Page 42
Chapter Thirteen
Rowan
The door to the club opens and “Shameless” by Camila Cabello rushes out to greet us as I turn to look at Tate and the other girls with a smile. A few of the guys make a noise of annoyance behind us as we all walk into the club but we ignore them, too excited to be bothered by their irritation. My giddiness with going out and having a good time tonight is also the reason I was easily able to brush off my brother’s bitch fit when he saw the little gold dress I have on. The boy really should have learned by now that he can’t tell me what to do. Butterflies flutter around in my belly as we stop just inside the door and my gaze is drawn to the middle of the room where people are dancing together, moving to the beat as it pulses through the club. I’m eager to get out there and let loose.
Something brushes against the back of my hand and I glance to my other side as Travis drags his knuckles across my skin and peeks down at me with a grin, forcing one to my lips as our eyes meet. A shiver races down my spine at the heat in his eyes and my mind flips to the next time I can get him alone. God, there is something so damn exciting about our little secret but there are times, like tonight, where I just want to hold his hand or dance with him without the rest of the world breathing down on us. It would be amazing if he and I could just be out in the open about our casual, no strings attached relationship without the rest of the club lobbing their expectations at the two of us and ruining it.
“Come with me,” Tate instructs, hooking her arm through mine as she starts dragging me away from the group. “I’m buying you a drink.”
“Goddamn it, Tate!” Lincoln yells and she turns back to him with a look that I can only imagine makes him think twice about saying anything. Or maybe not. I’m halfway convinced that the thing my brother loves most is riling his wife up.
“What?”
He sighs. “Y’all promised to stay together.”
“Look,” she shoots back, grabbing my hand with hers and holding it in the air. “I have my buddy, my taser, and my gun. Are we allowed to go to the bar?”
Stepping toward us, he nods. “If I come with you.”
“Fine, but stay the hell back. We need to have girl talk,” she hisses, turning before he has a chance to reply and dragging me through the crowd. Lincoln makes a noise of frustration as he trails after us and I shake my head. I know we promised the boys we would all stay with them but if anyone can protect me from Warren or whoever the hell is after us, it’s Tate. She’d probably grab him by the balls and eviscerate him right in the middle of this club without a second thought.
“What can I get you, ladies?” the bartender asks, a flirty smile on his face before his gaze flicks to the behemoth behind us. Glancing back at my big brother, I roll my eyes and laugh. He has his large arms crossed over his chest and he’s glaring daggers at the bartender, who has taken a step back.
“I’ll just get a water,” Tate says before turning to look at me. “What do you want? It’s my treat tonight.”
I look up at the bartender and smile, hoping to make him feel a little more at ease. “A whiskey, please. Neat.”
Nodding, he walks down the bar to begin making our drinks and Tate turns to look at her husband with a sigh.
“I thought I told you to stay back so we could have girl talk.”
He scowls. “What the hell do you need to talk about that you can’t say in front of me?”
“Lincoln… baby,” she says, patting his arm as she shakes her head and fights back a smile. “There are literally not enough hours in a day to answer that question.”
“What the fuck ever,” he growls, stomping a few feet away from us and slipping onto a bar stool. Tate rolls her eyes and nudges me before pointing to a couple of open stools a few feet in the opposite direction. I nod, fighting back a giggle at how much she likes to antagonize him. Some people might see it as mean but it’s exactly what he needs because Tate forces him out of that provider slash protector mode he fell into when our dad died. Granted, that was exactly what my mom, Nora, and I needed at the time but for so long, I watched my brother live for everyone around him. He never did anything to make himself happy until the day he left Alaska and he was miserable. Not that he would ever admit it but I could see it and now that Tate has come into his life, I can see the weight it has lifted off of his shoulders. And like I said, he gives as good as he gets with her.
“So,” Tate muses as we sit down and the bartender sets our drinks in front of us. “What’s going on with you?”
I shake my head. “Nothing.”
“What about Ash? Has he called again?”
“Yeah, he calls at least once a day still,” I tell her, taking a sip of my drink and enjoying the burn as it blazes a path down my throat. It’s irritating as hell that Ash still hasn’t gotten a clue but I have to believe that he’ll figure out that it really is over soon enough and then the calls will stop.
“That offer to go up to Alaska is still on the table.”
I laugh. “Thanks, but I don’t think anything that drastic is required. He’ll figure it out soon enough.”
“Okay. If you say so,” she muses, turning to me with narrowed eyes and my belly does a little flip. “Anything new to report?”
Her look says it all. She knows something and she’s trying to get me to tell her about it before she has to tell me she knows. I can only think of one secret she could be hinting at but Travis and I swore we would keep our little fling under wraps so I shake my head and look away as I take another sip of my drink.
“Nope.”
“Hmm… so then, when I saw Streak press you up against a wall in the hallway and kiss you like he was about to take his last breath, that was… nothing?”
I shrug, my cheeks burning as I think about the kiss she witnessed. “It’s casual.”
