He didn’t move, holding his stance in front of the two double doors, a couple of his buddies beside him. The foyer we were standing in was hot, and my skin was covered in a sheen of sweat. Most likely the result of so many damn bodies in one space, bumping and grinding or what the hell ever these rich boys called it.
Cooper grinned at me while his friends all whispered between themselves. “Come on, Avery,” he urged with a sigh. “She’s just had too much to drink. She needs to sleep it off. It’s not that big of a deal. Just breathe.”
“I am breathing,” I snapped through gritted teeth. “Which might be more than I can say for my friend here if I don’t get her checked out.”
I knew what was going on.
He was worried.
Worried I would take her to the hospital, and they would figure out what kind of drugs she’d been slipped, and all roads would lead back to right here.
Ding-dong—Beta Beta’s reputation is suddenly under a lot of fire.
Cooper shook his head, huffing a breath out his nose. “You’re so uptight,” he noted matter-of-factly. The calm façade a good show, but the way he was shuffling from foot to foot was a sure sign he was nervous as fuck about what might happen. “Calm down. Let’s chat. Have a drink.”
“Go to hell.”
I was done with this conversation.
Holly was fading in and out of consciousness. Even though Cooper was pretending like there wasn’t a six-foot tattooed biker standing in his frat house right at this moment, I could tell Tyler was on his last nerve. “Little fucker…” he murmured under his breath, shuffling Holly’s body so he could pull his phone from his pocket. I could only make out a few words he was mumbling as he pushed a few buttons on his phone. “Beta Beta bullshit…”
“Get out of the way, Cooper,” I ordered, a little louder, a little sterner, even my heart skipping a beat at the thought of what might happen if Tyler is calling for reinforcements.
He shook his head. “Holly stays. She can sleep it off in a bed upstairs.” He tried to bargain with us. “I’ll make sure she’s fine.”
I took a step forward. “I’m not going to let her die because you’re scared someone will find out the truth.”
He huffed out an amused breath. “It’s funny how you think anyone will believe you over me.”
The doors suddenly pulled open behind them, sending a flood of cold air rushing over me, feeling like heaven on my burning skin. But it was what was on the other side of those doors that had my body freezing in place and my mouth suddenly incredibly dry.
“Funny how you think you’d still be around to have a say at all,” Shotgun growled, bracing his hands on the wide doorframe and leaning forward. The agitation on his face was at a level not often seen. The frat house lights highlighted the deviance in his eyes and lighting a fire in my belly.
Since the day we met, I’d never failed to be instantly turned on by the way this man carried himself and this club. Strength and power go to some people’s heads, but Shotgun had never done anything but use his to protect the people he loved.
There was a reason he was the president.
He fucking earned his title.
The man was honest, respectful, loyal, and when he needed to be, ruthless as fucking hell. All because the responsibility fell on his shoulders. It was up to him to push the club forward, to hold them together, and to defend what the hell it stood for.
No matter what.
No matter how.
I suddenly realized that he was here and not in Colorado, and I wasn’t sure whether I was absolutely petrified of the lecture I would get after this shitshow or whether I was already wet at the idea of him punishing me.
Either way, I knew one thing.
I was in so much fucking trouble.
SHOTGUN
“Outside.”
Tyler moved instantly at my sharp order, lifting Holly bridal style and carrying her limp body past me and out to the street where a car was waiting. A handful of my brothers stepped into the entrance of the enormous fucking rich-kid home, their presence behind me forcing a lot of the kids to back away.
Avery paused for a second, her lips pressed together tightly, eyes meeting mine in a mixture of nerves and fear. She knew I’d never hurt her, but she’d broken rules tonight, and she knew there was going to be some kind of repercussions.
Just what? I hadn’t decided quite yet.
“Now, Avery.”
Myth stepped around me, walking to Avery and putting a hand to her back. She pushed back against him for a moment, her lips open just a breath. I raised my eyebrows, daring her to fucking say something, my dick straining at the thought of being able to redden her ass for it.
But apparently, she must have learned her lesson for today.
Avery finally pursed her lips, but narrowed her gaze, letting me know she was going to play along, but that she wasn’t fucking happy about it. The girl had grilled my ass on more than one occasion—she wasn’t afraid to let me know when she thought I was being a bastard—but she had enough respect to do it behind closed doors.
She was smart.
Because whether either of us liked it or not, she knew her role. And when it came to club matters, it wasn’t to have a fucking say. It was to do what she was told.
And she had made this a fucking club matter.
Which was why she was being removed.
We kept the girls separated from this shit as much as possible.
Partly for protection.
Partly because it meant they didn’t have to lie if someone came asking questions.
Deniability.
“Search the house,” I ordered, not taking my eyes off this Cooper kid as he scooted back into a corner of the room. “Make sure there are no more unconscious girls hidden anywhere.”
Crush, Repo, and our new recruit from Alabama, Mix, made quick work of the stairs, disappearing into the thinning crowd. It made me fucking sick that these little bastards would grow up to be future businessmen, lawyers, doctors, and work other high-profile positions. This was precisely the reason fuckers like that got away with hurting girls—because they had the power or the parents to pay people off.
So did we.
But we didn’t use it as an excuse to fucking rape and pillage.
These assholes were fucking predators.
And honestly, for the most part, the club kept their nose out of this kind of shit. It wasn’t in my best interest to piss off some rich kid and have his mommy and daddy decide to try and make me apologize.
Holly, she wasn’t a part of the club—in fact, recently, she’d been told to stay the fuck away.
Which meant this technically wasn’t our problem.
It shouldn’t have come to us, but goddamn Avery and her need to serve and protect this friend who had done nothing but cause problems. I was over it. I was done with her putting her ass on the line for Holly. I was done with Holly allowing her life to swirl down the fucking drain and not accepting the help she’d been offered before shit got to this fucking point.
And I was going to make it extremely fucking clear tonight, that this would be it.
“I’ll call the police,” fuckhead protested, suddenly finding some kind of balls hidden in his tight khakis. “So, it’s best if you get the hell out before I have you all fucking arrested.”