Then, she had gone and said that shit. Fuck!
That woman made me want to scream.
The sun sank lower, and Julia didn’t come back. I couldn’t believe she had actually left me. I laughed softly at the audacity. I was pissed at her, but, God, it was still hot. That she’d treat me this way. No one stood up to me about anything. Her spunk had always been a turn-on.
But if she goes after Patrick…
I shook my head and crossed my arms, wishing I had the rest of that whiskey Jensen had given me. At least then I could drown her out of my head.
Headlights sparked in the distance as the last streaks of sunlight were noticeable on the horizon. I glanced toward the source of the light and sighed when I realized the local kids had finally arrived. Just what I didn’t need.
Then, I noticed Jensen’s truck following close behind the other cars. I waved my hand at Julia to get her attention. At least she came back even if it’d taken her for-fucking-ever.
The truck stopped next to me, and I hopped into the passenger seat, trying to hide my disappointment that it was only Patrick. “Took you long enough.”
“What the fuck have you gotten yourself into this time?” Patrick asked.
“Nothing. She went crazy.”
“You brought her to a make-out spot, you dipshit. How did you think she’d react?”
I shrugged. “She seemed into it.”
“Until you told her?”
“Maybe.”
Patrick shook his head and shot me a look of disbelief as he veered us back to the lake house. “You and me, Austin, we’re brothers. I get you. But don’t be stupid about Julia, or she’ll find someone else.”
“Why? Did she say something?” Curiosity got the better of me. I couldn’t help the stab of anger at the thought that she might have gone after Patrick already.
“Besides telling me to get you? No.” Patrick raised an eyebrow with a smirk. “Why?”
“Never mind.”
I scowled out the window. She was getting under my skin. She’d said that thing about Patrick on purpose. I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of thinking about it anymore. In fact, I was determined to pretend like she didn’t exist for the rest of the weekend. I’d made her an offer. If she didn’t want to hook up, then there were plenty of other hot girls on the lake this weekend.
Julia Banner means nothing to me.
Nothing.
Our arrival back at the lake house was duly noted. Morgan was standing at the front door with her arms crossed, looking livid. Patrick and I hopped out of the cab and approached her.
“Were you driving?” she asked Patrick, her voice low and commanding. The tone she used in the boardroom that said she was about to bite someone’s head off.
“Uh…yeah?” Patrick asked, as if he didn’t see the oncoming tongue-lashing.
“Are you out of your mind?” she snarled. “You have been drinking!”
“Chill out, Mor.” Patrick slung his arm around her shoulders. “I didn’t drink with dinner, and I wasn’t drunk to begin with. It’s all good.”
“All good?” she asked with a shake of her head. “You were driving down canyon cliffs! You could have gotten hurt, or worse, hurt someone else.”
“I appreciate the worry, but as you can see, we’re fine.”
He laughed and ruffled her hair, like she was still a little kid. I cringed inwardly for her. It was lucky the light was dark out or else everyone would have seen the blush coating her cheeks.
“Right. Fine,” she muttered as he walked away.
I pretended not to see her wistful glance and ducked inside before I got the next bout of anger from her. When she went on a tirade, she was unstoppable. I wish I’d seen the shit that had gone down last year with Morgan and Miranda, Landon’s ex-wife. Heidi had insisted it was one for the record books.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Morgan said, diving in after me.
“I’m fine. Nothing happened. All is well. Feel free to yell at someone else.”
“I wasn’t going to yell at you.” She rolled her eyes and swatted my arm. “Family meeting. We were waiting for you.”
“What’s it about?” I asked as I followed her.
“You’ll find out with everyone else. But get ready; it’s pretty kick-ass.”
I blew out a breath. “Oh, good, you’re not pregnant.”
She rolled her eyes. “Who do you think I am? Sutton?”
“Hey!” a voice said, coming up behind us. “I heard that.”
My youngest sister trotted up to us and flashed us a feisty smile. She was only twenty-two and had dropped out of college at Texas Tech after she got pregnant by her now-husband Maverick. The name was the real deal. Their son, Jason, was pretty adorable, and even Maverick was turning out to be an A-OK guy. We’d all thought he was in it for the Wright money, especially after he had taken the Wright last name in the marriage, but he’d surprised me by being upstanding and really loving Sutton. Somehow, she’d found her happiness before anyone else…even though there was an eleven-year age gap between she and Jensen.