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“What is going on?” I jerked my head toward Brock’s voice, and noticed two things. One, was that he looked and sounded very angry. And two, that he was standing next to his brother, across from me and my sister, and that his arms were crossed over his chest.
“Just a misunderstanding,” Abigail started to say in my defense.
“Miss Priss here accused Brendan of cheating on her sister with me, calling him a hussy, and breaking into our time.” This came from the blonde who was peeking around Brendan’s shoulder, but all she got for her effort was a glare from all four of us.
“You calling my brother out in the middle of the bar?” Brock asked, his tone and facial expression unlike anything I’d ever seen.
It was so disturbing that I lost my words again, and just stood there, staring at him in shock.
“No big deal, bro,” Brendan said, picking up the vibes coming off of his brother. “As Abigail said, just a misunderstanding. Victoria obviously thought there was more between her sister and I than there was.” This he said with a deliberate look at Abigail, and I saw her flinch next to me.
“Hey,” I said, finding my words again. “That may be the way you treat other girls, but Abigail deserves better…”
“Stop,” Brock said sternly, before I could finish my defense of my sister’s honor. “Look, Victoria, I may think it’s cute when you act all bitchy and righteous with me, but I will not have you speaking to my brothers that way. What Brendan does with the women in his life is his business, not yours, and if your sister got her emotions tangled up and thought there was more there than there was, well, I’m sorry to say, that’s her problem.”
My mouth dropped open, my back stiffened, and suddenly, the tequila that had made me feel so wonderful a few moments ago was threatening to rip a hole in my stomach. I looked around, noticing that Sasha, Shelly, Gaby, and Brady had all joined the party, and were looking at me with faces full of pity, and I suddenly had to get out of there as fast as possible.
“Abigail, take me home?” I asked my sister, who nodded swiftly, then took my hand and led me out of the bar. By the time we reached the parking lot, we were practically running, and it wasn’t until I was belted in to her car, and we were driving away, that I noticed that we were both crying.
Chapter 19 ~ Brock
“What the fuck, bro?” Brady said as he pushed his way through the girls, who were all glaring at me.
“I thought you’d left,” I said absently, everything that had happened in the last five minutes beginning to penetrate.
I lifted my hand to get the bartender’s attention and said, “Maker’s on the rocks,” then turned back to my brother.
“I was going to, then I heard yelling and looked over to see a standoff between you two and your girlfriend,” Brady replied. “Don’t you think you were kind of harsh?”
“Yeah, Brock,” Sasha added, hands on her hips.
I turned from Brady to look at the girls, and felt a slash across my heart at the looks of disappointment on Gaby and Shelly’s faces.
“Brock,” the bartender called, indicating my whiskey was ready. I reached over to grab it, brushing Brendan’s arm as I did.
He caught my wrist before I could pull back, looked me in the eye, and said, “I get that you were pissed on my behalf, but you were hard on her. She was defending her sister, the same way that you were defending me. You need to see that.”
My gut clenched as his words soaked in, and I took a sip of my whiskey to try and relieve the burning in my throat.
“Fuck … I was outta line,” I said, trying not to feel like a total shit when every single one of them nodded at me, including the busty blonde Brendan had been pawing at the bar.
I was usually a pretty mellow guy, but nothing got me riled up like someone attacking my family. Verbally or physically. It was a knee-jerk reaction, and I hated that I’d spoken to Victoria that way.
I looked back at Brendan and nodded.
“She was right. You are a hussy,” I said, causing everyone to chuckle, breaking up the mood a bit.
“Go after her,” Brady said. “Explain that you were both coming from the same place. She’ll get it.”
I nodded at Brady, handed my whiskey to Brendan, then took off out back to where my bike was parked.
I figured she’d have Abigail take her to home, so I took off in that direction, hoping she’d at least let me in and hear me out. I knew she understood how important my brothers were to me. I just hoped she didn’t look at it as me taking Brendan’s side over hers. Even though that’s exactly what I’d done.
I was picturing the look of hurt that had settled on Victoria’s face when I’d called her bitchy and righteous, and I was so caught up in feeling the guilt of putting it there, I barely registered the glaring headlights that seemed to come out of nowhere.
As my wheels went out from under me, and I soared through the air, my last thought was of Victoria … then I thought of nothing at all.
Chapter 20 ~ Victoria
