Page 49 of Mayhem

“We’ll take good care of her,” Ian says, wrapping an arm around Mackenzie. The two of them are turning into quite a power couple at Blackmore, and I love to see it. “I’ll give you a status update on our adventure later.”

“Sounds good,” I say, heading back to my car. On the way, I get a text from Stefan.

STEFAN: We’re hitting the Whisky tonight. Lizzy’s band is playing. You in?

I haven’t thought that far ahead yet since my plan to have Charlie tonight literally just changed. My mind instantly goes to Tess, and my first reaction is to maybe see what she’s up to instead. I wouldn’t mind a repeat of last night if possible.

ME: Possibly. I’ll keep you posted.

“Have you been day drinking?” I ask Tess on the phone a little later. I’ve been trying to reach her for a few hours now so that I can figure out what I’m doing tonight. She took a while to answer, and she’s giggling like crazy. I can hear her friend Ivy in the background laughing as well.

At least one of us is having a good time.

“Maybe…” she laughs, and the cutest fucking snort I’ve ever heard bursts out of her, which only sends her and her friend into further laughter.

I wish like hell I was there to witness this cuteness in person. But I get it. We both need time with our friends. We don’t want to burn too hot with each other only to fizzle out into nothingness later. That would royally suck.

“Okay, okay,” I say, not wanting to interfere with their fun. “You ladies have fun, okay? I’m going to go hang with the guys tonight. I’ll call you tomorrow?”

“Aww, I wanna hang with the guys, too…” she whines, as if she’s going to miss something exciting, and again, it’s adorable. Part of me wishes she would come too, just so I could see her like this in person. Tipsy Tess sounds hard to resist.

“What am I? Chopped burger? Hamburger? Ham? Liver?” Ivy calls from the background, and they both explode into laughter again.

As their laughter goes on, I almost think Tess forgets she’s on a call with me, but she comes back eventually.

“Brad? Brad? Are you there?” Now she sounds worried, and that too does something to my heart. Even in her alcohol infused haze, she’s worried about me.

“I’m here, but I’m going to let you go have fun with Ivy, okay?” I need to let her have her friend time.

“Okay,” she slurs, a little sad. “I’ll call you Thursday.”

“Sounds good,” I chuckle before hanging up. That was hilarious, and again my heart pangs that I’m not seeing it live and in person. It was about to turn melancholy, and seeing Tess all sappy would have seriously made my day.

I guess I’m on my own tonight.

When I get to the Whisky, the guys are already here. Even Dakota made it and is sipping a soda next to Emmett. He’s fitting in nicely with all of us, in his quiet way. It complements our crazy in a way that another crazy couldn’t. I like it.

“What, no Tess?” Stefan asks, eyebrow raised. I can’t tell if he’s kidding around, or fishing for information. Do they already know about me and Tess?

I thought we’ve done pretty well, keeping it from everyone that we’re seeing each other, but I guess I was wrong. Maybe everyone knows already. Suddenly my emotions are mixed, and I don’t know why. Do I not want people to know about us?

“Nope. No Tess,” I say, not confirming or denying anything. I don’t want to give them fuel to start shit about it.

“You two are a thing now, right?” Emmett asks, always the nosey fucker. “Well, for now. Your newest victim?”

“Victim?” I ask, not liking his tone one bit. I may have been a player in the past, but that’s not who I am anymore. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself. Things with Tess are different.

Right?

“You know what I mean, man,” Emmett continues, though I wish he would shut the fuck up. “You’re not exactly known for your solid relationship skills.”

“Oh, and you are?” I wave down the bartender and order a shot and a beer. I can tell already this is going to be a long night.

“Pfft, fuck no. But at least I know myself.” He looks at Stefan and Dakota for back up, but they don’t seem to be interested in getting involved in this. Good for them. It doesn’t deter him from continuing. “A leopard can’t change its spots, dude. You are who you are. Just admit it and embrace it.”

His words hit home, and I down my shot and chase it with the beer. It burns going down, but at least it’s a feeling. A sensation. Something other than the small voice in my head that wants to agree with everything Emmett has said.

Maybe there’s some truth to what he’s saying. I’m not boyfriend material. Hell, the only material I’m made of are ragged strings, trying to sew themselves together to make some sort of recognizable shape. I don’t know if it’s working.

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