She looked at his hand and then over to Derek before shaking it. “Brianna.”
“Don’t worry, Bri,” I said, shaking my head. “I think he wants to ask you some questions.”
Brianna nodded her head at Luke. “I’m ready when you are.”
Luke preferred talking to her in private, so Derek and I left to take a seat at the bar. “He better not be trying to fuck her, Townsend. He may be your friend, but nothing will stop me from kicking his ass.”
I slapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, big guy. Luke has a hard-on for Summer’s sister. He fucked her over a few months ago, and now he wants her back.”
Derek bellowed. “Holy shit, he’s delusional. Lara’s not going to take his ass back.”
“He’s determined, so anything’s possible. Hopefully, Bri can help.”
He snorted. “You and I both know how stubborn Lara is.”
I glanced back at Luke, who was listening intently to what Bri was telling him. “I know.” If Luke didn’t change his ways, there was no way in hell Lara would even consider taking him back.
About an hour passed before Bri and Luke finished conversing and joined Derek and me at the bar. “You good now?” I asked him.
He shrugged and looked over at Bri, who smiled and squeezed his arm. “He’s got this,” she said. “It might take a while, but he knows he fucked up.”
Luke elbowed me in the side. “You wanna know the first thing Brianna said when I told her what I did?”
Derek raised his hand. “Let me guess. She called you a no-good sack of shit and said she hopes your dick rots off.”
Brianna burst out laughing. “You know me so well.”
“Actually she did,” Luke confessed.
Brianna smiled. “And then he told me things I never thought I’d hear come from any man. That’s why I figured I should help him.”
“What did you tell him?” Derek asked curiously.
She winked at Luke. “That’s our little secret. I hope it works out for you.”
“I hope so, too. If not, then I don’t know what I’ll do.”
I looked down at my phone. It was closing in on twelve o’clock. “I hate to cut the party short, but I told Summer I’d be back around midnight.”
“Dude, you are so *-whipped,” Derek teased, enduring the wrath of Brianna when she smacked him upside the head.
“Don’t even go there,” she said. “You know you would do the same thing for me. Besides, I’m getting kind of tired anyway.”
Derek finished his beer and chuckled. “Let’s go then.”
Before leaving, I turned to Luke. “Do you have a way back home or do you need to come with us?”
He shook his head. “I came with Jason and some of the other guys. I’m good.”
“All right, brother. Good luck with Lara.”
“Thanks. I’m gonna need it.”
After we said our goodbyes to the rest of the team, Derek, Brianna, and I started for her little convertible. It was smaller than Derek’s SUV, but he refused to let her drive his car to the bar. We were cramped; I couldn’t sit straight since my legs were so long, so I sat sideways. When we got inside, I pulled out my phone and texted Summer.
I’ll be home in twenty.
She responded right away.
OK! See ya there. Almost done with the bookkeeping.
Once we got out of the city, Brianna lowered the convertible top. The city lights were far behind us, and the air felt amazing as it blew by us. “So what all did you say to Luke? You didn’t tell him to buy her chocolates, did you?” I asked teasingly.
She laughed and looked at me through the rearview mirror. “I told you, it’s mine and Luke’s secret. I just told him what I would want if I was in Lara’s place. Just whatever happens, don’t tell her it was my idea.”
I bellowed out a laugh. “Oh, hell.”
She glanced at me over her shoulder. “Exactly.” But then her wide-eyed gaze caught something behind us. “That’s weird.”
“What the hell is this guy doing?” Derek shouted, looking over his shoulder. Car lights glared at us from behind. When I turned to look, I saw a truck approaching much too fast.
“Brianna, speed up,” I yelled. She slammed on the gas, but the person behind us kept pursuing.
“What the fuck?” Derek hissed, flipping the person off.
Brianna grabbed his hand and yanked it down. “Derek, stop! It’ll just piss them off more.”
“I don’t give a shit. They’re riding our ass.”