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“If you had, I’d be well on my way to alcoholism. Now, last time, go away. I don’t want to see or hear from you again until you sign.”
She must have heeded the hard resolve in his tone because she sighed and walked down to pick up her refill from Jordon then went to a table where Brett recognized one of her new friends.
“And to think I used to like her when you would visit.” Jordon set his whiskey in front of him.
“Yeah, me, too. Now, I can’t wrap my head around what I saw in her.” That disgusted him as much as Gina’s continued obstinance in ending the farce their relationship had become.
A round of applause resonated from the group gathered around the mechanical bull, drawing Brett and Jordon’s gazes. Allie was in full party mode, having gone from line dancing to bull riding. This time, witnessing her stamina and agility as she whooped it up astride the gyrating vault didn’t surprise Brett. Right as she went tumbling to the floor, her face suffused with laughter, the asshole who got rough with her last week reached to assist her, shoving aside the guy she’d been dancing with. She shook her head, ignoring his outstretched hand and getting to her feet on her own. Shunning the jerk, she turned to her dance partner only to have the belligerent asshole shove between them.
Swearing as he saw her go toe-to-toe with her rude pursuer, Brett started to head that way but paused when he noticed Eric was already on the problem. He tamped down the urge to storm across the room and vent the vibrating rage consuming him, wondering what the hell was wrong with him. He’d wanted her to set her sights on someone else. As Eric none too gently escorted her antagonist out and Allie took the other guy’s hand with a grateful smile, it appeared she’d done just that.
Brett swore again, this time at the conflicting emotions a slip of a girl managed to stir up when he’d always prided himself on staying calm, cool, and collected. Slade and Reed arrived to take the now vacant seats on either side of him, and he settled back down on the stool, turning his back on Allie and striving to get himself under control.
“Admit it, bro. You’re attracted, whether you like it or not,” Slade said, nodding his thanks as Jordon popped the caps on two brews for him and Reed.
Reed grunted and took a swig before putting in his two cents. “He’d rather wallow in misery over the mistake he made marrying that shallow gold digger.”
So much for hoping they didn’t witness his tense reaction to that scene. “Like usual, both of you are full of it.” Brett kicked back his whiskey, the burn distracting him from the tautness that had gripped him the moment he saw Allie again. Every time he’d dived into the pie she brought him, he remembered the disappointment etched on her face when she left that day, and the guilt returned to bug the crap out of him. Now, maybe he could finish the last of it tonight without feeling bad.
“When I get an itch, I scratch it and it goes away.”
Brett glared at Slade. “Our father lusted after the young ones. I’m not about to take a page out of his little black book.”
Chuckling, Reed looked around him toward Slade. “The first time she was here she was celebrating her twenty-eighth birthday.” He elbowed Brett and smirked. “Maybe you should have finished your scene with Kat two weeks ago. You might not be so hung up on someone you say isn’t your type and use her age as an excuse.”
“Twelve years is a big gap...”
“Eleven,” Slade interrupted. “You’re not forty yet.”
“Close enough,” he retorted. “And look at her. The jewelry, clothes, and party girl antics – none of that has ever appealed to me.”
Reed shook his head, as if he didn’t understand Brett. “Yeah, he prefers prim and proper in public, like Gina, and submissive to the bone when naked.”
“Who does?” Jordon asked Reed, joining them again.
“Big brother here.” Reed jerked a thumb toward Brett.
Jordon nodded, glancing at Allie who was coming up to the bar at the other end. “Is she still trying to get your attention? I haven’t noticed her flirting with you tonight.”
“She hasn’t.”And that is not bothering me.Brett refused to believe otherwise and blamed his annoyance with Gina for the unaccustomed disappointment plaguing him since he’d come in and seen Allie’s interest had switched to someone else. “Change the subject, or I’m dumping all three of you.”
One thing about his brothers and Jordon – they realized and heeded when to back off on their ribbing.
“Okay, several upstairs members are wanting to have a play party, and it’s been a while,” Reed stated. “Since you’ve finally decided your marriage is over and you don’t have to remain faithful waiting month after month for her to finalize the divorce to get back into the game, what do you say?”
That might be just what Brett needed to delegate Allie into the acquaintance column and let Gina know he wasn’t going to continue putting his life on hold waiting on her. “We can do that, but schedule it for after the Fourth. We have too much to do in the next two weeks planning that.”
Slade downed the last of his beer and handed the empty to Jordon. “I’ll help with both, but my date just came in and we’re headed upstairs now. Catch you later.”
“The Schmidts and Jeff and Tammy are already there, if you think you’re escaping socializing,” Reed warned him.
Slade preferred small groups and focusing on whoever he hooked up with, usually Deb, to spending time in friendly conversation. He got on well with their hired hands, and the three of them were tight, but other than Jordon, Brett’s youngest brother didn’t cultivate friendships.
Slade stood with a shrug. “They won’t bother us. Deb likes an audience.”
Brett frowned as Slade slipped out with Deb, one of their regular members. They both lived with baggage that made them good for each other for an occasional get-together, but not for anything serious. Gina and her friend left right behind them, her exit subduing the annoyance gripping him from her presence. The nagging urge to see what Allie was up to returned, and, instead of fighting it, he caved to the temptation and spotted her at a table with her friends, still letting her dance partner keep her company.
Now that both women were leaving him alone, why wasn’t he in a better mood?
