“Another?” Eli asked.

When Allison nodded, I snorted. “What?” she demanded.

“I was just thinking that maybe multiple tequila shots aren’t such a good idea for you.” My gaze left hers and went to Eli’s. “She’s not one for holding her liquor well.”

Allison seethed at me from across the table. I’m pretty sure if given the chance, she would have thrown herself across the table to beat the shit out of me for my smart-ass comment. Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she got her composure back. Her eyes narrowed in on mine. “As much as I hate to admit it, Rhys is right. Although I love tequila, I usually make stupid as hell decisions that fuck up my life when I drink it.”

Once again, this was a side of Allison I wasn’t used to seeing—the bitch with claws. But at the same time, I knew I deserved it. I’d pushed her into making the comments.

After glancing between us, Eli slid the bottle of tequila away from Allison, which caused her to giggle. “Does that mean I don’t get another shot?” she asked, batting her eyelashes at him.

“Um, I think it’s a pretty good idea for you not to do something that fucks up your life when you’re out with me. I have a feeling it would be like a domino effect where Jake would then fuck up my life,” Eli replied, with a grin.

“Just one more,” Allison pleaded.

Eli rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine. I can never tell beautiful girls no.”

“And here I thought it was beautiful girls who couldn’t tell you no,” I countered, as he poured Allison’s shot glass to the brim.

He wagged his eyebrows. “Oh yeah, man, that too.”

Allison shot me a disgusted look before she took her shot glass and downed it. Once again, a shudder went over her fabulous body from the alcohol. She then slammed the glass down onto the table. “Let’s dance,” she suggested to Eli.

“Sounds good to me.”

Watching Allison head off to the dance floor with Eli was like a punch in the gut. It took a few seconds to catch my breath. I reached over and grabbed the tequila bottle. Taking Allison’s glass, I poured it full before downing it in one fiery gulp. I repeated the process twice to try to numb myself better.

Gabe arrived back at the table sans the girl he had been dancing with earlier. “What happened to your sure thing?”

He chuckled. “My sure thing ended up passing out on the dance floor. I got her to a table and then came back here.”

I laughed. “That’s classy.”

“Tell me about it.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes, just drinking our beers. It was a good thing Gabe wasn’t feeling talkative because I don’t think I could have focused on a fucking thing he was saying. My gaze remained firmly on Eli and Allison dancing. Each time his hands started to wander on her body, I tensed. It took everything within me not to get up and go drag her back to the booth.

After ordering another round of beers, Gabe nudged me. “Why don’t you go cut in on the happy couple?”

“Why the hell would I want to do that?” I questioned lamely. I refused to meet Gabe’s eyes for fear that they would betray the emotions I was feeling. There was nothing in the world I wanted to do more than go break up Allison and Eli.

Rolling his eyes, Gabe countered, “Come on, man. You’ve been shooting fucking daggers at my brother the entire time he’s been out there with Allison, not to mention the rest of the night. It’s pretty obvious how you feel about her.”

I shook my head while I played with the label on my beer bottle. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Gabe rested his arms on the back of the booth and eyed me with a shit-eating grin. “Don’t try to act like you’re not totally hot for her. It’s written all over your face when you look at her. I can’t say I blame you.” He closed his eyes in exaggerated bliss. “If Jake wouldn’t have my dick, mmm, I’d love to fuck her brains out.”

Slamming my beer bottle down on the table, I thrust my finger in his face. “Watch your fucking mouth!”

Instead of fear, Gabe chuckled. “Oh yeah, you’ve got it bad.”

I ran a hand nervously through my hair. “It doesn’t matter what I may or may not feel about Allison. I’m here tonight because Jake wanted me to keep an eye on Allison with Eli.”

With a wink, Gabe said, “And all the while, the wolf was guarding the chicken coop.”

“Whatever,” I mumbled.

“She’s hot for you, too, you know.”

“Is that right?” I snapped, after taking another long swig of beer.

“Oh yeah, it is. Allison’s too sweet a woman to be using Eli just to get at you. If I had to put money on it, I’d imagine that she’s trying to transfer what she’s feeling for you onto him. Most likely, you were a fucking dick who broke her heart by not being emotionally available to her, so she’s ready to move on.”

Cocking my head at Gabe, I said, “Well, thank you for that lovely psychoanalysis, Dr. Fucking Phil!”

Gabe laughed heartily. “It doesn’t have to end badly, man. Just go out there, ask her to dance, and tell her how you really feel about her.” When I opened my mouth to protest, he shook his head. “Yeah, Jake is going to be pissed. But so fucking what? This is your life and happiness we’re talking about, not to mention hers. Do you think we were all really happy that some man-whore douchebag like Jake was putting the moves on our virginal baby sister?” Gabe snorted contemptuously. “Hell no, we weren’t. But it wasn’t up to us—it was up to Jake and Abby.”

With a ragged sigh, I weighed Gabe’s words. Deep down, I knew he was right. All the reasons I tried to tell myself why Allison and I couldn’t be together were really just bullshit and bogus. I was just too much of a fucking pussy to want to risk getting hurt or having Allison realize that I wasn’t the man she thought I was.

“Oh fuck,” Gabe muttered beside me. I didn’t have to wonder what he was talking about when I glanced back out onto the dance floor. Immediately, red flashed before my eyes, and I gripped the booth until my knuckles turned while. I was precariously close to hulking out.

Not only did Eli have his lips on Allison’s, but his hands were practically on her ass. “Oh, hell fucking no!” I shouted, as I flung myself out of the booth for battle.

“Rhys, don’t!” Gabe shouted behind me, but I ignored him. Instead, I barreled on ahead, straight for Allison and Eli.


Chapter Thirteen


Allison

With Beyoncé’s Drunk in Love playing sultrily in the background, Eli’s head dipped to nuzzle my neck. “Mmm, Allison, you’re really starting to get to me,” he murmured into my ear, his breath singeing the sensitive flesh of my earlobe. Our lower halves were working in perfect sync to the music.

Craning my neck, I tilted my chin up to look into his eyes. “Am I?”

He nodded. “Although I shouldn’t, I’m really starting to like you.”

I grinned. “Aw, I like you, too, Eli.”

With a snort, he replied, “No, I mean, I really like you.”

An icy feeling rippled through my veins, causing me to shiver. Having a handsome guy say he liked you romantically should cause your heart to beat faster or a stirring below your waist. But that wasn’t the case for me when Eli said the words. I felt nothing.

Dammit, it wasn’t supposed to be like this. He was not supposed to be a means to make Rhys jealous. He was supposed to be an opportunity for me to have fun and forget about Rhys. But no matter how hard I tried, I didn’t feel the same intensity for Eli as I did for Rhys. It wasn’t even a drop in the bucket to what I felt for Rhys.

We’d both just been harmlessly flirting over the last few weeks on tour. Besides yesterday’s serenade, there hadn’t been anything overly romantic on his part. How was it possible that Eli was starting to have real feelings for me? I guess Abby had been right about the depth of what Eli was feeling.

After my lengthy silence, Eli took one of my arms and spun me away from him. When I came whirling back, I faced him this time. He winked at me before giving me a sexy grin. “Don’t get your thong in a twist, Allison. I just said I liked you—not that I wanted to marry you and make babies.”

I giggled in relief. “Okay, I can take that.”

Eli’s arms snaked around my waist, jerking me flush against him. With his lips hovering precariously close to mine, he said, “More than anything, I’d really like to go back to the hotel and screw you so fucking hard that you would scream my name over and over again.”

When I jerked back and widened my eyes in shock, he laughed. “Sadly, it’s the truth. But since I’m working on being more of a gentleman, I’ll refrain from thinking that about you. Instead, why don’t you let me take you out?”

“On a date?”

“Yep, a real date, just the two of us. Dinner and a movie or dinner and a club—whatever you want.”

I stared into his twinkling blue eyes. He really was a decent guy, not to mention the fact he was so handsome. If given the chance, he would really be good for me. Even though I wasn’t feeling as much as I should for him, it was time for me to give someone else a real shot and try to forget about whatever it was that Rhys and I once had. Even if I had to fake it for a little while.

With a groan, Eli mused, “You’re killing me here. I don’t think I’ve ever had to work so hard for a date.”

I grinned. “I’m sorry for bruising your gigantic ego by playing a little hard to get.”

“You’ve more than bruised my ego—I think you dented it.”

“The answer is yes. I would love to go on a date with you.”