Page 82 of Leave

I groaned and elbowed him again. “You know what? Fuck you.”

With a wicked grin, he winked. “Maybe when we get back to the hotel.”

“Oh yeah?”

Still grinning, he shrugged.

“Tease,” I muttered.

“Nah.” He leaned in for a light kiss. “Teases don’t deliver.”

Goddammit. Was it time to leave yet?

No, of course it wasn’t. There were two shows tonight, and the ladies had said they wanted to hit up a different club before we called it a night.

Fuck me. I really was getting too old for this.

Or too horny for the man sitting beside me. One of the two.

Would anyone notice if we dipped out to the men’s room or something? Hell, I wasn’t above sucking dick in an alley if the situation arose, and if Nolan kept teasing me, that situationwouldarise. And we still had like half an hour before the next show, so we could always ask a bouncer to keep an eye on the ladies while we stepped out for the ten minutes or less we’d need to keep ourselves from bursting into flames, and—

“I’m telling you,” Leann’s voice broke through the noise and my thoughts as she and Sophia returned. “Your grandma is going to dance her legs off at the reception!”

Sophia laughed. “Yeah, we’ll see.”

Leann slid onto the bench first, followed by Sophia. Beside me, Nolan stiffened, and when I turned to him, all his flirtation and good humor were gone. He’d fixed his attention elsewhere. Watching one of the dancers giving a woman a lap dance a few booths away as her friends laughed raucously.

I glanced at Leann and Sophia, who were still giggling and chatting. Then back at Nolan. His jaw worked and his blue eyes had turned icy.

Jesus. And there was no tactful way for me to suggest that Leann switch with Sophia. I didn’t know how much that would help anyway; some space between Leann and Nolan was ideal, but it wouldn’t completely solve the problem.

I was halfway through a thought involving Nolan and me going to one of the bars to order food when a dancer came by the table, clearly looking for lap dance clients. Leann squealed and gestured wildly at Sophia, who was now trapped in the booth since Carly and Tina had returned.

“It’s her bachelorette!” Leann announced. “She needs a dance!”

The dancer grinned and looked at Sophia, but Sophia shook her head. “I’d rather… I mean, it’s just not my…” She was blushing bright, and the dancer took the hint.

He moved on from the table, and Sophia wasn’t the only one to breathe a sigh of relief. Beside me, Nolan relaxed minutely.

“Oh wait, come back!” Leann called after the dancer, but he’d moved on. She huffed, and then she was suddenlyrightbeside me on the bench. “What about you? Aren’t you going to get a dance?”

“Me? Oh, I…” I laughed with unexpected nerves and shook my head. “No. I’m good.”

“What? Come on.” She put a hand on my chest. “It would be fun for—”

A tattooed arm shot in front of me and snatched her wrist, yanking her hand off me.

I jumped back, pressing into the bench, and stared wide-eyed at Nolan. Anger tightened his features, and his eyes flashed with fury that made me want to pull even farther back, though that anger clearly wasn’t directed at me. He and Leann glared acrossme at each other, her hand hovering in the air with his fingers still firmly around her wrist. He’d backed my father down with an icy look, but there was pure rage in his eyes this time.

“Don’t touch me,” Leann snapped.

“Don’t touch my boyfriend,” he countered through clenched teeth.

She gave a sharp, haughty laugh. “For God’s sake. Lighten up,Gumby.”

His jaw was already clenched, but the nickname seemed to make him clench it even harder. When he spoke, his voice was a low growl I’d never heard before. “Back the fuck off, Leann.”

She stared at him in surprise, but then wrenched her wrist away. Grabbing her drink, she smirked at him. “It’s a party, asshole. Fucking relax.”

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