AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Dave nods to his beer on the table. “Having a drink.”
“When did you get here?” I ask.
“About an hour ago. Flight was awesome, though I had a two-hour layover in London. But the first-class lounge was a great respite. I ate there, and I’m still full. When I arrived, I saw Maddie walking to the elevator, and she very sweetly agreed to have a cocktail with me.”
“You call that a cocktail?” I glance at his beer and laugh.
“I call it a Scottish ale, lassie,” Dave says in a really bad brogue, which makes Maddie erupt in laughter and Jesse give her an evil eye.
Old Jesse is back.
But that’s okay. I love both Jesses. I love everything about each of them.
“So Mads…” I turn to my friend. “How was your evening?”
“Good. I had dinner with Brock and Rory, and they went straight up to their room afterward, but I decided to hang out down here for a while. I was just about to call it a night when Dave strode through the doors.”
“How convenient,” Jesse says dryly.
I resist an eye roll. I love the man, but really? They’re having a drink. One drink.
On the other hand…Jesse and I fell for each other, and we didn’t even have a date beforehand.
I’ve seen a certain chemistry between Maddie and Dave at Murphy’s bar back home. Dave is a decent pool player, but he’s the worst in our family. He’s also a big flirt—he’s one of the three original Rake-a-teers, of course—which is often why his pool game sucks. He’s too busy charming the ladies, and Maddie’s usually among them.
“Have you checked in to your room yet?” I ask.
“Yeah. I checked in online, dumped my bags there, and came right back down to meet Maddie.”
“So they didn’t lose your luggage.” From Jesse.
Still a sore spot, even though it arrived the next day.
To be fair, the trip didn’t start out great for Jesse. He was the only one of our party stuck in an uncomfortable coach seat. Not a big deal for some, but he’s tall with superlong legs, so it must have been uncomfortable. Then the airline lost his luggage. It was still in Denver. He struggled with awful jet lag, but Rory got him through it, and their first concert was a massive success. But then Dragon got high with two groupies and wound up OD’ing. Jesse just found out today that Dragon won’t be returning for the rest of the tour. He’s going home and entering rehab.
So yeah… The trip had a rough start for Jesse.
But he and I are together now.
Of course, that’s also bugging him because one, he thinks I’m too young to commit, and two, our career paths seem at odds.
I’m a romantic at heart. I think true love can conquer any conflict.
I guess we’ll see.
As far as I’m concerned, Dave being here is a plus. He can hang with Maddie and give Jesse and me more alone time together.
She may be thinking the same thing, according to the radiant glow on her face and in her dark eyes.
I was hoping Jesse and I could go straight back to his room, but his rigid stance indicates he’s not going anywhere until he sees his youngest sister safely to bed.
“So you came here,” I say, “but we’re leaving tomorrow to go to Glasgow.”
Dave takes a sip of his beer and nods. “I know. I got the whole itinerary from Brock before you guys left. He wanted someone in the States to know where you were at all times in case of an emergency.”
“Then who’s the emergency contact now?” Jesse asks pointedly.
“It was going to be Dale.” Dave takes another drink. “But when I tried to give him the info, he told me that he and Ashley were heading to London to hang with Donny and Callie. So I gave Henry and Brad all the info before I left.”
