Chapter 16

Delilah

“Can you be any more obvious?” Ivy sneers at her sister’s question, but she pulls her eyes from Griffin anyway.

“You can’t tell me you didn’t miss him while he was away,” Ivy says looking down at her clasped hands.

I hate to tell her that while she’s had her eyes on Griffin; his eyes have been on her sister. She either doesn’t see the way he watches her or she ignores it.

“He’s been gone a couple of weeks,” Gigi says with a shrug.

“Months,” Ivy corrects. “He’s been gone for months, and he’s fixing to deploy to Germany.”

“Okay?” Gigi says but doesn’t pull her eyes from whatever guy she's honed in on tonight.

“There’s no telling when he’ll be back home,” Ivy whines. I rub a hand over her shoulders. “Or if he’ll ever make it home.”

“None of that. We’re supposed to be having fun.” I tell her. I look over at Gigi. “Quit being a bitch.”

She turns her head, shock in her eyes and just stares at me as if I’ve grown three heads in the last five minutes. “Sorry.”

It’s a half-assed apology, but it’s the best she ever has to offer. When she looks across the room, I follow her line of sight. Lawson. I should’ve guessed.

He’s not looking at her, however, his eyes are locked with mine. Drew calls his name from the other side of the room, but he winks at me before turning his attention to his younger brother.

“He seriously likes you,” Ivy whispers and I can feel my cheeks flush.

“He likes embarrassing me,” I counter.

“You either go after him or I will,” Gigi spits before she stands in a huff and walks away.

“She’s disgusting,” Ivy says. “You don’t have to worry though. I don’t think he’d touch her. I heard her on the phone with someone bitching because she came on to him and he shot her down. She thinks something’s wrong with him.”

“Because he didn’t accept when she threw herself at him?” Ivy nods. “She’s nuts.”

“Mom and Dad have been talking about sending her to boarding school.”

My eyes widen. “They wouldn’t.”

I look across the room finding Griffin, Shadow, and Diego huddled together. I wince when Gigi bounces up to them and commands all of Griffin’s attention without so much as a glance in his direction. Diego frowns and shakes his head. Gigi walks away, pouting like a reprimanded child. Griffin’s eyes follow her until she disappears into the small crowd on the make-shift dance floor. He doesn’t stop looking until he takes a punch to the shoulder by Diego. I grin when Shadow tries to hide his laugh behind his beer bottle. Griffin straightens, nearly standing at attention as the MC President rips into him for checking out his underage daughter.

“He doesn’t even know I exist.”

I turn to find a tear glistening on Ivy’s bottom lash.

“Maybe I should be a slut like my sister. He’d have no choice but to notice me then.”

God, I feel terrible for her, but I have no experience with guys, so I don’t have anything to offer.

“I doubt that’s the best course of action. Acting that way just makes them want to use you and toss you away.”

“Really?” Ivy asks, her eyes darting to the bare skin of my thighs not covered by my shorter than usual skirt. “Are you wearing half a skirt for Lawson?”

I clear my throat, knowing she’s exactly right. I have no defense.

“He gets his jollies by torturing me. I’m sure if I actually challenged him, accepted one of his grotesque offers, he’d back away in a flash.”

“I doubt that,” she mutters.

“He’s an asshole,” I assure her.

“Yet you say it with a smile.” She returns my grin. “Delilah has a crush on the bad boy. Never thought I’d see the day.”

I look at her but refuse to say anything else. It isn’t until the light from the neon pink disco ball is blocked that I look away.

“Hey, ladies.” I smile up at Griffin, but then wince when Ivy’s fingernails dig into my thighs.

Without pulling my eyes from his, I grab her hand and bend a finger back until she releases her death grip on my leg.

“How long do we get the pleasure of your company?” I ask sweetly.

“I have to be back in San Diego tomorrow,” he says as he takes the empty spot on the sofa next to Ivy.

She’s stiff as a board, but she deflates when he wraps his arm around her shoulder and pulls her to his chest for a hug. “How are you, kiddo?”

I wince. Kiddo? Damn, that’s got to hurt.

“Fine,” she grumbles but doesn’t pull from his embrace.

“Looked like you and Diego were having a heated conversation. What was that all about?”

At least he has the decency to blush, but Ivy glares at me when he pulls his arm away to run his hand over the top of his crop-top. I don’t imagine she’ll ever wash her shirt again.

“He was…. Ah… giving me some advice that could save my life. Pointers about survival and shit.”

“For your deployment? Or the enemy combatants in the clubhouse?”

His eyes dart back to Diego, and the glare in his President’s eyes has him putting a little distance between himself and Ivy.

“Stop,” she mutters.

“Cut me some slack, D. She’s less than two years younger than me.”

I tilt my head, taking in his discomfort. He defends his sexual attraction to Gigi, but calls Ivy kiddo?

“Did you tell him that?”

He shakes his head back and forth almost violently. “Fuck no. He’d kill me.”

“Hey,” Samson says as he walks up. “You said we could use your playlist.”

“Yeah, sorry.” Griffin stands and walks away with my brother.

“And I thought Gigi was a bitch.”

I sigh, hating that teasing Griffin was at her expense.

I slap my hands on my knees, the uncomfortable sting from the impact lighting my nerve endings on fire. “You just need to take your mind off of him.”

“Impossible.”

“Let’s try anyway.”

I hate to dance, mainly because I suck at it, but if she needs the distraction, I’ll throw myself on the proverbial altar for sacrifice.

“I hate this song,” she mutters as Dawin’s Dessert begins to fade out.

She perks up the second it transitions into Nelly’s The Fix. We both look up to find Griffin grinning at us. Thumb up in the air, he winks at Ivy. She may think she’s invisible, but playing her favorite song reveals that it’s so far from the truth.

Before the song is over, we’re both glistening with sweat, and there’s a smile on her face I haven’t seen in a very long time.

“And this one!” Ivy squeals when Anaconda by Nicki Minaj blares through the speakers.

I shake my head, fanning my overheated face with my hand. “I have to sit this one out. You want a water?”

She nods and bounces around in a circle with her arms in the air. I can hear her singing the lyrics as I walk away.

“Jesus,” Dad mutters when I step up to the refreshment table. “It’s like watching mating on Animal Planet.”

I grab a water and turn back to the dance floor.

“I hope nobody gets pregnant out there,” he grumbles.

I laugh, head thrown back at his complaint. He’s smiling when I turn back toward him. “That’s not how it happens, Dad.”

An eyebrow shoots into his hairline, the star tattoo on his cheek twitching. “And just what do you know about it?”

I smile wider. We’ve had the birds and bees talk a couple of years ago. It left me broken and disgusted, and it’s not a subject we’ve revisited since.

“Just what I’ve watched on PornMD.” Both eyebrows disappear into his dark hair.

“I’m canceling the data on your phone.” I roll my teeth through my lips. “And turning off the Wi-Fi in the house.”

“I’m seventeen, Dad. I can’t stay a little girl forever.”

His eyes narrow in challenge. “Seventeen on Monday,” he corrects.

“Old enough to consent,” I tease.

“I’ll kill any bastard with the balls big enough to touch you.”

“So violent,” I say as I tilt my water up to my lips.

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow,” he hisses and storms off.

I watch as he joins Pop on the other side of the room. Pop looks over at me as Dad flails his arms and animatedly tells him about our conversation. He smiles and rubs dad’s back to try to calm him, but the look in his eyes tells me to stop torturing the man. I give them both a little wave and head back to the dance floor.

I bite my lip when I pass Lawson stretched out on the sofa. Rachel is practically in his lap. If I thought my skirt was short, it has nothing on Rachel’s. I know I’m not the only one who can see her lime green panties glowing between her legs.

“So fucking skanky,” I whisper to myself as I walk past them.

Samson is still standing near the stereo system with Griffin, but he’s throwing daggers at Lawson. My night just went from playful and fun to disappointing in an instant.

I can’t wait for everyone to leave so I can go to bed and just forget about the whole damn thing.