“WheneverI’m invited,” he said gruffly. He had made a point not to let on just how muchhe enjoyed spending time with the baby, but he had a feeling Kaleb and Zoeyknew just how infatuated he actually was.
“Well…”Zoey said with a smile, glancing back and forth between Kaleb and him.
“Well,what?” Ethan asked as he turned the chair around and straddled it, resting hisforearms on the back and letting his beer bottle dangle from his fingers.
Casual.That’s what he was going for. Never mind the fact that he found himselfwatching the door for Beau to arrive.
“Wewere wondering…”
Again,Zoey let the sentence hang, and Ethan wanted to pull the words out of hermouth, but he could tell she was hesitant.
“Spillit, woman,” Kaleb encouraged her, laughing before downing what was left in hisbeer bottle.
“Wouldyou possibly be up for babysitting?”
Ethanhad to clamp his mouth shut to keep his answer from forming too quickly.Babysit? Really? Did they trust him enough to be left alone with their baby?
Zoeymust’ve taken his lack of response as a negative because her face fell and sheglanced over at Kaleb.
“Sure,”Ethan said, trying to harness his enthusiasm. “When?”
“Iwanted to take her out this weekend,” Kaleb explained. “Saturday night? Justfor a few hours.”
“Countme in,” Ethan said easily, glancing past the two of them to where Beau washeading their way. He tried to act unaffected, but it was harder than hethought it would be. Seeing the man, watching all that power and grace as hemade his way toward him was an intoxicating feeling, more so than if he’dconsumed all the alcohol behind the bar.
“Yay!”Zoey exclaimed. “Thank you!”
Whenshe reached over and kissed him on the cheek, Ethan laughed and then glanced upto see Beau standing just a few feet away.
“Hey,”he greeted Beau, surprising not only himself, but obviously Kaleb and Zoey.
“What’sall the excitement?” Beau asked, glancing between the three of them.
“E’sgonna babysit for us on Saturday,” Zoey explained and then clapped her hands wildly,causing Ethan to laugh again.
“What.The. Fuck?” Zane bellowed, moving close to the table where the three of themwere sitting.
Ethanimmediately got defensive, fully expecting Zane to lay into him after theirlast turbulent conversation at the shop the day before. He prayed that withBeau standing that close, they wouldn’t have it out here and now, but withZane, there was no way to tell what was going to come out of his mouth.
“Didhe just laugh?” Zane asked seriously as he glanced back and forth between Zoey,Kaleb and Beau. “I seriously think he did.” Zane turned to address the bar.“Hey! Hey! Seriously, y’all pay attention here!”
Fuck.
Ethanhated when Zane felt the need to spout off. Although it was something Ethan hadgrown accustomed to, he seriously hated when his younger brother singled himout. It went against everything he was to be called out in public. There was areason he kept his head down and out of the limelight. Being around Zane didn’thelp in that regard.
“EthanWalker does know how to laugh. So, for all of you assholes who said otherwise…you owe me ten bucks.”
Thegroup at the back laughed along with Zane, and even Ethan found himselfgrinning. Granted, he did so behind the lip of his beer bottle, not wanting toencourage Zane any further.
“Fuckingfaggot!”
Thewords came from someone on the far side of the room, but Ethan heard them likethey’d been shouted through a megaphone and apparently so did the rest of thebar.
Thatwasn’t the unsettling part.
Thepart that had Ethan’s heart rate jumping was the sound of chairs scrapingagainst the wood floor, pool sticks being tossed onto the felt table tops, beerbottles slamming down on tables. It all came together as a line of Walkers madea stand and turned to face whoever had spouted the nasty comment.
“Whatthe fuck did you just say?” Sawyer’s deep baritone boomed through the smallbar.
