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Ryan’s gaze flicks to something behind me and when he focuses on me again, his eyes are filled with disgust. “It looked like a whole lot more than talking.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask, shaking my head.
“What do you think you’re doing flirting with another guy?”
I shake my head again. “Ryan, I wasn’t flirting with him.”
“Don’t you dare lie to me. Are you trying to embarrass me? You’re mad that I wanted to come out tonight so you thought you’d make me look like an idiot in front of my friends?”
My gaze flicks over to the pool tables where his friends are all watching us with interest and I fight the urge to roll my eyes. As I focus back on Ryan, he takes a step toward me and my muscles tense.
“I swear, I wasn’t flirting with him.”
His lip pulls back in a sneer and he takes another step toward me, grabbing my face in his hands. “What did I say about lying to me?”
“Get your fucking hands off her!” Trey yells from behind the bar and the bar noise dies down as I feel every pair of eyes turn in our direction. Ryan releases me and turns a glare on my brother.
“This isn’t any of your concern.”
“Like hell it isn’t,” Trey challenges but Ryan ignores him, turning back to me with a look in his eyes that scares me.
“Go home,” he orders and I nod immediately. I don’t want to be here anymore anyway. Every person in the bar is staring at us like something out of a movie and I can’t stop questioning every move I made. Did I take it too far? Was I flirting with Drew? Maybe it was inappropriate of me to be hugging another guy.
“Trey, can you give me a ride home?” I ask as he steps out from behind the bar. His gaze is trained on Ryan but he turns to me for a moment and nods.
“Sure. Just let me tell Moe.”
Trey jogs off to let Moe know what’s going on and Ryan pins me with a stare.
“See you at home,” he says and it feels more like a threat than anything else but I nod. With one last look, he turns and walks back over to his friends.
“Are you okay, Emma?” Drew asks, stepping up next to me and I jump. I’d forgotten that he was still here and I can feel Ryan’s gaze on me as I take a step back from him.
“Yeah. I’m really sorry, Drew, but I have to go,” I say and the look of concern on his face kills me. He’s a nice guy and I feel terrible for dragging him into this mess.
“No worries, I understand. We’ll just have to grab that beer another time.”
Biting my lip, I shake my head. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea. It was nice to see you again, though.”
He looks like he wants to say something else but he’s interrupted by Trey approaching us with his keys in his hand.
“Ready to go?” he asks and I nod, flicking one last glance at Drew as Trey slings his arm over my shoulder and starts leading me out of the bar.
“You okay?” Trey asks as soon as we’re outside, turning me to face him so he can examine my face. I bat his hands away and stare at the ground.
“I’m fine, Trey. Just take me home, please.”
“No way in hell,” he scoffs, pointing to the staircase on the side of the bar that leads to his apartment. “You’re staying with me tonight.”
I shake my head. “I just want to go home.”
“I’m not letting that guy get you alone tonight – especially after he spends the next few hours drinking,” he growls. I shake my head again, ready to just be home. The embarrassment of the whole situation is crashing down on me and I feel so stupid for flirting with someone. How the hell did I think it would turn out?
“When he gets home, I’ll apologize and it will all be okay.”
Trey’s eyes widen and he stares at me like I’ve lost my mind. “You don’t have a single thing to apologize for.”
“I shouldn’t have been flirting,” I state and brush past him to his car, yanking the passenger door open and slipping inside. He stares at me for a moment before he hangs his head and walks over to the driver’s side.
