“And then the lass gave her tips on how ta adjust her chokehold ta make it more effective,” Quinn said, making Declean, who Quinn had felt the need to go get so that he could recount the tale of what happened at the fountain in front of Shayne, laugh his ass off.
“And then what happened?” Aidan, who’d left Finn to watch over both couples, asked with a heartfelt sigh, drawing her attention to find him standing behind the counter of the small pizza shop, leaning over the counter with his chin propped up on his fists.
“She broke out her phone and tried ta record it,” Quinn said, chuckling, his eyes lit up with humor as Ashlyn reached up andrubbed the bridge of her nose to cover her wince. “He looks like he needs an exorcism in the video.”
“Didn’t know that ye couldn’t record us, did ye, lass?” Declean asked, chuckling as she risked a glance to find Shayne’s eyes narrowing dangerously on her.
“And then what happened?” Aidan asked on a heartfelt sigh, drawing her attention as one of the employees behind the counter tossed a pair of oven mitts in his direction, the move sending the oven mitts flying through his body and landing on the counter.
“The lass tried ta help,” Quinn said as Ashlyn risked a glance to find Shayne finishing off the last bite of pizza as his eyes remained locked on her.
“In her defense, she didn’t know that dumping a bucket on the lass would go straight through her,” Quinn said as Ashlyn took in the wet shirt still clinging to Shayne and decided that perhaps this would be a good time to change the subject, mostly because he was still glaring.
“So, you grew up in Ireland, what was that like?” Ashlyn asked as she reached for her Coke only to end up biting back a grumble when Shayne grabbed it before she could and finished it off, all while glaring at her.
When he was done, Shayne stood up and, after sending her one last glare, he pulled out his wallet and dropped a twenty-dollar bill on the table before he reached for her hand and-
“We’ll pray for ye, lass,” Quinn said, shooting her a wink that she didn’t exactly find comforting as she found herself being led back outside and across the street to the trail in the woods that would take them back to the hotel.
Without a word, Shayne led her to the bench by the walkway, released her hand and waited as she used the bench as a stepping stool to climb onto his back. Once she had her arms and legs wrapped around him, Shayne started making his way backto the hotel while she hung there, unable to help but notice that a muscle in his jaw was clenching in time with his steps.
“How long do you think you’ll manage to stay mad at me?” Ashlyn asked, adjusting her hold as she turned her head so that she could watch him.
“For eternity,” Shayne bit out, which she decided to take as progress.
“Should I point out that you’ve never been able to stay mad at me for long?” Ashlyn asked as she remembered all the times that Lasarín and Aileen had managed to piss him off only to have him cave as soon as they broke out a sheepish smile.
Deciding to see if it still worked, Ashlyn cleared her throat to get his attention and slapped a sheepish smile on her face when he turned his head and-
“God, ye’re a pain in my ass,” Shayne said, sighing heavily even as he turned his head so that he could kiss her cheek.
“What if I promised to make it up to you?” Ashlyn asked as she debated her options, which, given how late it was, wasn’t much. She could always-
“We can flash ye back ta the hotel if ye’d like, lass,” Declean said as he suddenly appeared by their side, making her swallow hard as she thought about what happened with the wine tasting when she agreed to let them flash her there, mostly because it sounded cool to be able to pop in and out of places in the blink of an eye.
It wasn’t.
Not at all.
“I’m good,” Ashlyn said even as she tightened her hold around Shayne, making the sick bastard, who’d been taunting her ever since the wine tasting, chuckle before he suddenly disappeared.
“I really hate your brothers,” Ashlyn mumbled sadly.
“In their defense, lass, they did warn ye that it would take several flashes along the way ta get us there and back,” Shayne said as he adjusted his hold on her legs.
“Twenty goddamn times,” Ashlyn bit out as she did her best to forget what happened after the first flash. She never should have turned her back on them after the second, and after the third...
She should have made a run for it, but at that point, her legs had stopped working and she’d been reduced to curling up in the fetal position.
“Now, lass, ye were in no position to drive with all that alcohol in yer system,” Shayne pointed out.
“That’s why I asked you to drive,” Ashlyn reminded him as they made their way around a winding section of the dimly lit path.
“I don’t think that would have ended well, lass, with me not having a valid driver’s license and all,” Shayne said, sighing heavily as though she really should have known that.
“You have a driver’s license,” Ashlyn reminded him.
“It’s fake, lass,” Shayne said in a pitying tone. “Try ta keep up.”
