Page 77 of Reaper Razed

As he stands to leave, Scar wraps her arms around me, and I break. I sob into her and pull her against me, holding her so tight I might break her. I feel him then, in that instant. I feel him near, his gaze on me, and I feel Scar shake her head, and then he’s gone. That empty, alone feeling comes back, and I cling to Scar like she’s my life raft and, at the moment, she’s all I’ve got.

After a few minutes, my sobs break, the tears dry, and she’s just holding me. I hear the clunk of the next bottle hitting the table, and I break from Scar, looking up at Ares. “Sorry, man… I didn’t mean… I shouldn’t have…”

As I go to stand, he pulls me into him and just holds me, too. I stand awkwardly for a minute before I relax into the hug. Fuck, these guys are gonna have me balling again. “Stay!” he whispers in my ear.

Looking at him, he gives me a sad smile and claps me on the shoulder. I sit back down and take the bottle again. We pass it between us, but none of us speak. We’re halfway down the second bottle when the door swings open, and Scar gasps. I glance up to see who’s there.

He swaggers over to me. “You good, kiddo?” Cade asks.

“Yeah, Pa! I’m good,” I slur in his general direction, but he must be pissed as he’s blurry as hell.

“How’s your sister?”

I shrug, as I’ve no idea. “She bolted, went home and then I came here, so your guess is as good as mine.”

“Where’s Bran?”

I shrug again. I mean, I could answer, but I’m too drunk to care and not drunk enough not to care.

“Can I join you?”

I look over at Scar and Ares, and they shrug, so I shrug. That’s the most he’s getting, so he slides into the chair, picks up the bottle and takes the last dregs. The scowl on Scar's face is a pretty picture.

“Ah, come on, princess, don’t look at me like that!”

“I’m not looking at you like anything, Uncle Cade.” she spits at him.

“Watch your mouth, Scar! You don’t know what’s going on.” he mutters to her without looking away.

Ares is just about to say something, and Scar raises her finger to him. “Firstly, I know exactly what’s going on. Secondly, you’re a fucking idiot, and thirdly, drink on your fucking own!” She stands up, and he has to look up to meet her gaze as she scowls down at him. “I will forgive you when she does, and not before!”

“Princess!” He grabs her wrist as she walks past him, and she just glares at his hand as it engulfs her. Ares is itching to do something but also trying to give Scar the space to sort this herself. “You don’t understand!”

“No, it’s you that doesn’t understand! She didn’t need this on top of everything else! You’re a selfish prick!” She snatches her hand away and stalks through the bar.

“I have actually no idea what’s going on, man, but if you’ve fucked with Ray, you’re on your own!” Ares rises too and follows after Scar.

“You gonna fuck off too?” I roll my eyes, or they roll on their own; I can’t decide. I’m too drunk to know either way. I feel like I’m in a washing machine as I try to stand and do a shit job of it. Falling forward, I catch myself on the table. “Fucking hell.” Cade stands up to grab me as I try to step around the table. That’s when the smell hits me, engulfs me as arms go around me, pulling me to him.

“Fucking hell, Dane.” Dice tosses my arms around his neck so we’re face to face, and I smile as he turns to face Cade. “What the fuck did you do? I’ve never seen him like this before.”

“You’ve just not been around long enough. Give it fucking time.” Cade tosses at Dice. “Give me a hand to get him to my room. I think it’s best if I don’t show my face at Ray’s tonight.”

“Did she do that to you?” Dice asks Cade as I sway in his arms.

“Yeah, just a misunderstanding.”

I laugh to myself out loud, and Cade tosses me a glare.

“Maybe he should sleep it off in my room?” Dice insists.

Next thing I know, I’m being tossed over Cade’s shoulder. As I flip down his back, my face slams into his arse, and that’s about all I get.

Waking up the next morning, I feel a hot body beside me and freeze. Shit, shit, shit. What did I do? Who the hell is this?

“Fuck’s sake, you still take up far too much room for a little ‘un!”

A sigh of relief as I turn to face him.

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