“I need you to keep Lynch busy tonight,” Molly urges as she nudges one of the shot glasses in my direction.
With the influx of hangarounds for the night, the girls are busy entertaining, so it’s just Molly and me standing here.
My eyes narrow. She’s never asked me for anything like this before. I feel obligated to help her, but at the same time leery.
“Lynch does what he wants,” I remind her.
“He does what you want,” she clarifies. “Just suck his dick or something.”
Obviously.
“Molly, I love you. I really do, but I’m not going to manipulate your brother.”
“I’m not telling you to manipulate him. Just shake your ass a little more in that short skirt when he gets out of church. His dick will do the rest of the thinking for him.”
I giggle to hide the wince from the liquor as I lower the empty shot glass back down to the table.
“Any chance you’ll tell me why you so desperately need him distracted tonight?”
She frowns at me as if I have the gall to ask such a question after she’s asked a favor of me.
“Zoe,” she whines.
“Molly,” I tease.
Her eyes dart away from mine, focusing on the closed chapel doors.
“Your brother loves me.”
“Duh,” she responds. “Everyone knows that.”
“My point,” I tell her as I pour us a couple more shots, “Is that things aren’t the same as they were when I first got here. Lynch isn’t the same.”
“If you think my brother has changed other than opening his heart to you, you’re mistaken.”
“That one change makes a big difference. I don’t think he’ll be as opposed to you dating now as he was months ago.”
“Dating?” She tosses back her shot and glares at me. “This isn’t about dating. This is about who I want to date. Lynch would never let me date a biker. He wants me to meet a nice man in college and live in the suburbs away from all of this mess.”
Her arms wave around her, encompassing the entirety of the clubhouse. She includes the couples in all stages of undress on the sofas, the girls snorting coke off of each other’s tits, and the men running a train on some blonde in the corner.
“Kind of hard to do if you’re stuck here all of the time,” I mutter.
We’ve been out of the clubhouse frequently in the last two weeks. Although we’re always accompanied by someone from the club, there’s never been an opportunity for Molly to meet a man that doesn’t have leather on his back.
“I can’t even imagine anyone but him you know?” Molly’s sad eyes find mine.
We don’t mention Briar’s name anymore. We both know who we're talking about, so there’s really no point.
“I can talk to Lynch,” I offer.
“Don’t you dare.” She grips my wrist to the point of pain.
“That was the whole point I was trying to make before you sidetracked me.” She sticks her tongue out at me. “Lynch is different. Love makes you different. It makes you want others around you to have the same happiness.”
“Not going to happen,” she mutters pouring another shot.
“It’s possible.” I scrunch my nose up when she hands me the new shot, but I pour it down my throat anyway.
“Please,” she begs again when the chapel doors open, and the guys begin to file out.
“I’m just going to be me,” I tell her, but she knows exactly what I mean.
When Lynch and I are together, we’re equally distracted. She knows that as much as I do.
“Last one for luck,” Molly says as she pours a final shot.
I know what she’s doing. She’s building courage. No matter how much she and Briar have been dancing around each other, she’s made a decision that something is changing tonight. I smile at her bravery and throw the shot back with a little prayer that she also finds happiness.
“Getting started without me?” Lynch asks as he walks up and wraps his arms around me.
TJ walks up to Molly and kisses her temple before walking away in search of a woman for the evening. I’m still cautious around him. He went from nice guy to devil and back to nice guy in the blink of a damn eye. Losing concentration or letting your guard down around someone like that is only asking for trouble.
Molly angles her eyes toward Briar getting served at the bar, and without another word, I lead Lynch toward the couch on the far side of the room. It’ll position his back to his sister, but with me straddling him, I’ll be able to see when the coast is clear. Guilt swims in my gut as Lynch, unsuspecting of being tricked, nibbles on my neck.
Pulling away, I smile down at him. I consider this a for your own good situation. It’s wrong to be happy in a relationship and dictate whether others can do the same. Molly and I are the same age. He has to know that she’s just as capable of doing the things I’ve done, the things Lynch and I have done together.