Scott looks annoyed, but I ignore him for the most part, even though while I talk to Meredith, I hear him ask her if she’s okay. Of course she is because otherwise, we would still be hanging at the bar or we’d be going home. If Elizabeth would let me in on whatever secrets she has left, maybe he’d finally shut the hell up because then that would be proof that she trusts me completely and therefore, so should he.
“Are you even listening to me, Marco?” Meredith asks.
“Of course. You said that you think Noah is an asswipe because he isn’t as charming as I am.”
She laughs and shakes her head. “I said that you and Lizzy should come over for dinner sometime.”
“Oh. Yeah, sure. We can do that.” I lean in to whisper, “Ask her to bake something. You won’t regret it, promise.”
“Will do.”
“Good. Rams treating you decent? I can no longer offer my services if he isn’t, but you could stay with me and we’ll spread some wild rumors to make him jealous. Or, I can beat some sense into him, but that might be hopeless.”
“Marco, leave my woman alone,” Noah orders, pulling her closer to him.
“Why? Did you overhear her plans to leave you and try to steal me from Elizabeth? I’ve told you before that you should be concerned over her having the hots for me.”
“Leave them both alone, Marc,” Elizabeth says, slipping her arm around my elbow. “Even if you were single and Meredith wasn’t with Noah, she still wouldn’t want you.”
Noah laughs loudly and it’s probably because my girlfriend just slammed me and is on his side without saying so.
“You hush. You don’t know anything.” I kiss her real quick. “You’re supposed to be on my side,” I remind her.
She shrugs unapologetically. I glance around the table, noticing for the first time that Z is here. He didn’t sustain a concussion from the hit, which is good, and he’s making more of a presence for himself on the ice. What shocks me the most is that Ian is also here.
“Bruiser, what are you doing here? You might combust or something from not being wherever it is you usually go when you’re not with us.” Not everyone knows that he goes to see his girlfriend who isn’t his girlfriend and doesn’t know he lives in North Carolina, and I’d rather not be the one to spread the news.
“Couldn’t go there tonight, so decided to come here.”
“We love being your second choice.”
“Better than third or fourth,” he says.
Elizabeth’s hand starts running up and down my thigh, moving toward the center of my lap with each glide upward. Her margarita glass is empty. This girl and alcohol always brings out her need for sex. “Let’s go home,” she whispers in my ear.
I wave down the waitress to pay for Elizabeth’s drinks. If she doesn’t stop brushing against me, I’m going to have to pin her arms to her sides to restrain her because she’s going to start the fun too early.
“We’re heading out,” I announce a few minutes later once I’ve paid, stood, and have taken her hand.
“She doesn’t need to drive,” Scotty says.
“I’m fine,” Elizabeth answers as I reply, “Wasn’t planning to let her.”
Two shots and a margarita in forty-five minutes? No, she isn’t driving. Elizabeth is a lightweight. We’ll come get her car in the morning. Despite what she said, Elizabeth doesn’t put up a fight as we say goodbye and walk out to my truck. She sits in the middle seat next to me and tries to get her hands inside my pants to stroke me, but I have to keep shooing her hands away. The last thing I need is that kind of distraction while driving.
“You’re no fun,” she pouts.
“We’ll have plenty of fun once the truck is in park. Safety first.”
That cracks her up. “Okay, okay.” She finally stops and rests her head on my shoulder.
When we pull into my driveway, my headlights pass over a figure on my porch. My body locks up and I’m tempted to put the truck in reverse and leave.
“What’s wrong? Marc?”
I shift into park. “Stay here. Better yet,” I unbuckle, open the door, get out, and grab her thigh to pull her into the driver’s seat. “Leave. I’ll call you when you can come back.”
“What? You just said I couldn’t drive and now you want me to drive your truck? What’s going on?”