“Well, I totally blame you for the worst hangover in the world! I don't know if I’ll ever be able to drink again! Just looking at those limes makes me want to gag! You’re supposed to watch out for your little sister,” Henley feigned a pout.
“Yeah, well, that’s a full-time job, kiddo,” I laughed. So much had changed with Henley over the last six months. I’d been bartending at the club for over a year and only managed to convince her to come hang out with me a couple of times while I worked. She usually had an excuse for staying behind, saying she had to cram for a test or work on one of her school projects. But after she witnessed the brutal murder of Skidrow, Satan’s Fury’s Sergeant of Arms, she no longer had a choice. The brothers of the club were determined to protect her, and whether she liked it or not, they’d do whatever it took to keep her safe. As fate would have it, Maverick was put in charge of keeping an eye on her. Henley didn’t make it easy on him, and there were times when I almost felt sorry for the guy. But despite their rocky beginning, Maverick found something special in Henley, quickly claiming her as his own and risking everything to protect her. I had no doubt she’d met her match with Maverick, and I was happy for her, glad that she'd found someone who would always put her life before his own. They were always together, which meant she was at the club all the time. I’ve enjoyed having her around, but since the mandatory lockdown, she'd been moody and a bit of a handful.
“I’ll have one,” Allie answered with a smile as she looked behind her, checking to see if her husband was still playing pool. “Maybe two if Guardrail’s game doesn’t end soon.”
I reached behind the bar for the large bottle of tequila and placed it on the counter next to the salt and limes I’d put out earlier. I filled each of the shot glasses, and we each took our turn tilting our heads back, downing our drinks, and wincing as the burn of the alcohol hit the backs of our throats. We’d been talking for almost an hour, and I was just about to pour everyone another round of drinks, when Cotton came in and sat down at the end of the bar. Tension washed over me as I quickly glanced over at him, all the while pretending I hadn’t even seen him walk in.
When I let out a deep sigh, Wren asked, “Are you okay?”
I smiled and said, “I’m fine. I just need to …”
“Cass,” Cotton interrupted me as he called out to me from the other end of the bar.
“Well, shit,” I grumbled under my breath. Since he hadn’t spoken to me in days, it was hard to even look at him. It wasn’t that he hadn’t been around. In fact, he was around all the damn time, watching my every move like a hawk. I knew the issues with the club were getting to him and I hated to see him on edge, but I didn’t like the silent treatment he’d been dishing out over the last few weeks. I tried to blow it off, but I missed him, plain and simple. I didn’t want him to know that his new found distance was getting to me, but I couldn’t help myself. Every time he was around, I lost my sense of reason. I had to stop letting him get to me so much. He might be the President of Satan’s Fury MC, protector and leader of the club and everyone involved in it, but that didn’t mean he could control how I felt. It was up to me to get a grip and stop letting the man get to me so much. Feigning indifference, I flicked my hair over my shoulder and looked over to him as I said, “Yeah?”
“Need a beer,” he ordered, barely even looking in my damn direction. Asshole.
“And?” I asked, placing my hand on my hip. I wanted to be mad at him, wanted to hate him for making me feel the way I did about him, but just seeing him sitting there, looking sexy as hell, was making me lose all of my resolve.
His eyebrows furrowed in annoyance as he repeated, “Cass.”
I let out a deep breath, and since I knew it was pointless to resist him, I finally gave in. With my eyes locked on his, I walked over to him at the end of the bar. I reached into the cooler to get his beer, and without wiping the water that dripped from the bottle, I sat it on the counter in front of him. His eyes dropped to the water that pooled around the bottle as he let out a disgruntled sigh.