Chapter 18

We arrived at Angus’s house to loud music and an even louder bunch of people.

“Angus!” Molly yelled from the small porch. “Goddamnit. Did you make your brother buy everything?”

Angus paused in the middle of lifting the box filled with groceries out of my hands. The look he had as he answered his fiancée of ten years wasn’t one of love. And as Killian had mentioned, it wasn’t probably one of “like” either.

“I didn’t make him buy everything!” he hollered back.

“Killian! Is Angus lying?” Molly demanded in a voice capable of shattering glass.

“No, Mol,” Killian answered, laughing when he caught Angus’s growing scowl. “It’s the God-honest truth—he made Sofia do it.”

“You’re such an asshole, Kill,” Angus growled when Molly started screaming at him. “Sofia, how the hell does a sweet girl like you put up with such an asshole?”

“He’s not so bad.” I smiled softly when Killian thanked me with a kiss to my cheek.

Based on Finn’s laugh, and his next comment, I could tell he was feeling better. “See that?” He motioned to Angus with a jerk of his chin. “That’s why we’re late to begin with.”

Angus frowned, appearing confused. “They were having sex upstairs,” Finn clarified. “What?” he asked Killian when he glared at him. “It’s true.”

“Angus!” Molly screamed again.

“Glad someone’s having sex,” Angus muttered, ignoring my heated face.

“An-gus!”

“Christ, Molly. I said I was coming!”

“You never said that!”

Killian started laughing again when Angus mumbled a swear and begrudgingly carried the box into the backyard and away from his beloved. Finn grabbed another box and followed.

Killian drew the last two boxes toward him and tucked one under each arm. “I can take one,” I offered.

“Not while I’m around. It’s bad enough you loaded all this stuff into your car on your own. Come on. Let’s head out back.”

I trailed behind him. Angus and Molly lived in a pretty and well-maintained Dutch Colonial, but its large yard was the huge selling point. Old oaks provided shade around the perimeter. At its center, someone had set up a volleyball net, and a few people were already playing.

Most of the guests loitering around the yard were unfamiliar to me. So when a young man taking pulls from a bottle of Heineken whipped his head in my direction, it caught me off guard. He seemed to recognize me. I wasn’t sure who he was, even after he waved. One of the two people gathered near him said something. He answered him, but kept his attention on me, smiling.

Killian leaned into me. “Who’s that?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” I told him truthfully.

Killian cast him a glance that wasn’t quite a warning, but packed enough force to encourage him to return his focus to his friends.

Declan, Killian’s older brother, graciously provided a much-needed distraction. He left his date to greet us. Girls had always swarmed him, but now that he was a newly appointed assistant district attorney, every time I saw him he had a new blonde on his arm.

“Hey, sweetie,” Declan said, kissing my cheek. He nodded to Killian as he and his other brothers unloaded the groceries across the picnic table. “Angus asked you for all this shit, didn’t he?”

I crinkled my nose at him. “How did you know?”

“Because he bitched at me for not replying to his texts.” He sipped on his beer. “I’d figured he’d go down the line until someone was willing to help his ass out. Cheap bastard. Make sure he pays you back.”

Curran, Killian’s younger brother, slipped his arm around my waist and kissed my temple. “Hey, Sofe.”

“Hi, Curran.” I glanced around him. “Where’s Brittney?”

“Who?”

I laughed. “Your girlfriend.”

“The stripper?”

My mouth opened slightly. “I thought she was a manicurist.”

“That was Lindsey.” Curran thought about it. “At least, I think that was her name—no, wait, that was Tiffany.”

“Not Mindy?” Declan asked.

Curran jammed his finger into his chest. “No, that was your girl—the masseuse.”

Declan smirked. “That was Cindy, and she only massaged me, Curran.”

I shook my head. The O’Briens didn’t seem to be the types to easily settle down, including Wren. She sat on a bench beneath an old elm. A buddy of Curran’s from the Philly police force played with her midnight hair and whispered something that made her grin.

Seamus hurried up to me and offered me a kiss as well. “Hey, Sofia.”

“Hi, Seamus. How are you?”

“Trying to enjoy my beer, but I can’t.” He scoffed, his attention circling his brothers. “Fucking Angus is already complaining that we need more beer. And guess who he thinks should run out and buy it?”

“The fuck?” Finn asked. “We already bought the food.”

Killian shoved him playfully as they gathered around us. “All you did was lift a couple of boxes, you little bastard. Sofia’s the one who shelled out the bills.”

Finn slung an arm around my shoulders. “But I was with her in spirit, and in the end, that’s the shit that’s important to God.”

The brothers collectively laughed and called him an asshole before Seamus continued his Angus rant. I left them to see if I could help Molly inside.

“Thank you, Sofia,” she said, glaring at Angus. “At least someone’s offering to help.”

“Mol, who swept the deck?” Angus asked her.

“I did,” she snapped. “You did a shitty-ass job.”

“Christ,” he mumbled.

I took the seven-layer dip she passed me and carried it outside. The same guy who’d glanced up at me when we arrived opened the screen door so I could pass. “Thank you,” I said.

“No problem, sexy.”

My steps slowed. I couldn’t believe how forward he was, especially after he’d seen me with Killian and how Killian had responded to the unwanted attention.

Although I wouldn’t turn around, I could feel his eyes burning a hole into my back. I pushed forward, hurrying toward the large picnic table to set down the dip. I took my time arranging the food and setting out the plates and plastic utensils, hoping the guy would move on. But he didn’t.

When I returned for another dish, he remained by the screen door. Again, he opened it for me. I ignored his smile and didn’t bother thanking him. He wasn’t trying to be polite. This guy wanted something more.

I spent the next few hours close to Killian, but when he, Wren, and Wren’s date left on another beer run, my anxiety about the guy who continued to smile at me worsened. It didn’t take long, though, for the remaining O’Briens to ease my tension, their banter making me laugh.

“I didn’t steal from the offering plate!” Angus insisted, abandoning the grill just to yell at Seamus.

Seamus pointed at him with his beer. “You’re such a goddamn liar—I saw you, so did Finn. Finn, remember when he shoved the change into his pockets?”

Angus’s voice boomed at Finn’s nod. “I wasn’t stealing—that shit’s a sin!”

“Then what the hell were you doing? Breaking a single?” Declan almost spat out his beer when he caught Angus’s reddening face. “Holy shit, Angus. You were, weren’t you? Damn, your ass is so going to hell.”

“Along with everything else, you fat bastard,” Curran said. He leaned into me. “Psst, Sofia, put in a good word with the Big Guy upstairs, will ya? With your help, maybe Angus will only serve two, maybe three decades tops in Purgatory.”

Finn nudged me with his elbow. “Yeah, Sofia. Your saintly self is the only one who can save him. Help a brother out.”

“Angus!” Molly yelled from the back deck. “For heaven’s sake, will you flip the damn burgers—people are starvin’ here!”

“Don’t worry about me, Sofia,” Angus said, shaking his head. “Hell can’t be worse than this shit.”

“An-gus!”

“Son of a leprechaun’s ass,” he muttered, trudging forward, his spatula gripped tightly in his hand.

Declan put his arm around me, ignoring the glare his date shot my way and his. “Can you imagine crawling into bed with that night after night?”

I covered my mouth to suppress my giggles. Despite Molly’s, uh, personality, she had a good heart. And in her own way, I think she really did love Angus. Just like he loved her back.

“Are you almost done?” she hollered at him. “I need help in the kitchen, god damn you.”

“Kill me, God,” he mumbled under his breath. “Please. Just. Kill. Me.”

Then again, not so much. “I’ll go help her,” I offered.

I made my way back into the kitchen and washed my hands in the sink before helping Molly cut up vegetables for the dip. “Thank you, Sofia,” she said. “You having a good time, honey?”

“I am, thank you.” I glanced up at the clock. Killian had been gone awhile now.

“Don’t worry, he’ll be back soon,” she said, smiling. She lifted the tray from my hands. “I better get this out there before Angus finishes eating his weight in potato chips. Do me a favor, will you, sweetie?”

“Sure. What do you need?”

“Grab me a couple bottles of red wine from the cabinet. Maybe it will hold people over until Killian and Wren get back.”

“Oh, sure.”

I hurried into their living room, where they had a small bar tucked into the corner. A few bottles of hard liquor lay across the bar. I knelt and searched through the shelf beneath. There were a few bottles of white, but no reds. Footsteps shuffled around in the kitchen and I heard the refrigerator door open. “Molly?” I called, thinking she hadn’t yet gone outside. “It looks like you’re out of red wine. Do you want me to bring out a few bottles of white?”

I stood when I thought she came in, only to meet face-to-face the guy who’d been staring at me all afternoon. “How’s it going, Sofia?”

I didn’t answer him, closing my mouth tight. He wasn’t leering, he didn’t appear to pose a threat, but that didn’t mean I trusted him.

“I see you still get a lot of attention.” He laughed when I knitted my brows. “You don’t remember me, do you? But I suppose it’s been a long time. It’s me, Maverick. Maverick Shuster.”

My frown slowly dissolved. I didn’t remember his name, but as I continued to stare at him, I began to remember who he was. He was one of those boys among the many that I’d let…

I angled around him, keeping him in sight as I backed away toward the kitchen. “Sofia, wait. Look, I know you have a couple of options for tonight. But I was hoping that sometime you and me could—”

“No,” I told him firmly. “I’m not that girl anymore.”

He smiled. But it wasn’t a nice smile. “Quit fooling around, Sofia. I saw you out there with those guys—each of them working you for a chance to take you home.”

My spine became so rigid, I thought for sure it would split down the center. He mistook the O’Briens’ friendly displays of affection for something else. Didn’t he realize they were Killian’s brothers or who Killian was to me? I was sure that he didn’t. But at that moment, I didn’t care.

He clasped my wrist when I tried to storm away. I wrenched from his hold, breaking his grip. “Don’t touch me,” I snapped.

“Come on, Sofia,” he said,

I smacked his hand hard when he reached for me again. “I told you, don’t touch me!”

He frowned as if I’d somehow insulted him, but it was Molly’s screeching voice that had me jerking away from him. “Angus!” She stood in the doorway leading into the kitchen. “Angus, get in here quick!”

Panic enveloped me. I wasn’t sure what she’d seen and heard. Angus tore into the kitchen, obviously having sensed something different in her voice. “What’s wrong?”

She glared at Maverick. “This little prick just grabbed Sofia.”

“What?” Angus shoved his spatula into her hands and stomped toward him, his mere presence making Maverick back away toward the front door.

“I didn’t do shit,” Maverick said.

Molly pointed at him with the spatula. “I saw you, you ball-less bastard—just like I saw Sofia smack you and tell you to get the hell off her.”

Angus pushed him hard, through the screen door and onto the little front porch. “What the fuck’s wrong with you, bitch—messing with our girl like that?”

“Kick his ass, Angus!” Molly yelled.

I followed behind them, struggling with what to do. I couldn’t tell them that he hadn’t meant what he did—because he had. But that didn’t mean he deserved to be pummeled.

My frantically racing heart stuttered to a grinding halt when I realized Killian had returned. He stopped in the middle of unloading a keg from Wren’s truck when he saw Angus hurl Maverick off the porch.

I hurried down the steps. One by one all the O’Briens appeared along with most of the people at the party. “What the fuck?” Seamus said.

“He was feeling up Sofia!” Angus growled.

Killian, who’d initially raced to my side, stormed in his direction. “You put your hands on my girlfriend?”

Wren’s date and a couple of other guys from the party rushed in to hold Killian back. The rest of the O’Briens closed in around Maverick.

Maverick’s face whipped in my direction, the desperation in his expression telling me what he was going to say, and that there was nothing I could do to stop him. “You have them all fooled, don’t you, you little slut?” he yelled my way.

This time it was Seamus who shoved him. “Watch your mouth, asshole!”

“Fuck you.” Maverick’s features turned as vicious as his voice. “Did she tell you about all those dicks she’s had—including mine?”

Nausea clenched my belly. Killian barreled through those holding him, only to be shoved back by Curran, Declan, and Wren’s date. As members of the public sector, they knew Killian could face assault charges if he let loose.

Swears and screams broke through the crowd as more of the people from the party gathered around to wrench Killian back. The rest of the O’Briens advanced, their sheer size and numbers forcing away Maverick, who wasn’t done talking yet. “Ask her, man—you think she’s so fucking pure—ask her what she’s done and who she’s done it with.”

I watched him stomp down the street. Two other people from the party followed him. The one girl apologized to Molly before running after him. She must have brought him, but no one seemed to care then.

All eyes, including Killian’s, were trained on me.