Redeeming You (Before You #2)(8)

“Tay,” he said. He remembered Alec called her that and he thought it might soften her anger toward him.

She looked up from her plate, her eyes wide and uncertain. “Yeah?”

“Can we forget all that crap that just happened and call a truce? Thirty days is a long time to fight with someone.”

Taylor raised one perfectly arched eyebrow. “If you’re trying to be nice to me to get me to blow off my job, it’s not going to work.”

“I’m not,” he answered quickly, because he needed her to be on his side if he wanted to stay in Chasing Ruin. Jax threatened to kick him out if he didn’t get his shit together and he believed him, and he needed Chasing Ruin. As his world crumbled around him over the last year, Chasing Ruin was the only thing that had gone right for him. Even his parents were disgusted with him. They still loved him. That much was evident, but their disapproval seeped into every conversation lately and that killed him because they had sacrificed so much for him to learn to play guitar as a kid.

“Tay. Cam,” Alec called as he walked into the restaurant. “I thought I’d stop by to see how things were going.”

Cam saw Taylor roll her eyes out the corner of his eye.

“Everything is fine,” Taylor answered, folding her arms across her chest.

Alec speared Cam with his eyes. “Are you treating my sister with the respect she deserves?”

Cam looked at Taylor and he saw her lips twitch. “He’s being a perfect gentleman, aren’t you, Cam?”

What the hell was she up to? “Always,” Cam replied returning her smile.

Alec’s eyes alternated between Cam and Taylor and then he exhaled loudly. “Cam, don’t f*ck with my sister.”

Cam lifted both of his hands in the air. “I won’t. We were just discussing the rules and expectations. I think we’re both on the same page now. Right, Taylor?” Cam asked nodding in her direction.

Taylor looked up from her lap, finding his gaze. Her eyes were arctic, and for a moment he thought she was ready to sell him out. How could a woman so hot be so cold at the same time? What a waste.

He slid his leg between hers, nudging her under the table. She responded by kicking him in the shin, her eyes shooting daggers at him. “Yes, I think we’re damn close,” she said and then popped another fry into her mouth.

“So what’s the plan for tonight?” Taylor asked, turning toward her brother.

Alec slid into the booth next to Taylor and draped a lazy arm over her shoulder. “Marcus wants to go to some club. Jax and Bre will probably do their own thing. They always do these days.”

Taylor snuggled into Alec’s side like she’d been there many times before, and she probably had. Their dad died before Taylor started elementary school and their mother went on a drunken binge that lasted until Alec and Taylor left their hometown the day after Taylor graduated from high school.

“I’ll go with Marcus. I’m not going to go to the movies or dinner with Jax and Bre, and I wouldn’t mind dancing,” Cam said.

“Dancing?” Taylor said skeptically. “I never pictured you being the coordinated type.”

And there they were—right back slinging insults at each other. Their truce was nowhere to be found. “You’ll be impressed. I heard that women like my moves, but I’ll let you be the judge. You’ll have the opportunity see them up close and personal tonight since you can’t leave my side.” He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

Her face twisted in exaggerated disgust. Admittedly, the comment was stupid, but he didn’t think it warranted that extreme of a look.

“Did I mention that I’m feeling ill?” she commented.

Alec laughed. “Tay, go easy on him. He can be a jackass sometimes—”

“Just sometimes?” she interrupted, lifting her perfectly arched eyebrows.

“Okay, a lot of the time,” Alec amended and they both laughed together…at him.

Frustrated, Cam had the inexplicable urge to punch Alec in the face. He was sick of people making jokes at his expense and he didn’t need Taylor to think worse of him than she already did, not that any of that should matter to him. He didn’t care what Taylor or anyone else thought him…for the most part.

“I’ll come too. We’ll have fun,” Alec added weakly. Alec hated clubs and he hated socializing. Clearly, he planned to watch his sister and make sure Cam didn’t hurt her or trample on her tenuous position.

“Loads of fun,” Taylor said sarcastically. “But only if Cam lets me see his moves.”

Cam glared at both of them, then started picking at his food again. Hanging out with Bre and Jax while watching some dumb chick flick sounded better and better with each passing second.

“I’m going to run to the bathroom,” Taylor said, pushing Alec out of the booth. “Don’t let Cam leave without me.”

“Got it,” Alec said as he watched her walk to the back of the restaurant, sitting down again when she was out of view.

“Be nice to her.” Alec lowered his voice so Cam had to lean forward to hear him. “Tay acts tough, but she’s not. Underneath that hard shell she’s fragile and broken.”

So what; wasn’t everyone these days? He downed the rest of his beer, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “This month can’t end fast enough.”