend’s little sister wasn’t on his to-do list. This was karma biting him in the ass as a reminder not to fuck anyone in his damn zip code.
“Why do you look pissed?” Nash asked as he slid onto the seat his sister vacated.
Elijah raised his shoulders, not certain how to say he almost broke his cardinal rule about hookups, and it was with Nash’s sister.
His friend ordered a round of shots from Patrick. “Come on, man. George is finally home. Try to lighten up and have some fun.”
“Her name is Georgia,” Elijah corrected him.
Nash gave him a pointed look. “Thank you, Captain Obvious.”
Patrick returned with six shots of tequila, a saltshaker, and slices of lime. Elijah did a quick headcount since only four people were out tonight for Georgia.
“One for George, her awful best friend Sophie, Anna, you, and me. The last one is for Roman, who should be here any minute,” Nash explained as if he read Elijah’s mind. “Did you know Anna is George’s other best friend? Her, the devil, and Anna grew up together.”
Anna Andrews was a paramedic at the station and damn good at her job.
Elijah remembered she was about thirty, which meant Georgia was, too.
She was too young for him anyway. He liked women who knew the score and that their time together was about orgasms. Nothing else.
Georgia would probably expect an engagement ring after one night.
“Why don’t you like Sophie?” Elijah was curious for the reason his friend disliked Georgia’s bestie.
With an eye roll, Nash turned his gaze to where Georgia, Sophie, and Anna were standing. “A million reasons. When they were in elementary school, Sophie decided to make everyone call her Queen Sophie.”
“Wow, she sounds horrible. Lock her up,” Elijah deadpanned.
“Trust me, it just got worse. Sophie was always the voice of no reason in George’s life. She’s a walking disaster and always looking to get into trouble. Growing up, that meant dragging George along for the ride,” Nash spoke, glaring at the women who had created their own spot to dance.
Sophie, the devil in question, was definitely the ringleader.
She was the one hollering along to the song as the group of them shook their asses.
Georgia tried to step away, but Sophie dragged her right back to their circle.
Anna laughed the whole time, dancing with her hands in the air.
Roman, another firefighter, arrived and danced with Anna.
Those two were close friends, so their dancing was innocent.
“Who the fuck is that?” Elijah barked when he saw a man approach Georgia from behind and start swaying behind her.
Nash turned back to the bar. “I need to order another shot. That’s Robbie, one of their friends from high school. I didn’t know he was joining us too.”
Elijah nodded, but he was seething, his vision red. This guy had his arms wrapped around Georgia’s stomach, holding her close to him, and she smiled. Talk about being replaced quickly. While she didn’t want Elijah to touch her, she was perfectly fine having this dipshit Robbie do it.
What the fuck.
Sure, Georgia was slated in the forbidden slot, but this was torture. Robbie whispered something in her ear, and she turned to face him with a flirtatious smile. This had to fucking stop.
Were they going to kiss?
Hell no.
“Absolutely not,” Nash grunted to no one, storming off to the group. Elijah noticed another man had joined the group and was dancing with Sophie.
If he wasn’t so pissed off that Georgia managed to get under his skin for the night, he would have found it interesting how the woman Nash called the devil was also the woman he was currently arguing with.
Elijah watched Sophie brush her long brown hair over her shoulders, then push Nash away from her.
Nash yelled something to the group, which stopped them all from dancing, and then he pointed at the bar where Elijah sat.
Everyone walked in his direction, except for Sophie.
Nash grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the bar.
“Hey Lou!” Anna greeted him with a smile. She often called him Lou, short for Lieutenant.
Roman stood right beside her and eyed the shot glasses. “Tequila? Fuck yeah, this is going to be a good night.”
“He’s at a disadvantage because you guys are already friends and work together,” the sweet voice of Georgia surrounded him as she pointed at the man standing way too close to her. Elijah watched her, but she paid him no attention. “Robbie, this is Roman.”
Finally, she looked at him, but it was with disdain as she pointed at him. “This is Nash’s friend and fellow firefighter. What was your name again?”
Elijah glared at her. “I find it hard to believe you don’t remember my name.”
She bit her lower lip and tapped a finger on her chin a few times. “Your name eludes me. I guess you just weren’t memorable.”
“Oh fuck,” Roman mumbled at her diss.
Elijah lifted an eyebrow. “Do you want me to make it memorable?”
Georgia blushed but didn’t break eye contact.
Robbie must have felt left out because he shot his hand out to shake. “Hi there.”
“Elijah Barnett,” he told the jackass, ignoring his outstretched hand. “Who invited you?”
Georgia pushed past Roman and Anna, who both smartly gave her the space she demanded. “Funny, I was about to ask you the same question.”
He smirked as she took another step closer to him.
“Robbie and I have been friends since high school. You don’t even know me.” Georgia pushed her finger into his chest.
Elijah grabbed her hand. “Ah, but weren’t we trying to change that earlier?”
“Do not play nice guy now. I’m sure once you found out I was a Landmere native, you would run away. Remember, you don’t fuck women from here, you arrogant prick!”
“Shots?” Roman cut the tension brewing between Elijah and Georgia.
Nash and Sophie were arguing when they joined the group. “I didn’t need you to escort me,” Sophie said through gritted teeth.
“It seemed that way to me.” Nash was using his no-nonsense tone. “Unless you liked the asshole who was salivating all over you.”
“Maybe I did!” Sophie pressed back.
“Shots?” Anna announced more like a question.
Elijah was living his nightmare with all the drama surrounding him. “Everyone, stop.” His authoritative tone shushed them all. “Nash bought us shots, and we’re taking them. We’re cutting all the bullshit and having fun tonight.”
Anna grinned. “I think we can all play nice for tequila.”
Roman licked his hand and poured salt on it, then passed the salt to Anna. She followed suit. The saltshaker bobbled around the group until it got to Elijah.
Everyone picked up a shot glass.
“To George finally being home!” Nash raised his glass.
“To George coming home a doctor,” Sophie corrected him before she lifted her glass.
Anna joined them. “To the last member of our girl group finally being home!”
“To Nash having a hot sister!” Roman ducked when Nash playfully swung at him.
Robbie, with his stupid puppy dog eyes, smiled at Georgia. “To the future.”
She giggled, lifting her glass.
“Come on, Elijah. You need to give a toast,” Roman urged him to join in.
What he needed was a ride home, not to partake in this stupid cheers.
Before he could respond with something lame, Georgia spoke up. “He doesn’t know me, so there’s no need for him to make something up.”
They locked eyes, and it was like she was testing him. One thing about Elijah was he never backed down. It was what made him a great firefighter.
“How about to being memorable?” Elijah coaxed, licking a spot on his hand and sprinkling it with salt.
Georgia bit her lower lip as she watched him.
They all took their shots and sucked on the lime.
Despite every reason for him not to desire her, Elijah wanted to fuck her until he was all she knew.
That was the reason he had to leave.
Georgia was trouble.