“Willow, please. It will make me feel better knowing you got to your car safely,” Aly pleads with her. “We would take you ourselves if we didn’t have to get Sosie home right away.”
Willow’s eyes narrow on Aly, and then she looks at Sosie and huffs. “Fine.” She turns to Brodie, pointing her finger at him. “If you say or do anything to piss me off, I will put my heel so far into your foot that you’ll never be able to wear skates again.”
Brodie’s lips twitch as he brings his hand to his forehead and salutes her as if she’s his commanding officer. If I wasn’t so concerned about Sosie, I would laugh. Maybe Aly was right about the two of them being perfect for each other.
We say goodbye to both of them and walk Sosie out of the bar. She can barely keep her head up, and walking with her is nearly impossible. We are almost to the car when all of a sudden she stops and jerks her head up.
“I’m going to throw up,” she says, and I drop her arm as if she just burned me. Aly is the sensible one between us, and she turns her away from us so she can throw up near the building we’re next to. She holds Sosie’s hair and rubs her back, softly reassuring her that everything’s going to be okay.
“Gavin, we can see the car from here. Go run and bring it to us, please,” Aly tells me while Sosie continues to upchuck.
“I’m not leaving you alone.”
“Gavin, you can see us the whole time. She’s going to be useless once she’s done. Go now!” Aly demands, and I realize she’s right.
I run to my truck, get in, and turn it on. Aly was right; I can see them the whole time, and within seconds, I pull up beside them. Aly is holding Sosie against her, using the wall as her support system.
“Is she done?” I ask after I get out of the truck and open the back door.
“Yes, help me get her in the back seat.”
I bend down and scoop Sosie up, carrying her to my truck. I place her as gently as I can, laying her down across the leather bench.
“Do you have a plastic bag?” Aly asks, and I open the passenger door to get a bag out of the pocket in my door. I hand it to Aly, who grabs hold of the handrail and hoists herself up into the back to be with Sosie.
“What are you doing?” I ask, not liking the fact that she’s not going to sit up front with me.
“I’m going to sit back here with her. If she needs to throw up while you’re driving, I can hold the bag for her.”
“No.”
“No?” She shakes her head.
“She’s not buckled in, which means you can’t be either.”
“Can you please not act crazy right now? I’ll be fine. Just drive carefully.” Seeing she’s not going to give in, I place a swift kiss on her lips. “You’re really amazing to want to help her out, especially after the way she’s treated you.”
She just shrugs and looks once more at Sosie before returning her eyes to me. “I know if the roles were reversed, I would appreciate someone helping me out.” She swings her legs in, and I close the door after her. I walk around to my side of the truck and open the door to get in. “You do realize it’s probably going to be a long night, right?”
I look at my girl through the rearview mirror and grimace. All my plans to do very naughty things to her are now down the drain. “Yeah, I know,” I grumble, pissed off at Sosie for ruining the ending to my amazing evening. I reverse the car out of my parking spot and hear Sosie moan when I hit the brakes to put the car in Drive. An evil smile forms on my face when I think of how wicked her hangover is going to be tomorrow.
Payback’s a bitch!
Chapter Fifteen
GAVIN
I STARE DOWN at the numbers the marketing department just slid in front of me, a slew of emotions internally running wild as I look at them in shock. Never in my wildest dreams did I think so many people would preorder my first album. I’m speechless, humbled, and damn fucking proud.
The last couple weeks have felt like a dream, with things going so well both personally and professionally. We released the cover of the album the same day the second track came out called “My Ride or Die.” The song climbed straight to the top of the country music charts and made its debut in the top twenty of the Billboard charts.
“For a new artist, these numbers are extraordinary. We’re very happy, Gavin, and we hope you are too,” Atticus Langston tells me, everyone around the table nodding in agreement with him. It’s very rare for Atticus to attend these types of meetings, so the air is thick with tension from his presence.