Page 53 of Living with Fire
“Jor?” Liam says, his tone amused. “I think you might be forgetting one thing.”
Frowning, Jordan looks at him, her eyebrows furrowed. “What?”
“The angst is there because they aren’t fucking. If they start, you’re the one that shares a wall with your brother,” he reminds her to everyone’s laughter, except Jordan’s.
I don’t blame her when she balks, grimaces, and then scowls at Liam.
“Hey Bryn!” he yells out to her. “Make Jordan’s a double! She’s gonna need it.”
CHAPTER 19
NATE
It’s just after two in the morning and the bar is officially closed. Most of our table left a couple hours ago, but Liam and Quinn are both still sitting across from Savanna and me, downing the last of their beers so they can get out of here and let us finish closing.
“Well, beautiful, what say you?” Liam says to Quinn. “Wanna take a walk?”
She glances over at him and grins. “Take me home, handsome.”
I can feel the question in Savanna’s gaze as she gives me a sideways look. I smirk. I’m used to these two, but this is the first time Savanna has ever seen them together, so it’s no wonder she’s confused.
They flirt with each other on a regular basis, but it’s harmless, and completely platonic. Has been since the day they met. I think there’s some kind of unwritten agreement between them that says they can flirt endlessly, but it’ll never go further than that. Neither one of them dates, both of them choosing to play the field to have fun instead, and they often play each other’s wing person at the bar. While I know that Liam doesn’t think he’s capable of a relationship, I don’t actually know the reasoning behind Quinn not dating.
“You two,” Liam points between Savanna and me as he pushes out of his seat. “Have a fabulous night. Do everything I would do when picking a girl up at the bar. Which includes using protection.”
I didn’t notice it, but he must have grabbed something from his pocket because he’s tossing it at me now. It hits the table and bounces once before stopping right beside my hand resting on the table, and I realize it’s a condom.
“You’re welcome.” He holds out his arm to Quinn who is full of drunken giggles. “Come on, beautiful. Let’s take a walk.”
“I’m sure I’ll see you again soon, Savanna,” she says, looping her arm through Liam’s. “Unless Nate deems us unfit for company, but he shouldn’t because we’re fun.”
Savanna, though blushing exquisitely, laughs. “All of you were a hoot. I enjoyed myself thoroughly.”
It takes them a couple more minutes, but when they’re finally out the door and I’ve locked it behind them, I find Savanna starting to clear the table. I don’t bother telling her I can handle it because I know she won’t listen. Instead, I go to work moving the tables and chairs back and getting them in order before I grab what she couldn’t and follow her into the kitchen.
I’m two steps from the swinging door when there’s a loud crash and the sound of shattering glass. I’m inside the kitchen in a flash, finding Savanna already on her knees, trying to pick up what she can. Glass is everywhere, and I cringe, setting my dishes down on the counter before I kneel to help her.
“You okay?” I ask, her sandy blonde hair wrapping around her like a shield. Unable to see her, I’m unsure if she’s cut herself, or if something serious made her drop things in the first place.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to, it was an accident,” she says hurriedly, and the tone in her voice makes my stomach twist with knots. She shrinks into herself with each word. “You can take it off my pay. I know things are expensive. I shouldn’t have been so reckless. I shouldn’t have had that last drink. I’m sorry, Nate. Please don’t be upset, I won’t let it happen again.”
There are a few things ringing every alarm bell for me at this moment, and none of them are the actual broken glass on the floor.
I’ve never heard her sound so small and distressed, like breaking a glass will be the end of her world. It sets my blood to a boil to think of someone hurting her over something as silly as this. I think back to her running from someone, and I’m more convinced than ever the someone is an ex, and he was abusive towards her.
I reach out to touch Savanna’s hand so that she’ll look at me, something she has yet to do, but when I’m about to touch her, she recoils from me so sharply, one would swear I slapped her across the face. The jerking motion has her hair moving from her face while her gray eyes dart up to mine, making it impossible for her to hide the tears pooling.
Every muscle in my body is screaming to grab her and pull her into me, but I have the sense I need to tread carefully, and rather than allow that raw emotion to kick in, I slip into my training as a firefighter. Savanna reminds me of a wounded animal, ready to take flight if I move too quickly or say the wrong thing. I want to tell her it’s okay, that I’ll protect her from whatever is haunting her, but I’m certain it would send her fleeing.
I may have pried earlier when she went to some other place in her mind, but I won’t this time.
“I promise I’m not upset,” I tell her in my calmest voice, the one I use for victims at work. “Why don’t you let me clean this up, and you go see if Bryn, or Martin, need help with their cash out?”
She’s shaking her head before the words are out of my mouth. Her voice cracks when she responds with, “It’s my mess. I need to clean it up.”
“Sav,” I say gently, glancing down at her hands which are trembling so ferociously that I fear she’s going to do more damage if she keeps trying to clean up. “I need you to go take some deep breaths and try to calm down a little. I don’t want you to cut yourself.”
Following my eyes, she looks down at her hands and sucks in a sharp breath. I don’t know if she realized how badly she was shaking until that moment. It’s enough for her to rise to her feet, dropping the pieces she had in her hands into the trash before disappearing through the swinging doors into the bar without a word.