The Vincent Brothers (The Vincent Boys #2)(23)

“You gonna eat those oysters with me?” I asked, leaning down to look at her menu, instead of opening mine.

“Oh, I uh,” she stammered and Leann let out a loud sigh.

“Tone that down a little bit would ya? The girl is so rattled she can’t even talk.”

I didn’t take my eyes off Lana, “Am I making you nervous?”

Lana lifted her eyes to meet my gaze. A small apologetic smile touched her lips. The pale pink lip-gloss she was wearing made them appear even plumper than normal. I leaned in and caught a small whiff of the raspberry scent.

“A little,” she replied softly.

She was on a date with Ethan and I was making it very hard for her to be comfortable. The guilt that came with that knowledge stopped me from leaning in and taking a small nibble of those raspberry flavored lips.

“I’m sorry. I’ll stop,” I said softly enough that only she could hear me. Ashton’s voice was in the background as she talked to the others in her attempt to draw the attention away from Lana and me.

“Thank you,” she replied and then turned her gaze back to the menu in front of her. Sliding my chair back to a proper distance, I refused to look back at her as I ordered my food and carried on a conversation with everyone. I did my best not to let my gaze linger on her or lower my voice, when I spoke directly to her. I even managed to eat a meal while I watched Beau kiss Ashton’s hand, bare shoulder and temple whenever he had the chance.

~*~

“That’s the Sawyer I remember. I wondered where you’d run off to,” Leann whispered as she walked beside me to the stadium seating at the Wharf. Ash and Beau led the way and Ethan and Lana were behind us. I didn’t turn around and check on them. I wasn’t sure I could handle it if I caught them touching in any way.

“What do you mean?” I asked only because I needed a distraction.

“Hot and bothered Sawyer is a new one. I’ve never seen you treat a girl like you could eat her up if given the chance. It was... interesting.”

“You think Lana has me hot and bothered?”

Leann let out a cackle, “I know Lana has you hot and bothered. If the girl was to crook her finger your way you’d have her pressed up against the first hard surface you could find.”

I slowed my pace and glanced down at Leann, “What?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. You want that girl. Sweet, prim, and proper Lana went and got all sexy and she’s getting under your skin. You never did that with Ash. Not once did I see you look at her like you wanted her. She was your trophy or possession and you were real proud of her but she didn’t make your body simmer.”

Clenching my jaw, I glared down at Leann, “You have no idea what you’re talking about. I loved Ashton like crazy. She was my world. I planned my future around her. She was never a trophy or possession. Just because I didn’t treat her like a piece of hot ass didn’t mean she wasn’t my reason for living. I respected her. I’d never treat her with anything less than respect. I’m not in danger of falling in love with someone like Lana. She’s a distraction. Sure, I treat her differently; she is different but she’s just for fun.”

The wide-eyed expression on Leann’s face as she glanced to her right and left alerted me to the fact that I’d stopped walking and raised my voice. I turned my head to the right and saw Ashton and Beau both looking at me. Beau’s expression was anything but pleased and Ash looked like she was about to cry. Well, hell.

Lana.

Turning my head to the left I saw Lana’s big green eyes glistening with unshed tears as she stared at me. Ethan was glaring at me with a murderous expression.

“Lana,” I started toward her and she shook her head at me and turned to run off. I took a step to chase after her when Ethan stepped in front of me.

“No. I won’t let you do this to her. I thought maybe you were sincere and I was willing to step down and let you have her. But you’re not. If you were you’d never have been able to yell what you just did without a thought to her hearing you.”

“Get out of my way, Ethan.” I started to shove past him when a large hand clamped down on my shoulder.

“You need to let him go to her. You’ve done enough.” Beau wouldn’t let me go. I’d have to fight him first and that would just get us both thrown in jail.

Sagging in defeat, I turned and stalked toward the car. Once the concert got going and Beau was distracted, I’d find her. I’d fix this. I had to. The hurt look in her eyes was more painful than I would have ever imagined.

Lana

“Lana, wait,” Ethan’s voice called out from behind me. As much as I didn’t want him to see me crying over Sawyer, I couldn’t exactly keep running away from him. He was my date. Slowing, I stopped and leaned back against the brick wall outside the restrooms.

Ethan stopped in front of me and the worried expression on his face made me feel even worse.

“Lana, I’m sorry.”

“For what? You didn’t do anything but make the mistake of asking me out on a date.”

He reached out, touched the side of my face, and wiped away tears with his finger. “Nothing about asking you out was a mistake.”

I let out a sad laugh, “Yeah, right.”

“I mean it,” he sighed and dropped his hand to grab one of mine. “I realized today on the boat that you liked Sawyer. The rest of the female population in Grove has a thing for Sawyer, except for Ash, so that wasn’t a big deal. I still wanted my chance. I didn’t expect Sawyer to find a way to come too.”