Frank catches sight of Melody and stiffens. I nudge him with my shoulder. “Make your move.”
I’m being a good wingman tonight because Frank’s my bro, not because if he’s distracted by Melody, I can find out why Emma has suddenly gone cold on me. Nothing like that at all.
CHAPTER6
EMMA
I catchsight of my brother and Vincent the second they walk into the bar. They tower over everyone, making them hard to miss. What the hell? I’d left that house to get away from them and cheer my friend up. Biscuit isn’t going to help with that either if he’s here. I’m sure he’s the last person Melody wants to see.
“They’re here,” I say, covering my mouth with my drink. Melody stiffens beside me. “We can go somewhere else if you want.” I toss out the option to her.
She tilts her head to steal a glance over at the two of them. They’re talking to Blake. Great, if they become friends with him, I’ll junk punch both of them.
“You weren't kidding. That Vincent guy is really good-looking.” A lick of jealousy hits me. It’s stupid considering I know that Melody is head over heels for my brother. But I can’t help the way I react. It seems to be an ongoing issue whenever Vincent is involved.
I’m not sure why Melody is in love with my brother. Well, at least she thinks she is. I’m not sure if she’s made up an idea of who he is in her head. Don’t get me wrong; my brother isn’t a bad man. In fact, he’s one of the best I know, but sometimes he doesn’t pick up on things when it comes to women and some people don’t click. And if he doesn’t realize that Melody is a damn prize, then he doesn’t deserve her. He isn’t even giving it a chance to see if they could be something. He turns into a different person whenever she’s near. I wonder how he’s going to feel when he realizes how close the two of us have become. That’s going to make it really hard for him to avoid her now.
“What do you think they’re talking to Blake about?” I ask, refusing to glance their way. In school, Melody and Blake had been in the same grade. He was only good at one thing, and it was football. That’s not saying much since our football team wasn’t anything to write home about. With the way Blake acts, you would think he was the number one draft pick or something.
When in reality, he wasn’t even offered a scholarship for it. But he had still gone away to college. It was nice not having him around, but it was only for a few years. I’m not sure what happened there, but I have a feeling something went down. If I were to guess, I’d say his daddy had covered up whatever it was with his money. Not sure what to do with his own son, he made him the problem for the rest of us.
“I think he’s being his normal jerk self. Your brother has his fist clenched at his side.” I steal another peek over toward them and see she’s right. Whatever he is saying, my brother is fighting the urge not to punch him in the face. If he only knew that I have Blake’s karma handled already.
I whip my head back around when I see Vincent’s head start to turn our way. No way am I getting busted staring at them.
“They're coming over,” Melody says in a panicked voice. I’m still a bit shocked Melody slapped Biscuit, but good for her. It might shake something loose in that giant head of his.
Her hands drop below the table, and I know she is running her palms against her dress. She’s a girly girl and is always in a dress. I’m more of a jeans kind of girl, but since we’re at a bar, I went with jean shorts and my boots. I wanted to be comfortable.
My skin prickles with goosebumps as they make their way closer to us. I swear I can feel Vincent’s stare as though it’s a touch. A throb forms between my thighs. I hate that my body has such a strong reaction to him. Especially if he does have a girl waiting for him somewhere. I pick up my bottle of beer and chug half of it down.
When they're at the edge of our table, there is no ignoring them. Their giant bodies block out the rest of the bar like a wall of hard steel.
“Hey, Melody,” Biscuit says.
“Oh, is it good to see me again?” I bite the inside of my cheek so that I don’t laugh. Damn, Melody is on a roll. She’s normally sweet as pie. Clearly hanging out with me has been a good thing for her. Some may not agree, but whatever has given her this backbone, I’m here for it.
“I mean it’s always nice to see you.” My brother shifts on his feet. I cock my head to glance up at him. She makes him nervous. This is amazing.
“Right.” She picks up her glass of wine and takes a sip.
“What’s up with Blake?” I ask when the table goes quiet. They continue to loom over us. I’m not sure why. Vincent doesn’t care for me. He’s been rude to me but sweet as shit to Mom, so he has it in him to be charming.
God and everyone else knows Biscuit isn’t going to fix his fuck up with Melody anytime soon. I actually feel a tad bad for him. He never dated in high school. All his free time was spent on the farm with Dad, and then he’d taken off for basic training. I don’t think they taught wooing a girl in that training. Still, I’m not going to help him or give him any tips at least for now. He deserves to squirm for a bit.
“Still an asshole,” my brother says.
“You know he's the police chief now.” I don’t know how I’m going to end that shit, but somehow I will.
“I was praying he was drunk when that came out of his mouth.” My brother shakes his head in disbelief.
“Is there something you all need?” Melody asks, taking another big gulp of her wine. “You’ve got a girl.” She points to Vincent. “And you can drop dead.” She turns her finger on my brother.
“I don’t have a girl,” Vincent responds. I try my best to keep my face straight. “Butsomeoneclearly has been talking about me.”
“This is a table for two. You’ll have to find your own” is my only response, knowing I’m busted.
“This one is open.” My brother points to the one right behind us. Both he and Vincent drop into the chairs. Then I watch as all the women in town realize my brother is not only back but he brought fresh meat with him.