“A couple of the waitresses up and quit. Something about a road trip and findingthemselves.”
Lex pops up behind him. “One of the ditz’s boyfriend left her.” She saysboyfriendin air quotes. “And now the whole restaurant has to pay for it.” She glares over at the bar for a moment. “Say, why don’t you get that girlfriend of yours to help out? I’m pretty tired of her doing an impression of apaperweight.”
I look to the bar to find Raven chatting it up with our all too friendly bartender. “She’s not mygirlfriend.”
A heavy hand falls on my shoulder from behind and a deep voice strums, “Who’s not yourgirlfriend?”
I turn around to find Levi Masterson himself grinning like a loon—or at least a groom who has happily gotten laid for the last several weeks, and by his side is his beautifulbride.
“Shit.” I pull him into a brief hug. “Dude, you’re looking good.” Both Levi and Low sport glowing tans to accompany those grins. “And you look beautiful.” Before I have a chance to pull Low into an embrace, Raven screams her way over, and soon Lex is caught up in the hugging hysterics. The entire restaurant grows eerily silent as the three of them scream at the top of their lungs. I’m assuming Lex is screaming because she genuinely doesn’t want to be there, but Low and Raven look as if they died and went to best friendheaven.
Axel and I stare down Levi a moment. We’ve known him as a married man before. It’s just that he’s never quite had thisglow.
“Someone had a good time.” Ax bounces his brows. “I’m not a chick. I don’t wantdetails.”
“You’re not getting them either.” Levi smacks him over his arm. “You’re up, buddy. Let me know when and where, and Low and I will help fill in whatever blanks you need usto.”
“Thanks, man. Lex is handling everything. I’m sure she’ll let us both in on the detailssoon.”
We share a quick laugh on Lex’s behalf. At the end of the day, Lex is a cool chick with balls that might be a little bit bigger thanAxel’s.
“How about you?” Levi narrows those dark brows into a solid line as if he might be pissed. “When did you run off and get agirlfriend?”
“Not true.” I lift my hands in surrender. “No girlfriend here, Iswear.”
Levi shakes his head. That look on his face lets me know he’s not buying it. “Me thinks he protests too much. Who is she?” He nods over toAx.
“Your sister.” Axel is apparently overeager to set my neck on the choppingblock.
“What?” Levi socks me on the arm so hard I can feel the bruise forming before his fist leaves the premises. “Tell me it’s not so if you want tolive.”
“You know it’s not so.” I offer up a dirty look. “She’s just staying at my place. She’s freaking homeless. I couldn’t let her live on the street. And yourmother—”
He shakes his head and waves me off. “Never mind. I know my mother all too well. You did the right thing. I know she wouldn’t stay with Chip—not with the whole baby thing. Thanks, man.” He pulls me in. “I really appreciate it. At least this way you can keep an eye on any turkeys that try to follow her home. Some days I feel like that girl needs a homing device. She’s splitting in a thousand different directions. Make sure she gets to bed at a decent hour and remembers to eatbreakfast.”
A part of me wants to laugh, but I know he’s deadserious.
“You bet.” For a moment, I envision myself tucking her in, crawling under the covers right along with her—her glorious body leashed aroundmine.
Levi knocks the back of my knee out with his own. “Tell me the truth. Is she cramping your style? As much as I don’t want her seeing the parade of horrors, I don’t want you to feel you’re missing out because of mysister.”
“What? No.” I close my eyes a minute, and that kiss we shared comes back to me full force. “Actually, I’ve cut back on the nightly mattressromps.”
“Serious?” he balks, and I should probably be insulted by how concerned he looks. “Wait a minute. Are you trying to tell me some poor girl has snagged yourheart?”
“Maybe.” I glance over to Raven without meaning to. Crap. I should probably throw him off before he picks up on something. “Anyway.” I nod to the blonde that’s been trying to dive headfirst into my jeans for the last few weeks. She’s no quitter. I’ll give her that. “That’s her. I’m still crushing from afar, so don’t say anything, but I’ll probably ask her out soon.” I frown because a part of me is afraid this might be true. I should probably throw myself into any chick that walks by just to get my head away from Raven’s lips. I shake my head as if contesting my own thoughts. Raven is too steeped in my bones for me to ever evict from mymind.
“I’m sure you’ll land her soon,” Levi is quick to assure. “In fact, I’ll look into finding Raven a new place to stay. In the meantime, I really appreciateit.”
I give his arm a swat as he takes off for the bar where the girls havecongregated.
“So, when are you going to tell him the truth?” Axel’s gaze remains fixed onLex.
“What truth? That I’m going to fire both you and your futurewife?”
“You can’t fire me.” A shit-eating grin crops up on his face as he stands in front of me blocking the girls from my view. “And you know better than to mess with Lex.” He nods as if the ball is in my court. “You and Raven. You don’t have to pretend around me. I’ve watched you mope after her for the last few weeks. You really need to tone it down if you don’t want to get your balls kicked in by her brothers. Chip might seem docile, but he’ll turn your skull inside out when you’re notlooking.”
A part of me says deny it. “That obvious?” But I go for the truth, and it feels as if I just shed five hundredpounds.
