Page 12 of Flock
“Let her stay, Dom,” Layla speaks up from the patio. “She’s not bothering anyone.”
His eyes scour me from head to foot before he jerks his chin in a silent order.
“Dom, come—” Sean speaks up next to me, and I hold up my hand.
“Whatever, I’ll go,” I glare at Dominic, shifting my weight from one foot to the other, thoroughly humiliated. This pleases him, and I see my cowardly reflection mirrored in his cold, steely eyes.
He turns to walk off, and I stop him, my hand on his forearm while I down the rest of my cider before dropping the empty bottle at his feet.
“Oops,” I say in my best bottled-blonde imitation.
Gritting his teeth, like my touch is blistering, his eyes slowly drift up to mine, his dark brows slashed in a “what the fuck?” expression.
“You know, you could say it was nice to meet me. You are kicking me out of your party. It’s the polite thing to do.”
“Never been accused of being polite.”
“It’s not an accusation,” I snap, as Sean curses and starts to drag me off. “It’s common decency, arsehole.” Clearly, cider gives me a drunken British pirate accent when I’ve had too much of it—either that, or I’ve been watching too much BBC. I giggle with the rush of a buzz as Sean lifts me into a fireman’s hold.
“And what a pretty arsehole you are,” I drawl.
Laughter comes from all sides as Dominic’s full lips twitch in something close to a smile, and I struggle against Sean to let me down. “I am trouble, you know,” I smart, as a catcall sounds from my left. “Just ask your brother.” Sean’s chest bounces against my thigh as I’m carted through the living room and out the front door.
Once he’s carried me to the driveway, he sets me on my feet, an apologetic smile already in place as he glances over his shoulder.
“What the hell is his problem?”
“I warned you,” Sean says with a grin. “He’s mostly bite, no warning bark.”
“He didn’t have to embarrass me.”
“He gets off on it, I have to admit, that went a lot better than I thought it would.”
“I thought it went pretty shitty.” I slur, realizing just how hard the cider has hit me.
He frowns, studying me carefully. “I’m going to drive you home, okay? I’ll pick you up to get your car in the morning.”
“Fine,” I huff as he opens the door for me. Sitting in his seat, I cross my arms, furious. “I feel like I just got put in timeout.” I turn to him. “I’m not a confrontational person, like at all. Sorry, I don’t know what came over me.”
“Dominic could bring the claws out of a nun.”
“You don’t say.”
Sean chuckles, shutting the heavy door before looking over to me with sympathy.
I sink in my seat. “It’s my dad, isn’t it?”
He nods. “He employs nearly half the people at that party.”
“It’s not like he deals with the day-to-day at the plant.”
“He’s got a long reach.”
“Yeah, well, I make it a point not to tell him a damn thing. You can trust me. And I am an adult.”
He taps the lip I hadn’t realized I’d pushed out. “You’re fucking adorable. And beautiful. But let’s be honest, a little too young and good of a girl to be hanging out with us assholes.”
“I’ve been to plenty of parties, I just never really partake. And I like you assholes. Just not that arsehole.”
