Page 33 of Stupid Dirty

I mean, he’s a good-looking guy. But I hadn’t been flirting with him.

Right?

“Sorry, I didn’t…”

I was about to explain that I wasn’t hitting on him, but Silas and Cassidy are still in my eyeline, so I have an unobstructed view of the moment she stands up on her tiptoes to whisper something in his ear. I don’t know what it was, but I can see how her arm snakes out around his waist as she does it, and how he grabs her hip with one large hand to hold her steady, and it distracts me from whatever I was saying.

Whatever question she asked him, when she leans back, he’s nodding yes.

I feel sick. Maybe I went too hard on the shots.

When I turn back around, the bartender—Gunnar—is giving me an unnecessarily sympathetic expression. Moving my half-drunk beer out of my reach and the water directly in front of me, he leans forward until his warm, sensible face fills my vision.

“Well, here’s some more unsolicited advice, kid. Stop drinking, go home, get some sleep. Maybe talk to your friend in the morning. It won’t seem so bad with a little perspective.”

There’s no chance for me to ask him what the hell he means before he turns away to answer another customer down the bar.

I’m trying to evaluate if I need to go to the bathroom and hurl when the two of them walk over to me, and I have to peel my eyes from where Cassidy is holding on to Silas’ beefy arm to zone in on what he’s saying to me.

“—been drinking, so I said I’d give her a ride home. Okay?”

What’s he talking about? I must look spaced out, because he repeats himself.

“I said that Cassidy’s been drinking, so I’m gonna drive her home.” Ah. So all my hard work to get him laid was a success. Yay, me. “Do you wanna come with us?”

The thought makes me snort. My drunk ass cramping his style is the last thing he needs. Shaking my head vigorously turns out to be a bad idea though, because I slip off the stool, and Silas has to grab me and prop me up.

His hands are warm and sure, holding me upright. The familiar smell of his aftershave fills my nose, all citrusy, and settles the churning in my gut.

“I’m fine, man. Go ahead. You two have fun.” I really hope I’m not slurring, but Silas’ sudden concern tells me otherwise.

“Cade, are you okay? How much have you had to drink?”

“I’m fine,” I say, peeling his hands off my arm and pushing him towards Cassidy. “Get out of here.” Then I grin, so they know I mean it in the nice way, but the expression feels weird and vacant.

“Cade, you seem not good. Let me take you home.” Silas is reaching towards me again, making Cassidy’s hands fall away from where she was holding his arm. She looks up at him with a hurt expression, but he doesn’t notice, and I feel even more shitty than I did before.

Why am I being so weird? This is exactly what was supposed to happen. I just need him to leave so I can make the world stop spinning and clear my head.

“I told you I’m fine. I don’t need a fucking babysitter.” I jerk my body out of his reach, and now he’s the one who looks hurt. Awesome.

“I’ll take him home. Come on, dollface.”

I’ve never been so relieved to see Wish in my life, and my whole body sags.

“See? I’m fine. You guys should go.” I gesture at the two of them and try to smile again, but it feels pained. “Enjoy.”

Slinging my arm around Wish’s tiny shoulders, I lean as much of my weight into her as I can and try not to look completely obliterated as we head for the exit.

I can feel Silas’ frown follow me the entire way out. But once I’m sitting in the passenger seat of Wish’s Wrangler, I catch sight of Silas walking Cassidy over to his F150 on the other side of the parking lot.

She’s hanging off his arm again, and he holds out his hand to help her step up into the cab.

That’s the truck we got last week on our spontaneous shopping trip, to celebrate him getting the job at Ford’s. I joked that it had to be a Ford, but the truth was it was dirt cheap, but still ran well enough to drag his bike to and from races. I even managed to sweet talk Ford into co-signing the loan. I think he might secretly be loaded since his dad died, and I know for a fact he already likes Silas more than me.

Maybe I shouldn’t have pushed Silas right away, but I felt like he needed it. He’d never had his own truck before. His dad had never seen the point in them having two vehicles, Silas said.

The way his fucking face lit up when he drove it home was insane. He looked so free.

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