Jesse rolls his eyes at me. Once the guys are out on the deck, he pulls me aside.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, Rory, but stop it right now.”
“What? He’s good-looking.”
“Hey, Dragon’s my buddy, my bandmate. That doesn’t mean I want one of my sisters with him.”
“I don’t need your protection, Jess.”
“No, you don’t. Not when we’re talking about any normal guy. Or woman, for that matter. Dragon’s different. He’s got a dark side, Ror. A really dark side.”
“Maybe that’s what I’m looking for.”
“Look, you’re on the rebound. I get that. And Dragon… Well, he doesn’t do anything for me, but the chicks seem to dig him.”
“I’m not Maddie, Jesse. I’m twenty-eight years old, and I know how to handle myself.”
He holds his hands up in mock surrender. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
We join the others on the deck, where Cage has opened a sixpack of Fat Tires. He hands me one after opening it.
The condensation swirls up in a cloud of mist, as if a genie is magically rising from a bottle.
I take a deep sip.
Who the hell needs Brock Steel anyway?
Then…
“Shit,” I say.
“What?” Jesse asks.
“I’ll be right back.”
I go inside, head to the bathroom this time, deliberately not looking in the mirror. I hastily pour the beer into the sink.
What the hell am I thinking?
I already thought of this before, when I was heading into town to Murphy’s. If there’s even a chance I might be pregnant, I can’t drink.
And I can’t be trying to seduce Dragon Locke either.
Brock Steel came inside me tonight. To try to go to bed with someone else within a couple of hours of that?
Pretty darned icky.
And it’s not me. Not at all, no matter how angry I am at Brock.
Do I go back out? Get a Diet Coke and say I finished my beer inside?
Or do I just go to freaking bed?
I toss the empty bottle in the wastebasket, leave the bathroom, and head back into the hallway—
“Rory.” Dragon’s deep voice again.
“Hey.”
“You’re coming back out, I hope.”
“Probably not. I finished my beer. I’m pretty exhausted.”
“It’s ten thirty.”
“Yeah, but I just remembered I have an early piano lesson in the morning.”
“Thought you wanted to get out of here.” His gaze sears into mine, nearly weakening my knees. Not like Brock, but it’s nice I can still respond to someone else.
I feign a yawn. “Change of heart. I’m just too tired. Maybe another time.”
“Suit yourself,” he says. “I’ll miss you.”
I lift my eyebrows. He’ll miss me?
I smile. A big wide smile. “Well, I wouldn’t want you distressed about it. Let me get a Diet Coke, and I’ll be right back out.”
Dragon gives me a half smile. The man is sexy, that’s for sure.
“Sounds good.” He saunters away.
Chapter Forty-Two
Brock
I lose count of how many shots of tequila I take. It’s not like me to drink like this. I never do shots.
But here’s the thing. I may have gotten a woman pregnant tonight, and when it comes right down to it, the thought doesn’t make me angry or frightened.
The thought makes me feel…kind of good.
I’m not in love with Rory Pike. But I am feeling things. Things I don’t understand. Things I don’t really want to understand at this point in my life.
She’s on the rebound, and I love helping a woman on the rebound. I just didn’t expect it to be so…consuming. It never has been before.
And I certainly didn’t expect to get a kid out of it.
I blamed her. I blamed her for not reminding me about the condom. But it’s my fault. No one’s fault but my own. I didn’t think about the condom because I was so distraught and because I wanted her so badly.
My God, she is beautiful.
And giving and comforting.
She let me munch on her breasts tonight as if they were candy bars.
She let me take from her, and she was willing to give.
And now she’s gone.
I should call her. Apologize. No, I’ll go over there.
Except it’s close to eleven o’clock, and I’ve had way too many shots to get behind a wheel.
Phone call it is, then.
“Hello,” she says. Her tone is noncommittal.
“Rory, it’s me.”
I concentrate, try not to slur my words.
“What is it?”
“I’m…”
Sorry. I’m so sorry.
“…drunk,” is the word that comes out.
“Great.”
“I need you.”
“What you need, Brock, is a time-out. Maybe a good old-fashioned spanking. You’re acting like a child.”
She’s not wrong.
“I’m drinking. So much is going on.”
“And you think I care about this because…”
“I don’t think anything, Rory. I just wish I had handled things differently.”
“Is this what passes as an apology in your mind?”
God, I’m fucking this up. Why did I call her? Why did I drink seven shots of tequila?
“I…”
I drop my phone as I puke into the kitchen sink.
“For God’s sake,” I say.
At least it all got in the sink, and I don’t have to clean it up. That’s what the garbage disposal is for.