“I am. I am the best big sister.”

God, she was slurring her words.

Suddenly, the lead singer of the band came over the loudspeaker. “Alright, ladies, now is your chance to win a free round of drinks! We need all the sexy ladies on the bar right now.”

Trent grabbed her hand and pulled her through the crowd. “Come on, you’re doing this.”

“I am not dancing on the bar!”

“She wants to do it!” Trent yelled to the bartender, who waved her up.

“Trent, I am going to kill you—”

His kiss cut off her protest, making her heart stop and every protest fly out of her mind. “Be adventurous.”

She was so dazed by the kiss she didn’t even protest as he lifted her up by her waist. She could imagine how graceful she looked climbing to her feet, and glancing nervously at the other women dancing beside her.

Her wide eyes met Trent’s and he smiled encouragingly, mouthing, “I dare you.”

Those words were her trigger. How many times had her brothers said the same thing to her?

Soon she was swaying her hips and dropping low, laughing as everyone in the room cheered them on. The girl next to her left grabbed her and started grinding on her from behind. The men were hollering. Penny called them all pervs but no one could hear her over the roar of the crowd.

When the song was almost over, the girl released Penny and twirled in a circle. Penny tried to do the same, but she lost her balance. The sensation of falling registered right before she felt a painful crack against her temple.

Chapter 9

Hunter came out of the on-call room with a yawn, shaking the last of the sleep from his brain. He’d only slept about a half an hour, but it felt like it’d been eight hours. He was alert, refreshed, and ready for the night ahead of him. Fridays were almost always full of interesting cases.

He walked into the pit as a gurney came in. Trent was running next to it in casual clothes as a paramedic called out, “Twenty-six-year-old female, unconscious, fell off a bar, and hit her head. Vitals are stable.”

As Hunter took the chart he realized it was Penny on the gurney, a large purple knot forming just above her temple.

His gaze snapped up to meet Trent’s and he read the apology in the other man’s eyes.

“It was an accident. She was dancing and lost her balance. I dared her—”

Hunter didn’t want to hear it, nor could he over the blood pounding in his ears. “Let’s get her into bay two and examine her.”

Winter came over to help him push the gurney into the curtained room, and he closed it on Trent’s puppy-dog face. Hunter couldn’t be around the idiot, not when all he wanted was to pummel him to a bloody pulp.

“Let’s get her set up with fluids, monitoring, and order an MRI.” Hunter could smell tequila as he bent over her to examine the bump and shook his head. Trent had taken her out, gotten her drunk, and let her get hurt.

Hunter realized his hands were shaking as he listened to her heart rate. He no longer wanted to beat Trent; he wanted to kill him.

Once he finished her exam, he said, “Get her scanned and take her to a private room. Test her blood alcohol level and if she needs it, give her a banana bag.”

“Yes, Dr. Gracin.”

He opened the drape and came face-to-face with Trent. Winter wheeled Penny past them toward the elevator, and Trent stepped toward them.

“You might as well go home. Nurse Matthews is taking Penny up for an MRI.”

Trent glowered at him. “I’m not going anywhere until I know Penny is okay.”

Hunter shoved him. He couldn’t help it. “Seriously, man? Now you care? You got her drunk so you could take advantage of her, and she got hurt—”

Trent pushed him back, yelling, “I took her out dancing. We were having fun. And I would never hurt or take advantage of Penny.”