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Even though they displayed some reluctance, they complied and I blew out a sigh of relief. Jake understood that I didn’t want him to give Chase a hard time. As my gaze shifted between both of them, I couldn’t tell if they had been on the verge of arguing of if they’d sorted out any possible differences.
Gavin raised a thick brow in question and I let him know that everything was okay. This was his job. I’d be furious with Chase and Jake if they got into an altercation here. It would reflect badly on Gavin, so I understood that he was concerned as our friend and, most importantly, as an employee.
Mariska scowled at Jake when we were back at the bar. Jake, however, gave her a quick half-hug and drank some of the beer he’d ordered, while Brianna and Millie talked.
I tightened Chase’s arms around my midriff and swung my gaze to him. “What happened?” I asked him in a barely audible voice.
He skimmed the pad of his finger at the nape of my neck. “He’s looking out for his sister,” he replied, and it made my heart swell for Jake. I knew he didn’t want me to be like Cindy. He’d said that Cindy may have been an innocent, love-struck dummy in the past.
“Hey,” Pierce said to all of us.
We all said hello to him when Jake and he stared at each other.
Pierce brought his hand to his chin and then snapped his fingers. “Did you come for the campus tour I did with Nathalie, one of our admissions counselor?”
“Yup, last fall,” Jake said. “I knew you looked familiar.”
“Are you coming to UM?”
“We both are.” Jake made a gesture between he and Mariska.
Pierce stood next to them and they started asking him the same questions they’d asked me about my first year of college.
An hour later, the big booth had finally been vacated and all of us sat down. Gavin had stopped by during his bathroom break. I’d had half of my second wine cooler.
Brianna stopped laughing with Mariska when Derek and that girl he’d brought here and to the Paloma bar gave her a fake wave as if they were her friends. And since there was only one stool left, Derek sat on it and the girl parked herself on his lap with her legs wound around him. They kissed for minutes. Even if Brianna directed her gaze somewhere else, it was impossible not to notice them. Derek had his shirt unbuttoned lower this time, revealing abnormal-looking muscles saturated in baby oil.
“Is that your ex…Derek?” Joel asked Brianna.
Brianna swigged her piña colada and nodded. I think she was too choked up to say anything.
“He bulked up and now he thinks he’s Rocky,” Pierce said. “You wanna leave, say the word. We can go to my penthouse.”
“It’s fine,” Brianna said. “I am not leaving because of him. We were here first.” Her tone was strong, but the hurt was written all over her face.
Jake braced his arm about her. “Okay, but you can change your mind anytime. It’s understandable that you don’t wanna be subjected to that.”
When Derek and his date weren’t sucking each other’s faces anymore, Millie served them their drinks. In a matter of minutes, Derek stared at our table, and his date didn’t seem to like it one bit. When I looked back at Brianna, she was kissing Jake. Giggling, Mariska shielded the side of her face with her hand and Joel’s eyes danced with rapture as he took in this make-out session. Were Chase and I that bad around our friends? My brother was kissing my friend. Jake had kissed and slept with many girls because he could. Brianna was more than just another girl. And as much as I loved Jake, he didn’t deserve her. Although I was worried about Brianna possibly being clingy with Jake, I couldn’t prevent this from playing out however it was going to.
***
Chase
Me: Come inside. Bri’s ex looks like he’s about to start something.
Gavin: On it.
“At least this phone isn’t giving me problems with sending texts. I couldn’t hear you when you called,” I told Pierce.
“I didn’t call you.” He furrowed his brow. “I called Joel.”
I lifted my eyes from my phone and saw Bri’s ex on his way to our table. We shot up and blocked him from moving past us, but he was still running his mouth. Jake and Joel were standing by the table. The girls looked very annoyed with this guy, but they didn’t look scared at all.
“After all I’ve done for you?” Derek shouted “Waited for you to—”
“I wouldn’t finish that sentence if I were you,” Pierce said.
Wayne, the other full-time bodyguard, restrained the girl this guy was with after she attempted to throw an empty bottle at him. Gavin placed his hands on the dude’s shoulders. Pierce and I followed as Gavin escorted him out of La Floridita. The patrons continued to drink, dance, and watch the TV mounted on the corner of the wall across from the bar.
