Can't Let You Go: A Wheeler Brothers Novel Page 8

  "I know. Me either."

  Her phone rings and she hands it to me. "It's Nash, calling to give me more safety reminders. I can't take it anymore. You talk to him."

  I answer the call. "Hey, Nash."

  "Where's Callie?"

  "She's driving. You know you shouldn't be calling when she's driving. It's dangerous."

  She laughs. "Yeah. Take that, Mr. Safety Patrol."

  "Did you hear her?" I ask.

  "Tell her she's a smartass and she's getting a spanking when she gets home."

  "Nash!" I shudder. "That's way too much information."

  Nash is like a brother to me so I don't want to think about him doing things with Callie.

  "What did he say?" Callie asks.

  "I'm not going to repeat it," I tell her. "Anyway," I say to Nash. "What do you want?"

  "Tell her if she drinks I'm coming to pick you guys up. Don't let her drive."

  "Yeah, we already know this. We've been out before. We know not to drink and drive. But Callie's not going to get drunk after one drink."

  "Jen, I mean it. Neither one of you is driving if you have a drink. Even one."

  "Yes, big brother." I roll my eyes. "I heard you the first time. Now get back to work."

  "Hey, before you go, you okay?"

  "Yeah. Why?"

  "You know why."

  "There's nothing to say. I can't change him. And he apparently doesn't want to."

  "He's just young and stupid. He wants the same thing you do. He's just..." Nash sighs. "I don't know what his problem is."

  "I don't either. And I'll probably never find out. It's fine. I just need to stop trying."

  "I'm not sure if I agree with that, but do what you have to do. Have a good time tonight, okay? Just be careful."

  "We will. Bye." I end the call and drop the phone in Callie's purse.

  "We're going to have so much fun tonight," Callie says turning up the radio.

  After we left the guys, I wasn't sure if I'd have fun tonight. My head was stuck on Bryce, and his mood was bringing me down. But I'm not letting him ruin my night. I'm going to have fun. Midterms are over, it's spring break, and I'm out with my friends. Callie's right. This is going to be a fun night.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Jen

  We pull into Ivy's apartment. She beat us here and is already inside. Callie parks, then turns the radio up even more and starts dancing.

  "You're crazy," I yell over the music.

  "Come on." She pokes my arm. "You said you wanted to dance."

  "Yeah, but not in the car."

  Her dancing is contagious and soon I find myself joining her. A few minutes later, Ivy appears, wearing a short black dress and heels. She almost never wears heels so this is a shock. And she's wearing her hair down and has lots of makeup on. She looks totally different than the girl we saw just a few minutes ago.

  "You look hot," Callie says as Ivy climbs in the back seat.

  "Thanks!" she yells above the music. Callie turns it down.

  "Too bad Jake can't see you," I tell her as Callie drives out of the parking lot.

  "He's seen me wear this before," she says. "But not with the heels." She grins. "He'd love the heels."

  Callie turns the radio back up and we sing along until we get to the club. The parking lot is completely full, which we expected for a Friday night. We end up parking way in the back.

  We can hear the music before we even get inside. A guy is waiting at the door to check IDs and take our money for the cover charge.

  "Have fun girls," he says, smiling just at me. He kind of looks like Bryce; tall and muscular with tattoos covering both arms.

  As we walk away, Ivy says, "Did you see how he was looking at you?"

  "Yeah." I smile. It's nice to be looked at that way. Bryce sometimes does, but then he doesn't act on it.

  "Let's get some drinks," Callie yells over the music. "First round's on me."

  We head to the bar.

  "Rum and Coke with a wedge of lime," Ivy says to the bartender. He's a pretty boy, with tan skin and a face like a model.

  "Coming right up." He winks at Ivy and smiles.

  The guys would be so mad if they knew we'd been flirted with twice within two minutes of being here.

  "What's your name?" he asks, handing Ivy her drink.

  "Ivy." She stirs her rum and Coke with the tiny straw.

  "Cool name," he says, leaning across the bar. "I'm Jake."

  We all laugh.

  "What's so funny?" the bartender asks.

  "Her boyfriend's name is Jake," Callie says.

  "Got it," he says, backing away. "So what can I get for you two?"

  "I'll take a Coke," Callie says.

  "Whisky sour for me," I say.

  "Coming right up." He makes the drinks, then Callie pays him and we go find a table.

  "I have a feeling tonight's going to be trouble," Callie says, smiling as she sips her Coke.

  "Why?" Ivy moves her long dark hair to one side, bouncing a little to the music.

  "Because you two already have guys hitting on you, and the guys at the table next to us are checking you out."

  I turn back and see a table full of preppy guys in polo shirts smiling at us.

  "They're checking you out too," I say to Callie.

  "They'll lose interest once they see this." She holds out her left hand, wiggling her ring finger. "I'm totally safe from being flirted with. It's you two I have to worry about."

  "You don't have to worry about me," Ivy says. "You know I'd never cheat on Jake."

  "And I'm single," I say. "I can date whoever I want."

  Ivy and Callie both look at me like it's a lie. But it's not a lie. I AM single. Bryce has no claim to me. I'm not his.

  "Check out that girl's dress," Ivy says, nodding toward a girl in a red dress that looks like it's been slashed all over with scissors.

  "That girl over there has the same one," I say.

  "That happened to me at homecoming," Callie says. "Some girl had the same dress as me. It was so embarrassing."

  We spend the next half hour watching people as they walk by, commenting on what they're wearing and trying to guess who will end up with who at the end of the night.

  I've never gone home with a guy I met at a bar. Never had a one-night stand and never want to. That's something my mom would do and I never want to be like her.

  "Let's dance," I say, finishing my drink.

  Ivy finishes hers. "Okay, but you guys know I'm a horrible dancer. I expect you two to block me on both sides so no one can see me."

  "Don't be crazy." Callie gets up from her chair. "No one's even looking. Everyone on the dance floor is drunk."

  We go over there just as a new song begins. We form a circle and dance, swaying our hips, our arms moving around. None of us are great at dancing but it doesn't matter. We're just here to have fun.

  There's a group of girls next to us who also seem to be having a girls' night. There's at least ten of them in the group and they're really loud, probably drunk, talking and laughing as they dance.

  After a few more songs, Callie says, "You guys want another drink?"

  "Maybe after this song," Ivy says. She's forgotten all about being embarrassed by her dancing and is now throwing her hands around in the air.

  "Can I join you?" I hear a deep voice behind me and feel hands go around my waist, causing me to tense up. I turn around and see a short but muscular guy with blond hair and blue eyes.

  "Um, no, I'm with someone," I say.

  "No problem." He smiles and moves on.

  "Not your type?" Callie shouts, smiling at me.

  I shrug and keep dancing. It's true. That guy wasn't my type, but even if he was, he's not Bryce, and my stupid heart won't let me forget it. Damn, Bryce. Why can't I just forget about him?

  "Oh...my...God," the girl behind me says.

  I turn back and see she's one of the girls in the group of girls dancing next to us. They've all stopped
dancing and are staring at something.

  "Holy shit," another girl says.

  "What the..." The girl next to her can't even finish her thought, her jaw dropped as she stares at whatever they're all looking at.

  I follow their gaze to the club entrance and see Jake walking in. Just behind him, on each side, are Nash and Bryce, followed by Austin.

  They're all wearing black dress pants with dress shirts. They strut in, Jake leading the way, their shoulders back, bodies tight. They look good. Damn good. Especially Bryce.

  "The one in front is mine," I hear one of the girls say.

  "That's Jake Wheeler!" a girl squeals.

  "It's all of them!" another girl squeals. "All four Wheeler brothers!"

  I glance at Callie and Ivy who are watching the guys make their way into the club. Why are they here? They're supposed to be working.

  "Did you know they were coming?" I ask Callie.

  "I had no idea. Nash said they were working until midnight."

  "I get Jake!" a girl behind me yells.

  "I get Nash," another says.

  "He's engaged!" Callie yells, but the girls don't hear her over the music.

  "I'm getting Bryce," a girl says. "Damn, he is so hot."

  My body tenses up and I almost whip around and tell the girl that Bryce is mine. Except he's not.

  "I get Austin!" two girls yell at once.

  This is so pathetic. It's not like the guys are celebrities. Jake was on TV a lot last year talking about the company so I guess he's kind of famous but the rest of them aren't. But for some reason, girls seem to know who they are. Even at my college, I'll hear girls talking about the Wheeler brothers. I don't bother telling them I grew up with those guys and practically lived at their house. If I did, I'd be getting constant requests to pass along phone numbers and date requests.

  Callie leaves the dance floor and goes up to Nash. Before he can say anything, she kisses him, so every other girl can see that he's hers. Nash kisses her back, then puts his arm around her and they go to the bar. Ivy is standing in front of me, staring at Jake. He walks up to her and smiles, then wraps his hands around her face and kisses her, not caring that all the girls around us are staring. I look over and see Austin at the bar with girls swarming around him.

  I turn back and see Bryce at the edge of the dance floor. He catches my gaze and holds it. My heart is racing, feeling the intensity of his stare. And seeing him dressed that way has my body reacting all kinds of ways that prove we're more than just friends.

  A girl runs up to him, holding his arm and saying something to him. He acts like she's not even there, his eyes not leaving mine as he stalks forward, heading right toward me. The girl lets him go as he stops right in front of me.

  "Can I buy you a drink?" His face breaks into a smile.

  I smile back. "What are you doing here?"

  "You really think I'd let you come here without me?"

  I could take that one of two ways. Either it means he came here to be with me or because he didn't want other guys hitting on me. Given his earlier comments, I'm guessing it's the latter, which pisses me off.

  "So you're here to keep the guys away?" I ask, letting him hear my anger.

  His arm goes around my waist and he leans down to my ear. "I don't want to fight with you. I told you I was sorry for how I acted earlier." I feel his lips brush against my ear. "Now would you just let me buy you a damn drink?"

  His deep voice and warm breath send a shiver down my spine. He's wearing the clothes I picked out for him; black dress pants and the dark blue shirt that goes with it. He's got the sleeves rolled up, showing off the ink on his forearms. The sight of him in those clothes and the feel of his lips on my ear has me so turned on I can barely think.

  "I guess you could buy me a drink." I smile. "But after the drink, you're dancing with me."

  He stands up straight. "I'd have to be pretty fucking drunk before that happens."

  Bryce doesn't dance, except for maybe the occasional slow dance, which he did at prom just so his date would stop complaining about his refusal to dance.

  He keeps his hand around my waist as he leads me to the bar.

  "Is she your girlfriend?" some girl yells. "Bryce!"

  He ignores her.

  "Aren't you going to answer her?" I ask.

  "What do you want to drink?" He waves the bartender over.

  "Whiskey sour," I yell at the bartender. "And can I get a cherry this time?"

  "You got it," he yells back. It's Jake, the same bartender we had before. I wonder if Ivy told Jake about the Jake that was hitting on her.

  "You already had one?" Bryce asks.

  "Yeah, when we first got here."

  "Hey." Nash comes up behind us, putting a hand on Bryce's shoulder and mine. "I set up a tab for us. Drinks are on me tonight. And Jen, if Bryce didn't tell you, I'm the designated driver. We all came in Jake's SUV so I'll just drop everyone off at the end of the night."

  "What about Callie's car?"

  "We already took it home."

  "So you guys had this planned all along?" I ask both Nash and Bryce.

  Nash lets us go when he sees Callie walking toward him. "You really think we'd let you girls go out without us?" He wraps Callie in his arms and kisses her.

  "It was supposed to be a girls' night," she says, smiling up at him.

  He smiles back. "So you want us to leave?"

  "No." She kisses him. "Let's go dance."

  Bryce and I turn back to the bar.

  The bartender hands me my drink, then nods at Bryce. "And for you?"

  "Jack and Coke."

  "And add a cherry," I yell.

  "What the hell?" Bryce puts his arms around my waist as he turns me toward him. "I don't want a damn cherry. Then it's a girl's drink."

  "But I love those cherries."

  He smiles. "You always take my drink anyway so I guess it doesn't matter."

  "Does it make you mad that I always take your drinks? Like when I drink your pop?"

  He laughs a little. "No. Why would I care?"

  "I just wondered." I said it because Chad acted like I was committing a crime for just asking if I could take a sip of his beer. Bryce has never acted that way. He'll share his food, his drinks, anything with me.

  "Jack and Coke," the bartender says, holding up the glass.

  Bryce takes it from him. "Thanks."

  I lean over and take a sip of his drink from the tiny straw. "It's good. It needed the cherry."

  He's staring at me. "I didn't even taste it yet and you're already drinking it."

  I shrug. "Sorry."

  "I'm just kidding." He takes a big swig of it, his other arm still around my waist.

  He normally doesn't hold me like this, or at all. He usually tries to avoid touching me, or if he does, he pretends it was accidental or couldn't be avoided, like when he was reaching in my kitchen cabinet the other night and I backed into him. Or he acts like it's a friend-only move, like when we snuggled on the couch and watched TV. We've been doing that forever so it's not like either one of us would consider that crossing the limits of our friendship. Other than those types of touches, Bryce keeps his distance from me.

  "You want some more?" He holds his glass up to me.

  "No, I'm good." He swigs the rest of it.

  "You thirsty?"

  "Yeah, I think I'll have another. Grab your cherry before I give him the glass."

  I fish it out of the bottom and suck it into my mouth, then drop the stem in the glass.

  "Jake!" I yell at the bartender, getting up on my toes so I can see him.

  He smiles and yells back from the other end of the bar. "What do you need?"

  "Another Jack and Coke. With a cherry!"

  "Got it."

  "You know that guy?" Bryce asks.

  "I met him before you got here. His name is Jake and he was hitting on Ivy. But don't tell Jake that. You know how jealous he gets."

  "Was anyone hitting on you?"
/>
  I quickly shake my head, then sip my drink.

  Bryce takes it from me. "Who was it?"

  "What are you talking about?"

  "I can tell when you're lying. So who was it?"

  "Just some guy. He smiled at me. That's it." I reach for my drink but Bryce holds it up high. "Give me my drink."

  "Just tell me who it was."

  "So you can go yell at him for smiling at me? No. You're not doing that. He didn't do anything wrong by smiling at me. He wasn't try to steal me away from my boyfriend. In case you forgot, I'm single." The words flow freely from my mouth as the alcohol starts to affect me. The drinks are strong and I'm not very big so it doesn't take much for me to feel it.

  Bryce downs my drink and reaches over to set the glass down as he takes his drink from the bartender.

  "Another whiskey sour," I yell at Jake. He nods and goes to get it.

  "You need to slow down on the drinks," Bryce says.

  "I could say the same thing about you."

  "I'm twice your size. I can handle it. You can't. You get drunk after two drinks."

  "Maybe I want to be drunk tonight." I grab his drink and take a sip. "I don't know what you're worried about. You're here to keep the guys away from me so it's not like it matters if I'm drunk. No one's going to try to take advantage of me."

  "Whiskey sour," the bartender yells.

  "Thanks!" I reach over and take the drink.

  Bryce's arm is still around my waist, holding me right in front of him. He tugs me closer as some guy brushes against me to get to the bar. I gulp half the drink down. I'm totally relaxed, not quite drunk, but getting there.

  "You freaking drive me crazy," Bryce says, taking a big swig of his Jack and Coke. Bryce doesn't drink very often. In fact, this is the most I've seen him drink in months.

  "What'd I do now?" I ask, taking the cherry from my drink and popping it in my mouth. I love how the liquor soaks into the cherry so when you bite into it, it bursts with flavor.

  "You never listen." He finishes his drink and sets the glass down on the bar. "You always do the damn opposite of what I say."

  "Because I don't like you bossing me around."