Page 213 of Steeling Her
“I think we should go and leave these kids to it and before you get anymore beverages offered to you by the young women in here.” She rolls her eyes and pushes her husband back towards the door they originally came from. “We need to go to another bar where there are people our own age.” She chuckles as they link arms and wave at their daughter, who waves back before bringing her attention back to her sulking boyfriend.
He needs to suck it up and grow a pair.Rodger Steel is like this with all the guys around his daughter at first. It’s his thing, a warning to let them know who’s boss, a test to see who will stick by her and treat her properly.
“Thank God they left, it’s so weird being in a bar with your parents.” Chris watches them leave and sighs in relief when they’re out of sight. They came and went just as quick, but they both left a hell of an impression. People are giving their attention to the famous couple as they meander around the bodies, Rodger protectively leading the way.
“Pfft, you hadn’t had a problem with it at first,” Danielle teases him as she slides into his side.
“My dad is hilarious when he’s had too much alcohol. He’s smooth with the ladies that hit on him. For an old man, he still has the charm,” Chris jokes with Austin.
“Like father, like son, right?” Danielle nudges even more into his side as he leans down to capture her mouth.
“You got that right!” He winks.
“Idiot, you weren’t supposed to agree to that, Chris.” Austin rolls his eyes heavenward and snorts.
“I’m in busy, Austin.” Chris holds his hand up to his brothers face as he continues to kiss Danielle, who is giggling as well. “Go find a girl to bore,” he continues and Austin reaches across to smack him on the back of his head, making excellent sound that can be heard through the music.
Even after all these years, they still act like typical brothers with one another. I’ve only had sisters, so I never knew what that felt like, but TJ is as close to a brother as it gets.
He’ll do, I suppose.
“Ow! Austin, fuck off!” Chris launches for some retaliation but is stopped by Danielle as she gets in the middle of the two of them.
“Stop!” their sister’s voice sounds drained when she interjects.
I follow the direction of where it came from and see she’s tense as she stands beside him. Looks like she and Ted had another fight.
“Finally stopped crying?” Chris snorts and Carter shoots daggers at him.
“Stop.” Danielle swats him to keep his mouth shut. I couldn’t help but snort though as I catch Austin’s eye. He is also trying to hold back a smile so he bites on his lip.
“You think that’s funny?” All of a sudden, the fun and games has turned into something a little different. I turn my head around to face Ted dead in the eyes. “I said, do you think this funny?” he asks spitefully again.
“Ted—” Carter rests a soft hand on his chest to calm him down but it doesn’t work.
“I asked you a fucking question!” he yells in my face.
“What the fuck crawled up your ass and died?” I match his tone and stand my ground. I’m not about to let this fucker to walk all over me. I know how to hold myself in a fight. I will tear him apart if he tries to swing at me.
“Ted, maybe—”
“Shut the fuck up!” he booms back at her, making her flinch. I lose all the patience I have with him. Before her brothers get to him, I beat the both of them to it.
“Don’t talk to her like that.” I push him to gain his attention.
“Or what? She’s my girlfriend!” He presses his forehead against mine to prove to me that he’s not backing down. Funnily enough, neither will I.
“Yeah, alright. Talk to her like that again, and I will beat the manners back into you,” I warn him. No woman should be spoken down to like that. Maybe it’s my southern manners, or maybe it’s just my common sense talking; either way, he shouldn’t speak to anyone with such disrespect.
“Oh yeah?” he sneers. “Try me!” he taunts me. I almost take his bait, but the fact that she’s watching this makes me think about the consequences. I could lose her for good, and that’s not what I want. “I thought so. You’re as weak as the relationship you had with her and still are hoping for,” he scoffs. I can feel the rage burst from me.
I couldn’t even feel the connection my fist made with his face, but I watch him fall to the ground while cradling his face. Everyone is in complete shock that I really did that. People stare at me and bring their phones out to sell this off to the media, keeping my “bad boy of the NFL” image intact.
“Nick!” Carter yells at me before getting on her knees and checking if Ted, who provoked me, is alright. I hope he isn’t, because I don’t regret doing it. What do I regret is her seeing me do it. No matter what I do, I keep fucking up, and she’ll always there to see it, which makes me feel even worse. “What are you doing?” She peers up at me in shock that I did this in front of everyone in the bar.
I notice that people are standing back but are also close enough to see what is going to happen next.
“Can you get up?” she asks softly down to the guy who doesn’t deserve her kindness.
