Claire
Oh shit!
This was not good.
Seth grabbed me and dragged me towards him, tucking me under his arm as he glared and growled at the disgusting, stinky lump of guy bleeding on the floor at his feet.
“Come on. Let’s get out of here,” I told him, trying to drag him away.
Seth didn’t budge. He was like a hunk of granite standing there completely unmoving. Beside me, Beth tangled her fingers with mine.
“You okay?” she asked in a small voice.
Nodding, I hugged even closer to Seth. Was I okay? Physically yes. Emotionally, not a chance. But I was suddenly very sober.
The bouncer appeared, and I had a feeling things were about to go from bad to worse. Not that I thought that was possible. I hadn’t even seen him coming. After doing my best to clean up, I stepped into the hallway keen to get back to Seth. I was more than ready to dance, and I couldn’t wait to see what sort of moves Seth had up his sleeve. I had a feeling they’d be as down and dirty as he was.
“Who’s responsible for this?” He growled, pointing to the knocked-out arsehole on the floor.
The guy was intimidating as hell. He was at least a foot taller than me and his shoulders just as wide. His black shirt pulled tightly across his chest threating to split the seams.
“I am,” Seth admitted, stepping forward and tucking me behind him.
“No, he’s not. I did it. And I’d do it again. If someone put their hands on your sister, wouldn’t you knock the son of a bitch out?” Isaac challenged.
I hadn’t even seen Isaac appear, but suddenly the narrow hallway had me feeling more than a little claustrophobic.
“He’s lying. It was me.” Now it was Warner’s turn to own up to something he didn’t do.
Not to be outdone, Beth dropped my hand and went toe to toe with the burly bouncer as his eyes bounced from one of us to the other. “It was me. I knocked the prick on his arse.” The bouncer rolled his eyes. Probably not the right thing to do when Beth was full of booze and looking for an argument. “What? You think a girl couldn’t drop him on his arse?” she dared him to answer, pushing her chest out.
“All right. You can all stop trying to cover for me. I did it. Arseholes like him,” Angus offered, kicking the unconscious guy’s boot, rousing him, “think they can do whatever they want and get away with it. Well, not with my friends.”
“All right. All right. All of you. I suggest you all get the hell out of here and go home before I toss you all out.”
I wasn’t about to argue. It sounded like a great idea. Grabbing Seth’s hand, I led him through the crowd and out onto the street. I don’t think I took a breath until I was in Seth’s car, Beth safely in the backseat.
Seth slid behind the wheel and drove home in silence. I looked at Beth and she just offered me a shrug. I had no idea what I was supposed to say. After pulling into the car park, Seth turned off the ignition and jumped out, helping Beth from the backseat before rounding the car and taking my hand leading me towards the elevator.
“I’ll just order an Uber,” Beth offered.
“No. You can crash here tonight,” Seth replied gruffly, leaving no room for arguments.
I looked at Beth and could tell she wasn’t convinced, but like me, thought it was best to keep her mouth shut and just go along with the plan. As soon as we arrived at the door, Seth unlocked it and ushered us inside, going straight for the fridge, snagging himself a beer before handing each of us a bottle of water.
“Drink this otherwise you’re going to regret it in the morning.”
“Thanks.”
“Are you sure you want me to stay? I mean, I can just call a taxi or something.”
I hated that Beth was feeling uncomfortable and the only thing she wanted to do was run, not that I could really blame her. I wasn’t against the idea of bolting out the door right now either.
“Let me grab you something to change into and show you into the spare room,” I offered, leading her down the hall as Seth pushed open the glass doors and stepped out onto the balcony.
I could see him beating himself up and even though I got it, I didn’t like it. He shouldn’t be. He wasn’t the one who’d done anything wrong. I just wished I could make him see that. Leaving him in peace for a moment, I got Beth settled before changing out of my dress into my favourite sleep shorts and one of Seth’s shirts I’d called dibs on a few weeks ago. He was delusional if he thought he was getting it back anytime soon. Or ever. Scrubbing the makeup from my face, I managed to get soap in my eye before I attacked my hair with a brush. For someone who wanted to be a hairdresser, I was awfully rough when it came to my own locks.
I was sitting on the bed rubbing cream into my hands when Seth appeared looking tired, defeated, and deflated.
