“She’s drunk… and crazy!” Ace shouted, a spot of blood trickling from his temple. He swayed on his feet, apparent he’d had as much to drink as Chelsea, if not more.
“He said he was gonna fuck Natalie,” she shouted in my ear before she pulled back.
“Fuck,” I grumbled. “Did you have to yell so loud? I’m standing right here. I can hear you just fine.” I pushed her away from me but kept my hands on her shoulders until she steadied herself so she didn’t fall.
“I didn’t say any such thing, woman,” Ace retorted, taking a few steps toward us while tugging on his hair in apparent frustration. “What I said was…” He took a longer pause than normal, breathing hard and closing his eyes briefly before looking back in our direction. “I bet Natalie wouldn’t mind tellin’ people I’m her man.”
“It’s the sa… same thing.” She stumbled toward him, but only after snatching up a book that was lying on the entertainment stand. When she pulled her arm back, I grabbed it from her before she whipped it at him. The hardback was thick, and if it hit him, I was positive it would hurt like hell.
“Who’s Natalie?” I asked, determined to get to the bottom of this and have them calm the fuck down so I could get out of here.
“She works at the salon with her,” Ace said, pointing toward the volatile woman.
“Oh, yeah, that’s right,” I muttered, more to myself than to either of them. Deciding enough was enough, I glared at Ace. “Do you like Natalie?”
“Not like that,” he answered, daring to take another step toward Chelsea, scratching his jaw. The man needed a shave.
“Do you wanna fuck Natalie?” My second question made Chelsea’s body bristle, her hands finding their place on her hips. I sure hoped Ace answered no because she was gonna explode otherwise.
Instead of answering right away, though, Ace edged closer, his eyes narrowing into slits, his own anger toward Chelsea borderline explosive.
“Well?” My patience for these two had officially run out.
“He does,” she yelled, her face turning an even darker shade of red than moments ago.
“No. I. Don’t,” Ace hissed, the vein in his neck thickening in fury. “All I said was I bet she wouldn’t deny me as her man.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I asked, placing a hand on her shoulder to hold her back.
“It means she,” he said angrily, pointing at my sister’s best friend, “won’t agree to be with me but gets mad when I talk about other chicks.”
“You don’t know what you want,” she said, calmer than I expected, and it was then I noticed her eyes filled with unshed tears. And as soon as Ace saw the same, he seemed to calm a bit.
“Ace, you need to come with me and Kaden. Nothin’ good is gonna happen if you stay.” He opened his mouth to either protest or agree, but before either response escaped, I added, “You’ve both had way too much to drink and should stop right now before someone says something that changes everything… for the worst.”
I turned to face Chelsea, griping her shoulders. “Riley is comin’ back inside to be with you, okay?”
She nodded.
Then I looked at Ace. “Go outside.”
He didn’t argue as he walked past me and out the front door.
I led Chelsea to her couch, careful to not trip over the mess on the floor. “Stay here.” She didn’t respond or even look at me, her attention on the front door. “Do you hear me?” I raised my voice enough for her to tear her eyes from the door and land on mine.
“Fine.” One tear rolled down her cheek, then another. I hated it when women cried, and because her sadness made me uncomfortable, I rushed outside to find my sister.
All three of them were on the porch, Ace leaning against the railing probably so he wouldn’t fall the fuck over.
“She needs you,” I said to my sister. “I think you should stay.”
“I will.” Riley looked up at Kaden as he was about to protest, I was sure. “Ace is going with you guys, so I’ll be fine here with Chelsea.” She gave him a quick kiss, and he seemed to relax a little.
“All right, enough.” I grabbed Riley’s hand and pulled her toward me. “You need to go in there now before she comes out here.”
“Yeah, okay.” She looked back at Kaden before finally going back inside.
Kaden, however, was not happy, not in the slightest. He shot Ace a disgusted look before he stomped down the steps and toward his truck.
“Come on, man.” I was next to Ace in a few strides, slapping him on the back before we followed our buddy.
“Bitch is nuts,” he grumbled next to me. “But I think I love her anyway.” He said the last part more under his breath, but I heard him. Although whether he remembered what he said once he slept off his drunken state was a different matter.
8
Kaden stepped over Ace’s stretched-out legs. The second the drunk bastard sat on the sofa, he leaned his head back and passed out, his shirt torn on the bottom and sprinkled with his blood. He was gonna have one hell of a headache tomorrow, and to make matters worse, I could bet that Kaden was gonna read him the riot act for what happened back at Chelsea’s earlier. Too much alcohol had been consumed, and typically, I didn’t give a shit what happened between people, but for Riley to call Kaden to come and get her, well, let’s just say I didn’t want my sister to be involved in anything like that ever again.
“Have you heard anything more about Tag?” It was close to four in the morning now, and I wasn’t under the assumption we’d be kept in the loop every step of the way, or if anything at all had even happened after we
