Nick put the cup of coffee, in his hand down on a portable tool chest. He placed his hands on her shoulders, softly. “Calm down.” His voice was soothing. “I’m sure he’s fine.” He saw the fear in her eyes, and on the heels of losing one brother, the emotions were coming to the surface.
She closed her eyes briefly before she nodded in agreement. “Did he get drunk last night?”
“After I spoke to you I went upstairs. He said he was staying since you had Ava and Leah was working.” He dropped his hands from her shoulders and stuffed them into his pockets because all wanted to do was bring her soft body against his. “Maybe he’s with Leah.”
Sam ran her tongue over her lip absent-mindedly before she began to chew on it. His words rang in her head that after he spoke to her he went upstairs. She wanted to ask if he went upstairs alone or with his old friend that Phillip had called her about. She shook her head, what was wrong with her? She needed to be worried about Luke and his whereabouts not Nick and his bedmates. She eyed him suspiciously, to hell with what he thought, if she found out he had bedded the long lost friend she’d kill him.
“What’s with the look?” He asked as she glared at him.
“You left him alone in a bar to hook up with an old friend?” She crossed her arms at her chest, hating herself for being weak enough to care.
Nick bit the inside of his cheek before his lips curved into a grin. He watched the anger in her eyes spear him and his grin only widened. “Watch out baby, you sound a little jealous.”
Sam rolled her eyes. “Jealous? No. Surprised? Yes, that you would leave your friend drunk in a bar to go get off.” Nick’s brows arched as the grin stayed firmly planted. He closed the space between them.
“First, your brother is a grown man who can take care of himself. If he had met someone do you think he would’ve asked me to come along for the ride?”
Sam couldn’t look at him; he had all but confirmed that he had been with another woman. She looked at the cement floor and tried to come up with a response. He put his finger under her chin and tilted it upward so that her eyes peered up at him from under her eyelashes.
“After I spoke to you, I went upstairs alone.” He said his voice barely audible as he leaned closer to her ear. His breath on her earlobe sent shivers down her spine. “And the only thing I got off to was picturing your sweet face when I make you come.”
He dropped the finger that held her chin up and took a step back. Sam swallowed hard as his words resulted in a pool of lust between her legs. She pressed her thighs together tightly and was sure her entire body was red from the flames that were coursing through her.
“Shit! Sam I’m sorry, where’s Ava?” Luke said as he ran into the garage. Neither Nick nor Sam had even heard his car pull into the lot, both more engrossed in each other to have heard him.
Nick shifted the waistband of his jeans trying to alleviate some of the pressure in his groin. He turned around and peered at Luke, his eyes widening as he took in the mess that his friend was. He was dressed in the same clothes as he had been the night before. His hair was disheveled and he had a day’s worth of hair growth along his jaw. His eyes were bloodshot. Nick leaned closer and was shocked to find Luke’s neck loaded with hickeys. He grinned. “Well look at you, Lanza.”.” Nick laughed out loud at the sight of his friend.
Luke stared daggers at Nick before turning towards his sister. “I’m really sorry.”
Sam’s eyes were wide as she shook her head. “No need to be sorry.” She stammered. “Are you okay?” She cocked her head to the side and gave him a quick assessment. She had never seen her brother look like this before, this was so out of character for him.
Luke swiped his hands over his face. “Yeah I’m fine.” He said, unsure of himself.
“What the hell happened after I left you, man?” Nick asked as he scratched the stubble growing along his own jaw. Luke shot him a warning glance and Nick looked baffled. What happened to telling each other what crazy shit they had gotten themselves into? Usually it was Nick doing the half-witted disasters not Luke, and now he wasn’t even going to share?
“Where’s Ava?” Luke turned towards Sam.
“She’s in the office, Nick promised to take her to the arcade.” Sam crossed her arms and peered at Nick. “Didn’t you?”
Nick smiled. “Yeah, so?” He turned back to Luke. “Johnny’s got everything under control in the shop. You look like you need, I don’t know, sleep, a shower, maybe a pot of coffee. We’ll take care of Ava.”
“No.” Sam smiled sweetly. “You’ll take care of Ava, I have an appointment.”
Nick’s grin fell slowly. What did he know about taking care of a kid? When he offered to take Ava to the arcade he thought Sam would come with them. Luke looked at Nick as if he was his savior.