“Look out,” I hear one of my brothers say from behind me.
“No? What was it for?”
She shakes her head.
“I wanted to talk, to catch up. . .”
“Kris, look, I’m sorry if you feel like I misled you in any way to thinking that what we had was going to be anything more than a one-time thing, but to my recollection, I’m pretty sure I made myself quite clear on that score.”
“So, I’m only good enough for a fuck and run, but Alysa Hawkins gets multiple go-arounds? Why is that?”
“Because just like me, Alysa is a big fan of uncomplicated sex, Kris. She doesn’t attempt to stalk me at work, and she doesn’t piss me off every time I see her in the pub.”
“You’re a fucking root rat, Wild.”
“I’m really not, and if you’d listened to a single word I’d said before you took me home to your bed, you’d know that.”
Over Kristy’s shoulder, I catch the redhead watching us. My eyes meet hers, and she gives me a small smile, I give her one of my own in return.
‘Thank you.’ She mouths.
‘Cheers, you’re welcome.’ I hold up my glass and mouth back.
“Fuck you, Gabe.” Kristy’s voice snaps me back just in time to dodge the contents of her wine glass she launches in my direction. Instead, the liquid covers my brother’s back.
“What the fuck?” Cooper asks as he turns slowly to see Kristy’s shocked expression, her hand still suspended mid-air as she holds onto the glass.
“Sorry,” she snaps. “You can blame your prick of a brother for that and get him to pay for a new shirt.”
“Stay the fuck away from me, Kris, stay right, the fuck, away.”
She turns, retreating back to hell or wherever it was she came from.
“Unfuckingbelievable,” Cooper complains. “You piss her off, but I get covered in wine? You are most definitely buying me a new shirt.”
“Some of that shit hit my sleeve. You can buy me a new one too.”
“Fuck off, Zac,” me and Coop say in unison.
I spend the next thirty minutes or so chatting shit with my brothers while watching the redhead and her crew rocking it on the dance floor. No matter what song the band plays, she seems to know the words to every single one of them.
“Gabe?”
“What?”
Zac flicks my ear, and I mumble a ‘fuck off’ as I bat his hand away.
“I swear to God, I’m gonna knock you two the fuck out before tonight’s over,” I threaten.
“In your dreams, little brother, you’re not even man enough to go and talk to her. What the fuck is wrong with you?” Cooper questions. Before I get a chance to respond, and to my absolute horror, Zac calls Jo over.
Brows drawn down, she wears a confused, or maybe it’s an amused smile on her face as she makes her way towards us.
“What’s up?” She raises her chin and asks.
“Jo, put my pathetic little brother out of his misery and introduce him to your mate. It’s getting painful standing here watching him drool.”
I shake my head. “Ignore him. My brother’s being an extra special dick tonight. I’m sorry.”
Looking between her mates and me, Jo taps her pointer finger against her pouty lips.
“You want me to introduce you, I’ll introduce you, but I’ll tell ya now. . .” she pauses, appearing to either consider her words or decide whether she’s going to actually say them, “she has a lot of shit going on right now, you make any kind of move on her tonight, and I will hunt you down.”
The indigestion shifts from my chest to my gut, making it churn.
“What kind of shit?” I ask.
“Not my story to tell. I’ll introduce you, but the rest is on you to find out, if, that is, she decides she wants to tell you.”
Jo makes her way back to the dance floor where shorty’s currently dancing to ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’. She says something into her ear, and they both turn and look at me. I watch as she shakes her head and turns and says something to Jo, who responds by grabbing her hand and dragging her towards me.
I feel like an idiot, more like a fourteen-year-old kid at a school disco, instead of a grown man. My mouth dries as I panic at what I’m going to say to her.
“Lauren, this is Gabe. He was telling me earlier he might have a property coming up for rent soon, and I know you might be in the market. . .”
My gut cramps as my chest tightens, and I wonder if maybe I’ve got a bad case of both food poisoning and heartburn or indigestion.
“Hey,” she says quietly, her blue eyes darting between Jo and me as she gives this awkward little flick of her wrist.
“I. . . Hey. Lauren, yeah, sorry, sorry.”
What the actual fuck is wrong with me?
Her brows raised, she watches me for a few seconds before ending my muted torture.
“Thanks for the drink, that was nice of you.”
She has an accent, English, London or somewhere around it. I shake my head—no idea why, but I shake it, and I continue to shake it.
“No worries,” I eventually blurt.
Catching sight of my brothers, Cooper is giving me a wanker sign, while Zac holds two fingers under his chin and pretends to shoot himself.
“So, I might be able to help you out.”
She smiles, licks her lips, and gives a quick raise of her perfect brows.
“Oh, I’m sure you most definitely can. . .”
“With a place to live,” I interrupt. “Or, with something else, if you need helping out with something, with other things. . .”
Fuck my life because right now, I’ve lost any and all ability to string a sentence together.
“Oh, that,” she says before pursing her lips in an attempt not to smile. She fails, and what escapes is somewhere between sexy and suggestive. My dick twitches in my jeans and I don’t feel even a little bit bad about it.
“Yeah, Jo may have jumped the gun a little bit with that. I need to sort some other. . . I’m not really in a position to commit to anything right now, but thank you.”
Frowning, she narrows her eyes on Jo, who in response, turns right around and goes back to their crew on the dance floor.
“What’s the problem with where you are now? Is your lease up?” Feeling proud at finally managing to form a coherent sentence, I’m as shocked as shit when her eyes shine with instant tears.
Blowing out a few short breaths, she begins fanning her face with her hand as she looks everywhere except at me.
“Sorry,” she says with a nervous laugh. “Wow. Shit. This is really awkward.”
Continuing to fan her face, I watch as she swallows a couple of times. Her blue eyes still shining as she attempts to smile.
I stand there, unsure of what exactly it was I said that upset her, but feeling like an absolute piece of shit for saying it anyway.
“I’m sorry. You okay? Shit, I didn’t mean. . .”
“Yeah. Nah. I’m good. Just having a moment.” She gives another small but obviously nervous or embarrassed laugh while still looking around the bar.
“Can I get you another drink?”
Her eyes finally meet mine, and it takes everything in me not to pull her closer and ask what or who the fuck has her so upset.