Page 86 of Maximum
“I’m going to try and call Jolene again.” Atlas hung up and left me with my own worst-case scenarios. What if I had been the guy to wake up the sensual part of her that she’d suppressed since she left Pierre, and now that she was open someone else might snatch her up right in front of me? Memories of her telling me I was too young came back to me and made me press down on the accelerator.
When I finally arrived in Limerick, I parked my car and jogged to the pub. People were standing outside smoking and talking but I didn’t see Fleur or Jolene.
Walking inside, I pushed through the crowd of bodies, my ears getting assaulted by the loud music and the people shouting to hear each other.
There were a lot more men here than women. On the dance floor I spotted Jolene dancing with a man her own height. He was wearing a large grin and a baseball cap sporting the American flag. I passed the bar where Nellie and Patrick stood with a group of people I didn’t recognize.
“Jolene,” I shouted and pushed through the dancing couples. She didn’t hear me until I was tapping her shoulder.
Spinning around her eyes widened in worry. “Maximum. Is Rose okay?”
“Yes, she’s still sleeping. Kate is looking after her.”
“Did you come to party with us?” She lit up.
“You need to call Atlas. He’s tried reaching you and he’s worried.”
“I’ve been dancing for hours.”
“Where’s Fleur?”
Jolene looked around. “She was here a minute ago. I saw her dancing.”
My heart galloped, with madness spreading through my veins when I couldn’t see Fleur anywhere.
“I’m going to find her. Just call Atlas.”
The guy in the baseball cap looked disappointed when Jolene signaled that she had to go.
I searched the area out back where the toilets were and returned to scan the bar again. That’s when I saw Fleur. She was laughing and standing with a glass in her hands in a group with four men who looked to be in their mid-thirties. They were wearing soccer fan gear for Limerick FC and it just about made me crazy to see that she was wearing a hat with the logo as well.
I kept staring at her, willing her to look at me, but for someone who was supposedly telepathic, she didn’t pick up shit.
With my face locked in uncomfortable jealousy, I walked close enough to get her attention.
When one of the men laughed and raised his glass to Fleur, she clinked it and laughed with him. I couldn’t hear their jokes but called her name.
“Fleur.”
When she didn’t hear me the first time, I called louder. “Fleur.”
This time her eyes met mine and her laughter died. She turned to put her drink on the bar behind her, then moved to me with a serious face. “Is everything alright?”
“You tell me.” I gave a downward jut of my chin to the hat on her head.
Understanding dawned on her face and she took off the hat. “I thought something bad had happened. You scared me.”
“Atlas couldn’t reach Jolene and he worried. He made me come to make sure she was safe.”
Her left eyebrow rose up. “You sure you didn’t come to check up on me?”
Shifting my weight onto my right leg, I crossed my arms. “I see you made new friends.”
“Yes, and I would introduce you if you didn’t look like you were about to unleash the Mammoth on them.”
At that moment, one of the men chose to interfere. “Do ye know this bloke?”
I gave him a hard stare. “We live together.”
