Damn her.
Curly looked ready to rip his head off, probably for making Brooke frown so hard. A flash of humiliation crossed Olivia’s face before she had a chance to school it.
He stumbled forward, ready to rip into her as Ty yanked him back. “Don’t you fucking dare,” he whispered. “Trust me when I say you don’t want to see the prez truly pissed. He didn’t do the crime, but he still spent thirteen years behind bars. Curly’s no one’s fool and can fight dirtier than all of us combined, Spec.”
“Fuck this,” he spat out as he wrenched out of Ty’s hold. Just as he was about to get the hell out of there, Brooke shouted.
“Hey! Knock it the hell off.”
“You know,” Olivia said to Brooke, gazing around the room with a pinched expression as though the place were covered in shit. Her voice was all throaty like people got when they were turned on. Except she seemed to speak that way all the time. “I appreciate you inviting me to hang out, but this isn’t exactly my scene.”
It amazed him how she could convey so much revulsion in one sentence. Her arrogantly wrinkled nose and the disgust in her tone were more obvious than if she’d worn a shirt that said, ‘You’re Beneath Me.’ God, he hated women like her. Ones who thought they were better than everyone because they’d been born to parents with fat wallets and never struggled a day in their lives.
She gave Brooke a quick hug. “I’m going to turn in so I can get an early start out of here tomorrow.”
Oh, thank fuck she planned to leave in the morning. One night he could handle. He’d get blackout drunk and pass out on a bunk there in the clubhouse. Eliminate any chance of running into her at his apartment.
“Get your shit together,” Ty whispered in his ear. “Curly was in a fucked-up club before. One where the members turned on each other. Guarantee he won’t put up with it this time.”
He turned and stumbled his way back to the bar, where he immediately poured another shot. Over the next few minutes, people from around town began to file in. Women mostly, looking to bag a biker for the night or maybe even a permanent spot on the back of a motorcycle.
Everyone gave Scott a wide berth, which was how he preferred it. Sitting alone and drinking himself stupid worked fine for him. Or it did until Brooke sidled up next to him and sat her meddling ass down.
Fuck.
He peered over his shoulder to find a slightly blurry Curly hovering in the doorway of his office with folded arms and a glare that said, “You so much as make my woman frown, and I’ll hang your nuts from the ceiling.”
“Why?” he asked before she had a chance to tell him what an asshole he was.
She pursed her glossy lips. “Because I think she needed it.”
He snorted. “She doesn’t need shit. You got any idea how much money her family has?”
With a shrug, she said. “I didn’t ask. I just got a sense she’s going through some heavy stuff, and she needs a place to take refuge for a while.”
“Heavy stuff,” he said with a chuckle. What a joke. He’d been through heavy stuff. Deke had gone through heavy stuff. Olivia lived a life of privilege. “What? You think Daddy took her black card away?”
“No, I don’t,” Brooke said in a chastising voice that might have humbled him had he not consumed half a bottle of booze already.
“She’s not one of your dogs, Brooke. You can’t give her some treats, scratch her ears, and earn her loyalty.” He stared at his empty glass. Speaking of drinking, where the hell had JT run off to?
“Gee, Spec, thanks for that. I was really hoping she and Ray would become besties.” She huffed. “I’m not a fool, and I don’t like the implication that I’m being taken for one. I saw myself in her and did what I wish someone would’ve done for me when I first got here. Olivia said she had some complicated stuff going on and needed to get away.”
“Of course, she did.” Why couldn’t she have chosen any other location in the entire world to get away to? “Complicated like her boyfriend only owns one private jet?”
“Damn, you can be cold.” With a frown, Brooke shook her head as though extremely disappointed in him. Deke would probably have done the same.
Join the club, sweetheart.
This was the least of his sins.
“Just so you know, Curly agreed she was more than welcome to stay tonight, but you’d have to agree for her to stick around longer.”
“Well, I don’t agree with that.” Problem solved.
Brooke set her beer bottle down then spun on her stool until she fully faced him. He stared straight ahead. No way in hell would she guilt him into letting Olivia stay.