The others rose, and so did I. With a gentle tug, Ace pulled me from the room and back out into the bar.
“We knew you in school.” Obviously not listening, Rowan’s cousin stared at me. “Your mother can’t keep her legs closed. Are you a slut like her? Is that what you’re doing here? Going to give these virgins some blow jobs? Let them lick your pussy? How much do women in your family charge for your services?”
“Hey,” Rowan practically roared. “I think he told you not to even look at her. That means keep your mouth shut.”
“I don’t listen to you. Yet. If I ever will.”
What was about to happen? Rowan was tall and fit. I would even bet on him in any regular fight, but there was something about the three guys who inserted themselves into our evening that screamed of aggression. Something about them that wasn’t quite right. My heart raced, and if I thought that he couldn’t simply reach out and grab me if I tried, I might have run. As it was, I wouldn’t leave these guys. Not that I could do much in a fight, but numbers were numbers.
I knew how to throw a punch and land a kick. That was about it, but it was something.
“No, but you listen to me.”
It was like all the air in the room went away. Rowan’s father seemed to appear out of the darkness of a back hallway. He walked toward us, wearing his standard black, his long blond hair falling to his shoulders. He had the same long, lean face of his son and yet none of Rowan’s beauty. His eyes were dark, so brown they almost seemed black.
The cousin stepped back. “Sir, I apologize.”
“You will. Go to my house. Now. All three of you.”
As if on cue, all three of the aggressive men dropped their heads and exited the room. Their movements were almost beautiful in a way I couldn’t explain. Like they could transfix with the way they walked. I blinked.
“Rowan, take this girl home, then go home for the night. All of you. Now.”
They didn’t answer, but perhaps their assent was implied, because he disappeared into the back of the bar just as fast as he’d appeared. Ace let out an audible breath, but it was the only noise I heard in the room.
Caesar shook his head. “Should have known taking her out in public was going to cause a problem.”
“No, we shouldn’t. This is our place.” Griffin stared at the hallway where Rowan’s father had vanished. “No one cared about it but us. Why now? Why are they circling?”
Tanner stormed toward the front door. “You know why. Come on. We have to get her car. And all the fathers will know by now that we’re expected back home. No dawdling.”
Rowan met my gaze. “I’m sorry, Maci. Have to cut this short. We’ll do this again another time.”
I had a feeling we absolutely would not.
The drive to my car was quiet. Rowan was behind the wheel and had insisted I sit up front with him, which put Griffin and Tanner in the back. Caesar and Ace had gone home in Ace’s car, watching us drive away like they wished they were in the car with us. Or maybe I projected. Maybe I just wished they were all with me.
So I could make sure they were all okay. I didn’t know exactly what had happened back there, but I knew they weren’t okay. That they were all shaken and silent. Seeing Rowan’s father bothered them more than being threatened by Rowan’s cousin and his friends who hadn’t spoken.
I thought about the man. Rowan looked like him. Blond hair, long face. But the resemblance ended there. Next to me, the guy I was just starting to know had sun-kissed skin and streaks in his hair, a bright gaze and happiness surrounding him every second that he wasn’t being battered by some secret that I was sure had something to do with his father. They were all afraid of him.
Going on instinct alone, I took the hand he rested on top of the stick shift and squeezed. “Are you okay?” I looked over my shoulder into the backseat. “Are you all okay? I don’t know what’s happening with you, but I certainly know how it is to have a shitty parent.”
Tanner met my gaze. “You’re so nice. We’ve just given you a terrible evening, and you’re checking on us. Why are you so kind? Shouldn’t you be pissed off and raving?”
Griffin shook his head. “I think Maci is more likely to silently stew. But maybe we can get her to open up to us if we can have an evening that ends differently than this one, if she doesn’t decide we’re more trouble than we’re worth.”
“I wouldn’t decide that. I have a parent that troubles me too.” That was the politest way I could find to say it. “Whatever is happening, as long as you’re okay, that’s what matters.”
Griffin blinked rapidly. “We’re okay.”
The silence descended again. Arriving at my car, I undid my seatbelt, but Rowan stopped me when I would’ve opened the door. With his hand on my arm, he shook his head. “No. Tanner will drive your car home. Stay here with me. It’s late.”
I supposed it was, but I was used to being up late. Arguing with him was an option, and I was sure I could get my own car and leave. But despite the silence, I liked their company. Who knew what his father was going to say tonight? Maybe they wouldn’t be allowed to see me again. Then there would be no more moments where I felt like I basked in their attention.
Maybe they’d move on to give this feeling to someone else. Internally, I sighed. The truth was I knew this couldn’t be my reality. It never was. I’d be back to being alone in my trailer soon enough, left wondering if I’d imagined tonight.
Tanner held out his hand, and I handed him my keys. His smile was huge. “I’ll take good care of your car. See you in a minute.”
He jumped out of Rowan’s car and rushed toward mine. In the dim light from the closed grocery store, my car looked lonely in the all but empty lot. We watched him walk to the driver’s side door, and I winced as Tanner had to pull it three times to open it. If my poverty weren’t already obvious—and I was sure it had to have been because I hadn’t had any lunch that day—it would be now. I kept the car clean, but it wasn’t like theirs.
“Maybe I should drive it,” I said aloud.
Griffin answered, “He’ll be fine. It’s okay, Maci.” He leaned forward and placed his hand on my side. “Whatever it is, don’t worry.”
The trouble was I was bound to worry. It really was my natural state.
We arrived at my trailer, the darkness of the night increasing until the blinding yellow of the fluorescents coming from the park around us blared at me like the light purposely wanted to give me a headache. I winced. Wow. I must be really tired.
But as we approached, a truth struck me beyond the nasty lights hitting my eyes. My trailer blared as bright as any of the others, and there were three cars in the driveway that I didn’t recognize.
I forced myself to swallow as the truth hit me. “My mom is home.”
That was good news. I preferred when she was. Otherwise, every noise was a potential threat I’d have to handle alone. However, that didn’t include the times she brought guests home. They were almost always men, and not all of them kept their focus on her. Sometimes, they turned their attention to me. So far, I’d managed to avoid anything terrible happening just because I’d been smart and lucky. Mom was always too out of it or desperate for drug money to care what they did to me in those moments.