Coming to Party Glowers wasn’t exactly what I had in mind when we decided to get food. The club, previously owned by my father, and currently owned by, well, me, has not been one of my party spots lately.
I guess it pisses me off that it was used as a coverup for a lot of illegal shit that Ellie and I had no clue about. We brought our friends here, and half of Ellington’s campus comes here to get shitfaced.
Knowing that we might have all been in danger and my father never said anything sends a ragethrough my body.
My father was a decent man, as far as we knew growing up. We never had any reason to believe he was doing anything nefarious behind our backs. Mom never seemed to ask questions either, so there was nothing that set off alarms.
Sure, we grew up wealthy, just as wealthy as Lainey’s family, if not wealthier. Ellie and I knew our father owned several night clubs and other various businesses, so we assumed all of his money came from those.
I don’t think either of us expected to find out that a lot of that money was coming from selling drugs and other things.
Since he lost all of his control over the club, I’ve turned it around a lot, into something legit. I’ve asked Ellie for a lot of help in remodelling ideas and such, and she’s really enjoyed having something to do.
We have people here all the time to do the hands-on work, and we kept most of the employees that previously worked here since they knew the club better than we did.
I don’t feel as guilty bringing my friends here anymore since we’ve cleaned it up, and I don’t have any concerns about dad trying to get it back since he’s spending a long while in prison.
I think it’s been hard for my mom, not having him at the house and us being away at school. She’s been putting on a brave face, and she hasn’t really complained, but I know she’s lonely.
Mom doesn’t usually show her feelings, which is probably where I get it. Ellie wears her feelings on her sleeve, and you’ll always know when she isn’t happy. Me? You wouldn’t know if I was dying inside. I’ve never been one for sharing feelings, which might explain why I’ve never had an actual girlfriend.
The thought of telling a girl my deep, dark secrets makes me physically cringe. I can’t imagine someone knowing so much about me.
“What can I get you?” Sherry, one of the original bartenders at the club asks me with a sexy smirk. Sherry is attractive, with big tits and blazing red hair that falls down her back. The small black top she’s wearing shows off the ample amount of cleavage she has, and my eyes automatically move in that direction before moving back up to her face.
“Whiskey, please Sherry,” I say, giving her a wink.
“You got it,” she replies. I watch as she turns around and walks away to make my drink.
“Hey,” Ryker’s familiar voice rings through the loud music blasting through the club. He leans next to me against the bar, watching the table that consists of his fiancée and the rest of friends.
Logan brought his new girl, Charlie, who looks completely out of her element. I feel kind of bad for the girl, honestly. She looks like she’s going to cry.
I’m happy for Logan though. Charlie seems like a nice enough girl, and his ex was a bitch. They’d been together forever, and she cheated on him with Ashton fucking Davis. Ashton was a prick who messed with Gwen last year, and clearly didn’t know when to quit.
Ryker clears his throat as Sherry sets my drink down on the counter.
“Anything for you, hun?” she asks Ryker.
“Yeah, I’ll take a whiskey, too. Thanks,” he tells Sherry who smiles and walks away once again.
His gaze moves back to the table where the girls are laughing at something that Mason probably said. He watches Gwen like he doesn’t want to miss any of her movements, and I catch myself doing the same as I watch Lainey take a sip of her drink.
“I can’t believe my wedding is two weeks away,” Ryker shakes his head in disbelief.
“I can’t believe you’re getting married,” I tell him, taking a sip of my whiskey and enjoying the feel of it going down. “I never thought I’d see the day.”
Ryker scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning his back on the bar. Keeping his eyes trained on his girl, he smirks.
“Neither did I. But Gwen kind of changed everything I ever thought I wanted. A good girl will do that to you,” he explains, and I can feel his eyes on me as mine lock on the one girl I shouldn’t fucking want.
If she wasn’t my sister’s best friend, I don’t think I’d feel so dirty for wanting her, but Ellie would kill me if I went after her best friend. Wouldn’t she?
I mean, I’ve never really asked her about it, and to be honest, I’ve never been interested in asking her since I never planned on doing anything. But lately, watching Lainey with other guys has made my stomach churn and has caused an irrational amount of rage to build inside me.
I’ve always been protective of Ellie, even though I know she’s tough and she doesn’t really need my protection. But I’m her brother, and that’s what brothers do. That protectiveness trickled over to Lainey since she was always around.
Back in high school, when Lainey started dating and guys started fawning all over her, that’s when my protectiveness really started.
