Draw (Gentry Boys #1)(25)

I looked for Creed. “Where’d your brother go?”

“Ladies Room,” he grinned. “Lucky bastard. Took a tight mouth with pretty hair in there with him.”

I rolled my eyes. “Are you serious? You know you can get arrested for shit like that. It’s public indecency or something.”

Chase laughed. “I’ve seen you do worse, man.” He slugged me. “Quit looking worried. Saylor ain’t listening.” His expression grew thoughtful. “This is different, huh? It’s not your plan to just hit it and walk away.”

I leveled my gaze at him. “You’re the smart one, Chasyn. You tell me.”

Chase glanced over toward the bar. Saylor was over there, grimacing as she tapped a touch screen monitor. “I think,” he said with a rare note of heartfelt consideration, “that girl right there is the one who might be able to turn you inside out.” He kneed me playfully under the table. “Nothing wrong in that, Cord. Hell, if I found something that kept me up at night and made me want to keep my dick in one place I’d go for it, too.”

As Saylor laughed at something one of the bartenders said, she tossed her hair and her gaze happened to land in my direction. When she saw me watching her she blushed and looked away.

“More to it than that,” I said softly, “there’s a history there.”

Chase scoffed. “So what? I mean, there’s baggage attached to everything, bro. Maybe you connect with her because there’s history, rather than in spite of it. Great writer named Pearl Buck once said ‘If you want to understand today, you have to search yesterday.’ You get what that means?”

“Hmm. Careful, Einstein, your brain is showing. I know how you hate that.”

“Fuck you, I’m being serious.”

“Anyway,” I told him quietly. “I get that. We are what we are because of all the shit that’s already happened. I even said something like that to her last night.”

Saylor chose that moment to breeze by with my drink. While she was bending over, setting a napkin on the table, Chase took the opportunity to check out her ass with a grin.

“I see you,” she said without pausing as she set the glass down.

“I see you too,” he answered cheerfully.

Saylor’s mouth twitched with amusement.

“Thanks,” I muttered, taking a sip.

She glanced around. “So where’s your counterpart?”

“Creed has a rotten case of the shits,” Chase deadpanned. “I wouldn’t go near the restrooms if I were you.”

“Noted,” Saylor shrugged, handing me a straw. “Your chicken will be out in a few.”

Chase stared at her unabashedly. He was never one to skate around a subject. “You know, Saylor, you’ve gotten pretty f*cking hot.”

She glanced at me, looking confused. I kept my face bland and after a moment she laughed. “Thanks, I guess.”

As she turned around she nearly collided with Creed. He collapsed in a chair, panting slightly. “Hell, that hit the spot. Worked up an appetite though.”

Again, Saylor seemed a little perplexed, probably because Chase had led her to believe that our absent brother was off taking a dump. But she didn’t say anything as she headed for the kitchen and Chase winked at me, licking his lips meaningfully.

“She swallow?” he asked Creed in a mild voice.

Creed was nodding to a pretty brunette who actually looked slightly like Saylor. “Some things are sacred, *,” he answered in a grumpy tone.

Chase chuckled. “Yeah, totally sacred. Some chick you’ll never see again sucks you off over the dirty toilet and it’s a goddamn moment of religion.”

Creed elbowed him. “Shut up, junior.”

Chase sighed and addressed the ceiling. “I don’t know why I put up with such abuse from this gorilla.”

Creed grinned slowly. “Cause I’ll kick your ass if you don’t.”

“Bullshit. You’ve gotten fat and slow.”

Creed pulled his shirt up, displaying an impressive set of muscled abs which caught a few appreciative female glances. “I’ll give you a few seconds to revise.”

“Fuck that.”

“Guys,” I pounded my fist on the table a little too hard. My brothers stared at me. “Can we just try to pretend we’re not a pack of savages?”

Creed snorted and played with his lighter. “What crawled up your ass?”

Chase gestured to Saylor, who was walking our way with a trio of greasy-looking baskets. “Nothin’ yet. That’s what he’s all bent out of shape about.” He offered Saylor a brilliant grin. “Thank you, sweetheart.” He picked up a strip of fried chicken and took a savage bite. “Say, Cordero wants to offer you a ride later.”

Saylor looked at me. “Thanks, but I’ve got my car.” She started to walk away.

“Not the kind of ride I meant,” Chase muttered under his breath and she turned around.

“I know what you meant,” she retorted with a hint of sharpness and then stalked back to the bar.

I shoved my brother. “Do I look f*cking amused?”

“No,” Chase smiled. “But then you rarely do.”

Creed was scowling into his phone. “Can it, kids. We’ve got stuff to talk about.”