Page 103 of Falling for the CEO

I couldn’t tell if he meant it or if he’d just realized the conversation was making me uncomfortable. Leo and Nick went to the other side of the bar. That was when I realized Colton had been here the whole time too. He slipped into the space Maddox had vacated. Penny squeezed my hand as she looked up at me but didn’t say anything.

Colton’s eyes were fixed on the rows of tequilas opposite us. I had half convinced myself that he didn’t overhear anything when he asked, “You talk about Mom with them?”

I looked at him. “No, never. That was the first time they brought her up. I had no idea how to react.”

He nodded. “They were respectful about it, all things considered. I just don’t know if I’m ever going to be able to be friends with them like you and Gabe and Cade are.”

That seemed to snap me out of this deep hole I’d been in. I patted his shoulder. “You know what the first act of friendship is?” I asked.

“What?”

“Doing tequila shots.”

Penny laughed. “Oh my god, I haven’t had those since college.”

“Yeah, what are you, a kid?” Colton asked.

I wiggled my eyebrows. “No, but we’re here to celebrate that our baby brother opened a bar. Shots are in order.”

“Let’s go join the group,” Penny said.

“Where are they?” I asked.

Colton pointed to the other end of the bar. Okay, so Maddox hadn’t made it up, because he, Nick, and Leo were on either side of Gabe, who was pouring drinks too.

“Let’s go, before I change my mind,” Colton said, charging forward.

Penny squeezed my hand again. “Are you okay?” she asked, clasping her hand around my wrist.

“Yeah, why?”

“You seemed tense earlier.”

“It was a strange moment.” Then I whispered in her ear again. “But having you here made it all better.”

“Oh stop, you don’t have to flatter me! You’ve already got me exactly where you want me.” She wiggled against me.

“Not even close.”

Her skin turned to goose bumps. I barely kept myself from finding an excuse to pull her into one of the back rooms and have my way with her. I wasn’t lying. I hadn’t put two and two together before, but I instinctively knew that having her here grounded me.

She took a step back, smiling. “I want shots,” she said, taking my hand and leading me through the crowd until we reached the other side. She’d pulled her hair up in a ponytail, but it was long enough that it reached her upper back. She was wearing heels but was still smaller than me. Her skin was soft to the touch and perfect under the neon lights.

She looked like a goddess.

My team still wasn’t here, but that was fine by me. It gave me some time with my brothers.

“I’ve heard through the grapevine that we’re doing shots. Here are yours,” Gabe said, pointing at a row of glasses. “Let’s drink.”

“To what?” Colton asked.

Jake held up his glass in Gabe’s direction. “To the bar.” Then he turned it in my direction. “And to your acquisition. To us honoring our grandparents’ legacy and building on it.”

“Hear, hear,” Penny said. She first clinked her glass to Natalie’s and Meredith’s before all the girls clinked with us too.

“By the way, Penny, we’re going to steal you for the rest of the evening,” Natalie said.

Meredith added, “We don’t want the guys overwhelming you.”

---