Warnings and Wildfires

In my room, I stop and send Sully a text to let him know we’ll be there.

Can’t wait to see you, he writes back.

Warmth spreads through my chest.

I can’t wait to see him either.

An hour later we arrive and to my surprise, Sully meets us at the door.

“Hey,” he says and with no hesitation, sweeps me up against his body, pressing a quick kiss to my lips. He touches his forehead to mine long enough to murmur, “Missed you.”

Swoon, swoon, swoony-swoon. Seriously, I’m a pile of mush inside. “Missed you too.”

Behind us, Celia clears her throat. Yeah, we’re kind of causing a scene. Sully slowly sets me down and holds out his hand. “Nice to see you again, Celia.”

She eyes him with a brief moment of suspicion before shaking his hand. “I see you’ve gotten closer to my sister,” she says.

I elbow her in the ribs—which she ignores.

Sully’s not offended. He gives her a lopsided smile. “Do I measure up?”

“I guess we’ll see.”

He chuckles and takes my hand. “We always try to grab the big booth in the back. Keegan and Jake are already here. Liam said he and Bree will stop by later.”

Wow, I’ve been so caught up with Sully, I haven’t even told Bree.

Jake’s eyes widen when the three of us approach and he sits up straighter. “Keegan, you know, Aubrey. This is her sister, Celia.”

Keegan actually stands and shakes her hand.

Jake nods and settles back against the booth. “Nice to see you again.”

She briefly narrows her eyes, then flashes a smile at him. “You too.”

“The waitress has been slammed tonight. Ordering at the bar might be quicker,” Keegan warns us.

Sully asks Celia what she wants, then me. “I’ll go with you,” I offer.

It ends up being pointless for me to go with him. I’m too short for the bartender to even spot me in the crowd unless I jump up and down.

After Sully places our order, he slips an arm around my shoulder and leans down to kiss my temple. “I got you.”

I love the way he makes me feel. Safe, warm, and protected.

When we’re finally handed our order, I grab the pitcher of beer and let him take the rest.

“Thanks,” Celia says, grabbing the pitcher from me. I slide in next to her.

“We tried to divide and conquer, but the bartender kept looking right over me.”

“You’ve gotta be more aggressive,” Sully teases. “Get right in their face.”

“It’s so unfair.” I laugh and slap Sully’s arm. “You have like ten inches on me. They can’t even see me over the bar.”

He leans in and brushes a kiss over my cheek. “You’re perfect,” he whispers in my ear.

Jake sets his beer on the table with a thunk, drawing our attention his way. “Ten inches? More like ten and a half or eleven.” He holds his hands about two feet apart. “The Wallace brothers are extremely well hung.”

I cough and look away.

Sully reaches behind Celia and me and shoves Jake’s shoulder. “No one was talking about that. What’s the matter with you?”

“No offense to you, Sully,” Celia says with a smile. She casts a less pleasant look Jake’s way. “I find guys who feel the need to brag about their dick size usually aren’t packing much. Or they’re unimpressive in the sack because they think their big tool is all they need to get the job done.”

“Oh, he’s a big tool all right,” Keegan says. He lifts his chin at Sully. “I like her.”

Jake casts a sideways glance at his friend before responding to Celia. “I’ll prove your theory wrong any time you want, sweetheart.”

Celia leans into me and loud enough for everyone at the table to hear says, “I’m guessing Sully has the bigger package and that’s why Jake feels the need to overcompensate.”

While Sully and Keegan groan, I choke and reach for my water.

Unfazed, Jake reclines, spreading his arms over the back of the booth. He trains his mischievous eyes on my sister, staring her down. “Baby, anytime you wanna see my dick, all you have to do is ask.”

“No one wants to see your dick,” Keegan assures him. “Stop begging girls to look at your junk all the time. It’s embarrassing.”

Sully’s more direct with his brother. “Knock it off,” he warns.

Jake’s smug smile only grows wider, but he doesn’t offer up any more invitations into his pants.

“There they are.” Keegan nods toward the front of the bar.

“Thank God,” Sully grumbles. He leans down. “Sorry about my brother. He’s not usually this obnoxious.”

“Celia can handle herself. If you haven’t noticed.”

“Yeah,” he mutters, glancing over at them.

Liam and Bree make their way through the crowded bar to our table and Bree’s eyes widen when she sees Sully’s arm around me. She grins and flashes me a quick thumbs-up.

“Never been so happy to see you two.” Keegan casts a dramatic eye roll toward Liam. “You saved us from having to listen to Jake bragging about the size of his tool all night long.”

Celia snickers into her hand before throwing a quick wave. “Hey, Bree, good to see you again.”

“Why is Jake talking about his tool at dinner?” Liam asks.

“He was trying to impress me,” Celia explains. “But it takes more than a large tool to capture my interest.”

Everyone, except me, laughs while Liam and Bree squeeze into our round booth next to Keegan, pushing Jake closer to Celia.

God, I hope the two of them behave.

Bree touches the ends of her hair and smiles at Celia. “I need to come see you again, Celia.”

“Anytime.”

“What do you do, Celia?” Keegan asks.

My sister beams. “I’m a hair-stylist.”

“Are you any good?” Jake asks with a smirk.

My sister slowly turns and studies him. Without answering, she reaches out and runs her fingers through his hair. He leans into her like a big ol’ jungle cat—eyes closed and all. “You cut this yourself with hedge-trimmers or something?” she asks.

His eyes snap open, but they’re dancing with laughter instead of annoyance. “No.” He lifts his chin Sully’s way. “He cuts it.”

Sully shrugs. “I’ve done it since we were kids.”

Something about that hits me right in the chest. Can Sully be any sweeter?

Even though he didn’t extend an invite, she reaches over and runs her hand over Sully’s head. This time, I slap her hand away before she has a chance to comment.

“You do men’s hair too?” Bree asks.

“Don’t get any ideas,” Liam says. “I like where I go just fine.”

Keegan tucks his hands up under his chin. His eyes widen and his mouth kicks into a childish grin. “Gee, what’s next, boys and girls? Can we share makeup tips too? I’m in desperate need of tips on how to achieve the perfect smoky eye.”

While the rest of us burst into laughter, Celia shrugs. “You asked.”

“I need to run to the ladies’ room.” Under the table, I tap Celia with my foot. In her shin. I nudge Sully to let me out of the booth and Celia

follows.

“Why are you flirting with him when you clearly don’t like him?”

“Who?” she asks.

“Don’t ‘who’ me.”

“That was not flirting.” She waves a hand in the air. “He needs to be taken down a notch or two.”

I stop her with a hand on her arm. “Celia, I really, really like Sully, which means I’ll probably spend a lot of time around Jake. Please don’t make it miserable.”

Finally, she stops and really looks at me. “I’ll try.” She glances back at the table. “I guess as long as he keeps his mouth shut, he’s not bad to look at.”

“That’s the spirit.”

Celia teasingly shoves my shoulder. “I see someone I know, I’m going to stop at the bar and say hello.”

“See you back at the table.”

“Have you lost your mind?” I growl at Jake while he watches Celia and Aubrey disappear into the crowd.

“What?” he asks with an innocently raised eyebrow.

“Don’t fuck your brother’s girlfriend’s sister. Christ, why do we have to spell everything out for you?” Keegan snarls.

“I didn’t. Yet,” he mutters.

Keegan shakes his head. “Your ego is huge.”

“Oh, it’s huge—” Jake starts.

“Don’t,” Liam growls, cutting off my brother’s dirty innuendo.

Bree snickers into her hand. “Nothing Jake says surprises me by now.”

Jake turns his laser focus Bree’s way. “Is she seeing anyone?”

For some reason, Bree takes the question seriously. “I don’t think so.” A wicked smile curves her lips. “But Keegan has a point. If you date Aubrey’s sister, it might be awkward later.” She shoots a devilish look my way. “You know, if Sully asks you to be his best man and Aubrey asks her sister to be her maid of honor…” She drifts off, letting the suggestion hang in the air.

Jake and Keegan howl with laughter, assuming the way-too-soon-for-hinting-about-a-wedding bothers me. Liam casts a sideways glance at his fiancée.

Our waitress drops off the rest of our order, almost putting an end to any more premature wedding planning.

I glance down the hall, but there’s no sign of Aubrey. I notice Celia over by the bar.