What was he talking about?
“I don’t need a babysitter.”
“Seems like you do. And dragging Raven out with you? What the f**k were you thinking?”
“She asked to come,” Georgie objected.
Deck scowled. “Yeah right. Get in the car. All of you,” Deck ordered, and even though I could see Georgie wanting to protest, she didn’t.
I knew she was going out a lot, but the conversation sounded like she was “going out” a little too often, and Deck didn’t like it.
Georgie walked over to Raven who was still sitting with the guitarist from Strikeback and put out her hand. Raven ignored her hand, but rose and followed behind her as Georgie waved to Matt and the band as if she hadn’t just been given shit by Deck.
I started walking to the door when Deck fell in beside me. He gave a chin-lift to Matt who was on the phone, my guess with Logan.
“You’re drunk, and you may not remember what I’m telling you, beautiful, but you need to hear it anyway.” Deck pulled me to a halt before we reached the car. “He should’ve f**kin’ told you the other day what went down after you left that shit hole. He didn’t—his choice. Not mine.” Deck grabbed my arm to steady me as I swayed. “It was bad, Emily. Real bad. He gained my respect for life for what he did for you, walking back into that hellhole ... Hard to get my respect, easy to lose it.”
Deck respected Logan.
“This isn’t him asking me to look out for you. This is me looking out for you, because I care about you and so does Logan. He’s worried about you and he has every right to be.” What did that mean? Deck swore beneath his breath. “Emily ...” He stopped at the car where Georgie, Kat and Raven were already piled in the backseat. I thought he was going to say something else, but instead he helped me into the car then shut the door. I was left wondering what the hell he was talking about. What did he mean really bad? I had this sudden need to talk to Logan, hear his voice and make certain he was alright. I clutched my purse to my chest to keep from taking out my phone.
Then Deck took us to the condo where I proceeded to throw up in the toilet then pass out on the floor.
Chapter 20
Waking on the cold, hard tiled floor sometime the next day, I felt as if a skunk had sprayed in my mouth and I had iron pokers sticking in my head.
Groaning, I used the toilet to hoist myself up to the sink, tagged my toothbrush, piled on toothpaste, and stuck it in my mouth. I did that three times then tilted my head into the sink and drank the cool water relieving some of my dry mouth.
As I shut off the water, my purse vibrated beside the toilet on the floor. Falling back onto my ass, I propped up against the cupboard while shuffling through my purse for my phone. I glanced at the screen and groaned again.
“You’re calling me this early on purpose, aren’t you? Punishment for my sins.”
Logan chuckled, and despite loving the sound of his sexy, deep chuckle that I rarely heard, I held the phone away from my ear.
“Ouch.”
“That good?”
“Hmmm.” Closing my eyes, I brought my knees up to hook my arm around them.
“I should be there.”
I huffed. “Yeah, you’d be clanging frying pans together.”
“No, I’d bring you breakfast in bed with Advil.”
Shit. Damn it, why did he have to do sweet? It made all my reservations about him blowtorch into ash. And I had no return comment.
“That’s after I talked to you about last night, Eme.” He paused, and I could picture him running his hand through his hair; I wanted my hands running through it. Well, maybe not such a good idea right at this moment. I put my head down and rested it on my knees. “When we talk, it’s good. Then last night we didn’t. I got caught up with the new manager, and I couldn’t call you. We did our gig, and I tried after the set, but you didn’t pick up. I thought you might be asleep, so I called Matt after we were done to see how Strikeback was working out, and he told me you were there. Then he said you were slurring your words. Eight cosmos. Eight.”
“Um yeah. I’m paying for it today, trust me.”
“Emily. You had eight cosmos, and I wasn’t there to take care of you. I called, and you never picked up and ... f**k, Eme, I was worried.”
Well, to be fair, I hadn’t heard my phone ringing, although even if I had I wouldn’t have picked it up. Not last night on my mission of stamp removal. “Twenty times,” I mumbled.
“Yeah. Twenty times.” He sounded really mad, the kind of mad where he just had to look at you and there’d be no more arguing. Luckily, I couldn’t see his face.
“Logan, I didn’t hear the phone.”
“Yeah.” He sighed. “Mouse, you go out with the girls, I need you to make sure you can hear your phone. You were drunk and slurring your words. Ethan was thinking he was getting some, and I wasn’t there and couldn’t get there. Jesus ... There’s some shit happening that—” He stopped abruptly. “You not answering your phone and then getting drunk at the bar ...” He groaned and it sounded like he hit something hard with his fist. “Fuck.” He paused then in a soft voice he said, “I get nightmares, baby. Everything inside me wants to protect you and I feel like I keep failing.”
I lifted my head and hit it on the cupboard door. Wow. Just wow. And also shit. I quietly said, “Matt was there. And Logan ... you can’t fail at something that isn’t your responsibility.”