“You butt dial him and he charges right over? How did he know you were here?” Madison whispered.
“He tracked my phone,” Eve whispered back.
“It’s a good thing he’s your brother and not your boyfriend, or that would be creepy,” Madison grumbled.
“Still creepy,” Livvy remarked, trying to tamp down the sinking sense of doom. “Are we going to pretend we’re not here, because there’s only two rooms for him to check before he finds you.”
Eve groaned again, and suddenly Nicholas stood in the doorway, his big body filling the space. He wore dark jeans and a black T-shirt, a sprinkling of rain dusting his shoulders.
Damn it. Livvy was pretty sure the drizzling had left her hair messy and flat. How did he look so good?
His stride arrested as his gaze landed on her, but he didn’t look completely shocked. His brows knitted as he took in Eve lying on the bed. “What happened?” he barked out.
Eve draped her arm over her eyes. “Nothing,” she mumbled.
“You look terrible,” Nicholas said bluntly. “Are you sick?”
“I drank a little too much, okay?”
Nicholas drew back. “You drank? You don’t drink.”
“Clearly she does,” Livvy interjected, somethingabout Nicholas’s overprotective scowl rubbing her the wrong way.
He turned that scowl on her, and a memory pinged in the back of her mind. Paul, hands on his hips, glaring at Nicholas after he’d asked her out on a date.You better treat my sister right, asshole.
“Why are you here?”
Her lip curled as his autocratic tone riled up every defensive, contrary cell of her body. “I happened to be at the bar where Eve was,” she answered, as pleasantly as possible. “Not that it’s any of your business.”
“Bar?” Nicholas’s gaze cut back to Eve, and he strode to the bed. “You don’t go to bars.”
“Zero out of two,” Livvy said caustically, perfectly fine with having Nicholas’s attention on growling at her instead of browbeating his sister. “You’re not doing so hot tonight.”
Nicholas ran his hand clumsily over Eve’s hair until she weakly swatted his hand away. “I’m sorry to have bothered you,” Eve mumbled. “But I really am fine.”
“That’s what brothers are for,” Livvy said. “To be bothered. In fact, you should bother him more. I’ll go get some vodka.”
The siblings ignored her. “You don’t look good. You should be at the hospital.”
Madison cleared her throat. “I’ll keep an eye on her, Nicholas.”
His smile was more like an impatient baring of teeth. “I’m sorry, Madison. When did you graduate medical school again?”
Whoa. Livvy raised her eyebrows, insulted on the younger woman’s behalf. Snippiness wasn’t something that looked good on anyone, but it was especially weird for generally calm Nicholas.
Madison looked amused instead of pissed off. “No med school for me, but I’ve already taken and passed Drunk Friends 101 with flying colors, so I think I can handle things tonight.”
Nicholas bent and peered into Eve’s eyes. “You could have alcohol poisoning. We should go to the emergency room.”
Livvy straightened, pulling away from the wall. “Let’s go, big guy. It’s time for us to let Eve get some rest.”
“I—”
“Please, Nicholas.” Eve turned her face away, the curve of her neck fragile and birdlike. “I’m tired, and my head hurts. I’ll talk to you in the morning.”
He hesitated, but her plea must have convinced him. “Fine.” He bent down and pressed a kiss to Eve’s forehead, then walked to the door, his reluctance obvious in every step he took.
Livvy heard Madison whisper something to Eve that sounded like “I like that chick,” but she didn’t hear Eve’s response. The poor girl must be having palpitations at the thought of her and Nicholas being alone together.
