Maddie pouted and then turned, searching for her glass. “It’s still early. And I’m not ready to go back. Bobby, did you see where I put my glass? It’s around here, I swear.”
Her refusal must’ve given the little twerp courage because he planted himself in front of Maddie and Chase. “I’ll make sure she gets back to her room safely tonight.”
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen.”
Bobby-Dipshit held his ground while Maddie peered into the shadowy corners, searching for her lost glass. “She’s cool, man.”
“She’s nothing to you.” Chase brushed past the guy, leaving him standing there with his ruined plans for the evening. No way in hell if he was alive and breathing was some guy like that going to end up making Maddie a one-night stand.
Chase gently wrapped his fingers around Maddie’s arm and pulled her away from where a bottle of wine was chilling in ice. “Come on, let’s go back to our room.”
He gave Bobby a pointed look, satisfaction settling in Chase’s belly as his words sunk in and Bobby’s eyebrows shot up, his hands raised in surrender as he backed away. Yeah, game over, asshole.
She started to protest, but then she swayed way to the left, pressing her hand to her mouth and giggling. “I may be a little tipsy. Not too much, but I think I might be well on my way.”
Chase arched a brow.
Maddie giggled again as she peered up at him through thick lashes. “You look like you’ve sucked on something sour. What’s your problem? I was just dancing and…”
“And what?” he growled lowly.
She scrunched her nose. “Well, I was…huh, I don’t know.”
He rolled his eyes. “Come on, let’s get you to bed.”
“Oh, listen to you! Ordering me to bed. For shame,” she said, giggling as she wiggled free from his light grasp. “What would people think? The controversy, Chase.”
“Maddie…”
She flounced off ahead, and he sighed, trailing after her. Surprisingly, she was heading for the stairs that led to the pathway and away from the wine, which was a good thing, he guessed.
Passing Chandler, he cut his brother a look before he could make some smartass comment. And it was on the tip of his tongue, too. One thing Chandler didn’t do was relationships of any sort. His brother dated, sure, but it would be a good day in hell before the eldest brother settled down.
“Have a good night,” Chandler called out, laughing.
Chase flipped him off.
She made it down one step before he swooped in, getting an arm around her narrow waist. She leaned against him, and he led her down the stairs without her falling and breaking her neck.
Getting Maddie back to the cabin was an experience in patience and reluctant amusement. Several times she broke away from him and started to roam off to God knew where. He doubted she knew. Halfway back to their cabin, she kicked off her heels. Near the cabin next to theirs, she sat down in the middle of the pathway illuminated by the pale glow of the moon.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Taking a break.”
Shaking his head, he walked up behind her. “You haven’t been walking that far.”
“It seems like we’ve been walking forever.” She tipped her back against his knees and grinned. “I’m one of those drunk girls. You know, the kind who sits down in the middle of the street? God…it’s like I’m in college again!”
He frowned. “Did you sit in the middle of the street a lot when you were in college?”
“More times than I remember,” she replied with a chuckle.
“I don’t remember that.”
She raised a hand and pointed at him, but her aim was wobbly, so she ended up popping herself in the face.
He winced and grabbed her small hand, steering it away from her face. “Ouch.”
Maddie didn’t seem to notice that she’d almost knocked out her own teeth. “You weren’t always around, you know.”
Chase fought a grin as he bent down, got his hands under her arms, and lifted her back up. “Am I going to have to carry you? If so, it would complete my badass knight-in-shining-armor act with you today.”
“You are not a knight.” She stumbled forward and then spun around, patting him on the chest hard enough to make him grunt. “But you kind of are. You have a good heart, Chase Gamble.”
Wow. She had blown past ‘just tipsy’. “Okay. I think I might have to carry you.”
She huffed. “I can walk, thank you very much. I was just tired.”
“Thought you weren’t tired.”
“I’m not,” she argued.
He stared at her.