“What the hell’s goin’ on here? You mind tellin’ me why the fuck you’re groping my sister?”
Well shit.
Stone stood in front of us, blocking our path, with Scooter at his side, both of them scowling at where my arm rested on Shane’s hip with murder in their eyes.
“I’m taking her home,” I answered, calmly. “She isn’t feeling well. She nearly passed out back there.”
“You’re being dramatic,” she blustered. “I’m fine.”
“Jesus, girl,” Scooter admonished, taking her in and seeing the same worrisome weakness and lack of color that I did. “Always puttin’ too much on your shoulders and not takin’ proper care of yourself. You gotta go home.”
“If she needs to leave, I’ll take her,” Stone interjected, lifting his arm toward Shane.
I shifted before his hand could latch on, twisting so she was out of reach. “I said I got her. I’ll get her home safely.”
I recognized the look on his face as one I’d worn a whole hell of a lot when I was younger. It was the look a man got when he wanted to beat the shit out of someone. “Listen here, dickhead. I don’t know who you think you are, but Shane isn’t goin’ anywhere with you.”
“Everything okay over here?”
Fucking hell. Could this night go downhill any faster? I turned my attention to Gage and Laeth who had just walked up, eyeing the other men like they were ready to throw down any second.
“We’re good. I’m just taking Shane home.”
Stone took a menacing step closer. “What part of ‘she’s not goin’ anywhere with you’ didn’t sink into your brain, asshole?”
I didn’t back down. “And what part of ‘your sister isn’t feeling well and nearly passed the fuck out’ didn’t penetrate yours? You wanna get in a pissing match, any other time, I’m game, but right now she’s all I care about, so step the fuck aside.”
At that moment, Farah decided to join the fray, pushing and giving her friend a concerned frown. “What’s going on? Shane, honey, are you okay?”
“She’s not,” I answered at the same time she replied, “I’m good.”
Farah, seeing the state of Shane and having a kind heart insisted, “Sweetie, I’ll get Darla to help me cover the rest of your shift. We can handle it. You just go home and rest.”
She looked like she wanted to argue, but her head began to list to the side all of a sudden as she slurred, “Is it just me or did the floor get really spinny?”
“That’s it. Come on, squirt. I’m taking you home.”
Stone moved in again. A growl rumbled from my chest as I clenched my teeth and hissed, “You need to back the hell away from my woman. I said I got this. Now get the fuck outta my way.”
“Your woman?” He let out a barbed laugh. “Motherfucker, she’s not your—”
“For the love of Christ, enough!” Scooter boomed. “You two are standin’ here arguin’ like a bunch of pansy-ass babies when my Shaney girl’s damn near dead on her feet. Knock it the fuck off. Stone, step the hell aside and let him get her outta here. You can check in on her later when she’s feeling better.”
I had to say, I hadn’t been expecting that. With the dirty looks and dead silence I got from him every time he brought Brantley to one of our visits and hovered in the background, I figured he would have gladly held my arms back so Stone could beat my kidneys to a pulp. But then I’d let time and distance cloud my memories of the man who’d once welcomed me into his family.
“My stuff,” Shane mumbled, tilting her head to rest it on my shoulder. “Can’t leave without my stuff.”
Forgetting all about the standoff with her brother, I tilted my head down and softened my voice. “Where’s your stuff, honey?”
“Cubby. In the office.”
I gently shifted her into Gage’s hold and tossed him my keys. “Get her in my truck while I go grab her stuff.”
“You got it, brother.”
He started toward the exit while I hustled back down the hall to the office, finding Shane’s cubby and pulling her purse out. By the time I reached the main part of the bar, Stone was gone, having moved back to his friends over by the pool tables, Laeth was off, probably with his face buried in some chick’s tits, and Farah had gone back to work. The only one who remained was Scooter, standing there with his arms crossed over his chest and his face as hard as granite.
“Girl always does too much. Never lets anyone take care of her. Never asks for help even though she knows we’d all break our backs if it meant givin’ her even a second of peace. She don’t trust. She don’t let people in. And she’s constantly worried about bein’ a burden, scared if she asks for too much the people she cares about’ll walk away.” He arched a single brow. “But you knew that already, didn’t you?”
He knew the answer to that question. I’d been one of the few lucky ones. One of only a handful that Shane had let past those walls and given a piece of her heart to. I knew just how much that meant. How special it was. And I’d fucked it all up.
“Yeah,” he said, more to himself than to me. “You know. All too well. So you know this time, you got shit to prove. To earn. She gave it free and clear last time. Won’t be doin’ that again.”
“I know what I have to do,” I informed him, straightening my shoulders. “And I’m ready to fight for it.”
He studied me for several seconds before finally hiking his chin in a single nod. “Guess we’ll see. Now get my girl home.”
With that, he turned and headed back to his table, and I booked it out of the bar, prepared to do just that.
Shane looked a little better by the time she finished the two pieces of buttered toast I’d made, then forced her to eat. She still looked pale, but at least she was able to stand and sit on her own without fear of falling or passing out.
Knowing Shane needed someone to look after her, I managed to push down the blinding rage I’d been feeling since the moment I found out my bastard of an old man had broken his word to me. It had taken nearly the entire drive from the bar to her place to get it under control, but I did it. I had every intention of getting to the bottom of things and tracking that miserable fuck down as soon as I knew my woman was good. But for now, it was all about her.
“You know, you don’t have to hover over me,” she grumbled as I stood beside her, watching to make sure she drank the entire glass of water I’d poured for her. “I’m feeling better, so you can go now.” She’d always been the worst patient in the world. She didn’t get sick often, but the few times she did, she snapped at anyone who tried to help her in any way. Too independent and prideful for her own good, she’d been convinced she didn’t need anyone’s help.
“Not till your ass is in bed and I know you won’t be getting out of it.”
She threw daggers with her eyes, but the fierceness in her expression had the opposite effect of what she was going for, making my dick stand at attention. She was just so goddamn cute when she was pissed off and surly.