CHAPTER 6
Quil:
This cannot be a good idea. Quil thought to himself as he leaned over Claire to look out at the Vegas strip passing underneath them.
She stiffened slightly in response to his proximity, and he sighed internally before he leaned back in his seat again. She was obviously still mad at him and he wondered how long her silent treatment would continue for. She hadn't frozen him out like this in a few years…. She'd probably been thirteen the last time but she'd lasted three days then…. He wondered if her current age would make it harder or easier for her to go so long ignoring him now.
He'd known he'd upset her in the car. He'd upset himself in the car. It'd been an incredibly stupid thing he'd said to her. It'd been an incredibly stupid thing to even feel but if you are the stupid bastard that does miss sleeping with a teenaged girl in your arms you definitely don't willingly admit it to her. He was still mad at himself for shooting himself in the foot like that.
Then he'd embarrassed her. He hadn't meant to. He'd meant to make it clear to Tag, who'd been looking with way too much interest at Claire in her plain black leggings and t-shirt that she was beyond off limits and that though Tag was half as much older than her than Quil was, she was still way too young, and that wasn't going to happen. He'd seen the chagrin pink up on her face though and felt like a giant douche. And he was pretty sure the last time she'd even seen them was when Brady and Collin had caught the two of them sleeping in his bed together after their separate showers and she'd been wearing just his underwear and t-shirt… now he was belittling her in front of them.
She probably would have moved past all that though, or at least pretended to for the group's sake, but then there'd been the boarding incident.
He still didn't know what she'd been thinking. Really, this one he figured he could blame on her.
He'd been following behind her in the standard single file line as they boarded the plane. They were in the middle of their group so when Claire reached Brady, Sofia, and Tag all situating in seats she stopped to put her carry-on in the overhead storage. Even Brady caught the way Tag had looked at her ass as she bent to pick up her bag. Brady reached all the way across the aisle and across Claire to smack him upside the head for it before half shrugging apologetically toward Quil without ever really looking at him as Quil grabbed Claire's bag from above her and shoved it in with his own.
Quil rolled his eyes in annoyed frustration with both Tag and Brady as he faced the hatch before snapping it shut.
He knew his pack did not agree with his decision to breakup with Claire. They weren't exactly trying to hide their disapproval.
He didn't care. He didn't need their approval, he just needed them to accept it. But Brady's refusal to meet his eyes didn't bode well for how this weekend was going to go. Quil was still thinking about it when he realized with confusion that Claire was trying to sit down.
It was only confusing because she was squeezing her legs into the chair across the aisle from Brady, in the seat next to Tag instead of filing into the row with two empty seats behind him.
Quil caught her arm on a reflex, "What are you doing?"
She looked up at him in clear confusion from where she was already half seated before he'd grabbed her arm. She suddenly looked down at his hand wrapped around her and he realized he'd actually grabbed her. He immediately dropped her arm like he'd been shocked and stuck it in his pocket instead.
"I'm just gonna sit with Tag." She said easily like it wouldn't be a big deal. "Sit with Gracie, yeah? So, Collin and Leah can sit together a couple rows down."
Quil actually snorted as he looked over at Tag watching the exchange with a little bewildered curiousity.
"Yeah, no. This is not happening." He said directly to Tag with his hand still stuck in his pocket as he hovered over Claire.
They were starting to form a line of passengers trying to board standing behind Quil, waiting for him to move but he wasn't going anywhere. He was in no hurry.
"Quil." Claire hissed in obvious mortification, "It's a plane ride, he didn't even do anything."
Quil just raised his eyebrows in bemused exasperation as he stayed where he was. She could play this game of chicken all she wanted; he wasn't going anywhere.
A flight attendant came hurrying up the aisle from the back of the plane as Brady groaned aloud.
"Is there a problem, sir?" she asked worriedly as she looked at Quil still holding up the line while he stared down at Claire shaking her head in frustration back up at him.
"I don't know, Claire, do we have a problem?" he asked her easily even as he kept the challenge clear in his voice.
He didn't care how much he probably looked like a douchey stepdad right now (douchey stepdad actually felt like an accurate summation for their current relationship), there was no way in hell she was spending the two-and-a-half-hour flight sitting with Tag.
Claire's face burned pink again as she immediately broke eye contact with him to look over at Brady and Sofia before looking at the flight attendant behind her. She stood abruptly without saying anything, but he noticed the way she was flushed (either with anger or embarrassment… he wasn't sure) and couldn't seem to look at Tag before she said simply,
"No, sorry. There's no problem here." She spoke directly to the flight attendant as she pushed past Quil to file into the row behind her and then settled with a huff into the window seat.
The flight attendant waited impatiently until Quil settled into the aisle seat next to Claire before reminding him to buckle his seatbelt and then walked away looking relieved as Gracie sat in the seat Claire had just abandoned and then Collin filed past refusing to acknowledge Quil as he made his way to the open row farther down. Leah followed behind him but didn't have a problem staring at Quil as she gave him a significant look that sent chills down his spine.
He wouldn't have minded it if it had been one of her standard dark, angry looks. Instead, it was a look that reminded him of his grandmother, the way she'd look so angrily disappointed anytime she'd find one of the pranks he'd pulled on Hannah, like he was supposed to be better than that. He'd shaken the feeling off though as he turned to look over at Claire beside him.
She refused to even look at him as she faced out the window that only had a view of the gate still pulled in front of it. Quil sighed as he faced the back of what was now Gracie's seat.
"It's gonna be a long weekend." He muttered quietly to himself, but he caught Claire nodding her agreement silently toward the window.
She hadn't looked at or spoken to him again the entire flight and it didn't look like that was going to change as the captain announced their descent into McCarren International.
Quil looked over in surprise when Claire tensed and then grabbed the arm rest between them as the plane started its landing sequence. He hadn't realized landing still freaked her out. She hadn't mentioned it when she'd flown to and from Tennessee by herself. Her eyes were squeezed tight as he reached over and wrapped his hand protectively around hers.
She didn't even let him hold onto her for a second before she yanked her hand away from his and faced her entire body toward the window as she watched the ground come closer. Quil sighed in annoyance but knew she couldn't hear it over the noise of the plane.
He found himself almost wishing it was a year ago. She definitely would have held his hand while the plane landed a year ago. But he didn't want to think about a year ago when she'd been a fifteen-year-old who he'd never known had a crush on him. Who would never be making a very adult trip to Vegas anyways. Whose dad wasn't dead and who'd never been kissed before. Who'd never had any of the things done to her that he'd done in the last year. The thought had him groaning softly to himself and rubbing a hand across his face as shame boiled in a familiar sensation deep in his gut just as the wheels touched down making the whole plane jerk slightly in response. He knew it wasn't a good idea to think about things a year ago.
.
The heat was stifling as they stepped off the plane onto the gate leading into the airport. Collin groaned as he pulled his shirt away from his chest,
"I forgot how hot Vegas is." He moaned and Leah started panting heavily in response before she seemed to remember she was in her human form and snapped her mouth shut.
"Is it always like this?" Claire asked surprised, as she stepped off the plane behind Quil.
"Is this your first trip to Vegas?" Tag asked excitedly and their entire group turned around to see how she'd respond.
Claire opened her mouth to reply but Quil looked right at him as his annoyance spilled over. "She's sixteen. What do you think, Dipshit?"
Tag didn't even seem phased when he shrugged before he looked back over his shoulder to her and said, "Well then we'll just have to make sure we make it a memorable experience.
Quil quickly realized that Tag must just have a death wish before Leah muttered to Collin under her breath, "-Such an idiot."
Quil was about to agree when he looked over and realized she was looking directly at him when she said it. He gave her an annoyed look in response before she rolled her eyes at him.
By the time they were all piling into the rental van with all their luggage stuffed in the back so high you couldn't see out the back window and every single seat in the minivan taken so that everyone in the back was squished sitting shoulder to shoulder, everyone was panting and complaining about the heat. Quil immediately reached over and cranked the AC as high as it would go from the driver's seat where he was sitting. Leah had booked the rental but had easily conceded the driving to him since he had clear seniority (in the pack, not in actual age since Leah was two years older than him) and since Collin was also eagerly volunteering to drive.
They were just pulling out from the terminal when Claire's happy-voice suddenly broke through the sound of the air conditioner blasting and Brady doing a horrible job of trying to read directions from off his phone,
"Hey!" she said excitedly.
Quil adjusted the rearview mirror to glance at Claire sitting directly behind him in the middle row with Sofia next to her and Gracie on the other end. He was expecting her to be pointing to one of the quintessential Vegas landmarks they were creeping up on in the afternoon traffic but was surprised when he heard Bennett's voice before he caught sight of her phone hidden under her dark hair pressed to her ear.
"Hey, did you survive landing in one piece, or did you have Tag's hand to hold onto for comfort?"
"Ha ha ha." She replied sarcastically, while Quil's knuckles tightened angrily around the wheel and Brady looked over at him in concern, Quil knew that he could hear the conversation as easily as he could. "How's Jamie?" she asked.
"He's fine, Claire. Still playing Mario Kart and giving my mom in depth descriptions of all the character histories." He replied easily and the entire atmosphere of the van seemed to change a little as half the car continued to listen in to the conversation and the other half kept staring excitedly out the windows.
Claire laughed and Quil's gut clenched.
It was the first time he'd heard her laugh like that, just casually and unconcerned, in probably a few weeks and he freaking hated that it was in response to something Bennett had said. He was at least eighty percent positive the kid had kissed her today and even though it hadn't seemed like it'd gotten him anywhere it made Quil want to break something every time he even thought about it. He knew that Bennett definitely had an angle…. He just couldn't figure out what the angle was… but the thought of his hands on her and him kissing her had his knuckles shaking together until Brady looked at them pointedly and said warningly, "You're gonna need to chill."
Quil released the wheel as they drifted to a stop at a light and flexed his fingers while he blew out a breath since he knew Brady was right. He needed to get his shit together.
"Where are you?" Bennett suddenly asked her curiously and Quil knew he'd heard Brady's comment.
"In the car with everyone." Claire admitted as she turned and smiled at Sofia next to her. Quil watched in the rearview mirror as Sofia mouthed, 'Who is it?' and Claire mouthed Bennett's name back to her at the same time Bennett suddenly laughed into the phone before saying in exactly the same volume as before, "Hey guys."
Claire looked confused until Brady, Leah, and Collin all said, "Hey, Bennett." without ever looking up or raising the volume of their voices above what they would to speak to the person next to them. Quil refused to acknowledge him.
"Well that's completely creepy." Claire remarked as Sofia, Gracie, and Tag all looked around in confusion.
"You all can hear him on the other end of the phone?" Sofia asked shocked and Brady reached behind him to grab her hand on her lap without looking up from the map on his phone in response.
"What?" Gracie asked in shock at their over developed sense of hearing. It was one thing to be in the wolves' circle and know about their abilities, it was another thing entirely to see them firsthand.
"I can even hear everything from this side." Bennett replied and Claire and Leah started laughing.
Tag looked over at Leah sitting between him and Collin in the middle of the back row and she explained, "He told Sophia he can hear everything from his end too."
Sophia flipped around to stare at Leah in shock before she looked back to Claire on the phone again. "On second thought, I'm really not sure I want to spend my bachelorette weekend with this many werewolves all at once."
Everyone laughed, except for Quil, including Bennett just as he pulled the van into the valet in front of the hotel.
"Okay, time for everyone to get out." Quil grumbled.
"Alright, call me tonight, yeah? I'll probably get off patrol with Ty at the same time you're finally crashing from night one of Sofia-let's-Leah-take-Vegas." Bennett said to Claire.
"Hey, I kickass in Vegas." Leah said in response and Bennett laughed.
"Enjoy being in charge for once. Now you'll at least have a thirteen-year-old to answer to you." Collin taunted and Sofia was starting to look annoyed from the conversation happening around her that she couldn't keep up with.
"I'll call you later." Claire said easily as she spilled out of the car and Bennett started laughing as she hung up on him.
Everyone was piling out as Brady said easily, "What are you talking about? You were literally the last in line before Bennett. Is having a seventeen-year-old answering to you really an improvement to the seventeen-year-old that beats out the thirteen-year-old?"
Collin was barely making it out of the back of the van before he was taking a swipe toward Brady.
"No fighting this weekend!" Sofia insisted. It was at least the fifth time she'd said it just today. Quil was just glad Bennett hadn't been on the phone to still hear Brady's defense of him as he handed the keys to the valet and some cash to tip him before making it to the back of the van where everyone was grabbing their luggage.
He went to grab Claire's bag from her when Leah pushed him away, literally moving to stand between him and Claire with her back to Quil so that she was cutting him out and distancing him from her. Quil growled low in annoyed response but Leah completely ignored him as she handed the bag back to Claire and said brightly, "Come on! Let's check in! We have enough time to hit the pool before we need to get ready for tonight." She linked their arms together as Claire smiled excitedly in response and they both started to move away from him.
Quil opened his mouth and started to make some strenuous objections to Claire 'hitting' a Vegas pool on a Friday night but was cut off when he felt a hand hit his chest.
He looked down surprised to find that the hand belonged to Collin. The girls were already walking away and into the lobby by the time Quil looked in confusion at Collin holding him back with a hand on his chest and a warning look on his face.
"Just let them go before you ruin the weekend for everyone and not just her." Collin said in reply to Quil's look.
Quil pushed him off of him with a shove to the chest that was strong enough to send a normal person flying ten feet but only made Collin take a single step back before he saddled back up to him with a look on his face saying he was willing to throw it down right there on the covered drive of the hotel in the hundred plus degree heat.
"Guys!" Brady huffed as he barely stepped between them. Quil was shocked to see that he was the one Brady was facing with his back kept to Collin like Quil was the problem. "No fighting this weekend. Sofia made me promise."
Quil just stared down the inch he had on the both of them in confused frustration until Collin picked his bag back up and started walking toward the hotel with a non-concerned Tag beside him.
He bent to grab his own bag when he realized Brady was still standing there staring him down.
He looked to meet his eye in response and Brady said, "He's right though." Quil took a step back in shocked, but Brady continued without noticing, "You're being a huge ass to Claire. If you weren't you, I'd kick your ass on your behalf for treating her like that."
Quil shook his head in confusion as Brady turned toward the front revolving doors and started moving toward them.
"That doesn't even make any sense!" Quil called defensively to him.
"Come on, let's go golf. I'm ready to get this weekend started already." Brady called back to him over his shoulder without looking back at him.
It turned out that 'golfing' consisted of something called Top Golf and was just an obscure way of counting points at an air-conditioned driving range that involved a lot more drinking than real golfing ever would. That was fine with Quil, he hated regular golfing, and every time he thought about Claire, at the pool with the other girls, he felt like he needed a drink anyways.
They'd already gone through three pitchers of beer and had ordered the fourth, and Collin, who turned out to be freakishly good at the game, and was killing the rest of them in points, suddenly laughed and said, "Cute."
They all turned to look at him in shock as Brady snorted and asked, "Did you just say, 'cute'?"
Collin rolled his eyes in dismissal before tossing his phone their way and saying, "Leah just posted a pic of the girls. It's cute, okay, Douche-face?"
Brady, who had caught the phone, held it up as Quil and Tag leaned over his shoulder to look at the Instagram post of Leah with Sofia, Gracie, and Claire all in matching white bikinis grouped together by a pool with drinks all raised in their hands.
"Cute." Tag agreed just as Quil's hand started shaking in response and he looked up in shock to see Brady nodding his head in agreement with Tag and Collin.
His gut was starting to tighten and burn, and they were acting like it was nothing at all.
Neither Collin or Brady even seemed concerned to see a bikini pic of their girlfriend and fiancée drinking and surrounded by what looked like random frat guys filling the pool. Brady slid the pic aside to see the next picture of all the girl's lined up in front of a mirror applying makeup, Sofia was just wearing a bright pink, silky robe, Leah was just in a t-shirt of Collin's with all of her legs hanging out, Gracie and Claire were both wearing tank tops with short running shorts.
"Are you shitting me right now?" Quil asked angrily as his shaking increased.
Brady and Collin immediately looked at each other before they looked at Quil and then back to each other again.
"Let's just finish this round and then head to the restaurant. We can get dinner before we hit the casino." Collin said easily as he picked his golf club back up and went to take his turn at the tee.
"Give me my phone." Quil immediately said to Brady without acknowledging Collin's comment.
"Don't do this man. It's not a big deal and you're just going to ruin her night." Brady sighed and suddenly Quil realized this had been the reason Collin had insisted that everyone needed to turn their phones in so that 'no one would be stupid and document the escapades of the night.' It had all been about keeping Quil from keeping tabs on Claire.
This time Quil didn't have to shove anyone or say anything to communicate his warning as he spoke in a quiet yet deadly voice, "Give me my damn phone, Brady."
Collin sighed in obvious frustration before he nodded toward Tag at the table. Tag picked up Quil's phone and tossed it to Quil who caught it and took a couple steps back and turned to face away from the group, though he knew Collin and Brady could still hear his every word and hit Claire's contact.
It rang twice before she sent him to voicemail. He hung up and hit call again. This time it didn't ring at all before her voicemail picked up. With his frustration growing directly in response, he bit down on two of his knuckles and then found Leah's contact. It rang once before she sent him to voicemail.
"Take down the damn pictures before I stick your boyfriend's head in a toilet and force Brady to post the whole thing and tag you in it." He angrily bit out the first threat he could think of and then hung up.
He had to force himself to not punch the wall in front of him when less than a minute later Leah texted him a single middle finger emoji in response.
She's an underaged minor, Leah. Reign it in or I'll come find you and drag her ass home, kicking and screaming if need be.
She replied immediately with another middle finger and a tongue sticking out emoji.
You think I'm kidding right now?
She texted back a second later with another emoji of two hands raised in the air. Quil had no idea what that was supposed to mean but took it as a surrender as he shoved his phone back in his pocket just as Collin yelled that it was his turn again and to get his ass moving.
By the time dinner had ended and they'd finally made their way to the casino floor, Quil had definitely become the downer of the group. While the other three guys had become more enthusiastic the farther into the evening (and the more they drank, especially Tag who definitely did not have the alcohol tolerance of the other three) Quil just got more anxious. The later it got the more his feelings of misgiving that Claire should not even be in Vegas, especially without his supervision, increased. He was there, present with the guys but while they drank and joked and laugh Quil kept messing with his phone and checking the time.
They'd just made it to the craps table when Quil finally asked, "What was the girls plans for tonight? What time are they supposed to meet up with us?"
All three of the guys groaned aloud in annoyance before Collin replied, "We already told you, they were going to dinner and to a see a show and said they MIGHT bump into us in the casino afterwards. There are NO plans to meet up with them until breakfast tomorrow."
Quil chewed on the information for a second while he ignored the guy's obvious annoyance before he asked, "What show were they going to see?"
"I don't know, some boy band or something. I think it was a concert." Collin answered unconcerned before he grabbed the dice, rolled them across the table and then winced in response.
Quil just studied the guys around the table from him for a moment. They were all remarkably unconcerned about the girls and their half-assed plans. He could understand Tag not giving a crap since he really have a personal investment in the group, but Brady and Collin? Leah was Collin's girlfriend now and Sofia was Brady's imprint as well as fiancée, not to mention that Leah was his pack-sister and Gracie his future sister-in-law, and Claire had been Quil's imprint for so long he doubted that either of them remembered a time where they had been part of the wolf family and she hadn't.
He finally honed in on Brady before he asked,
"And you're okay with this? You have zero problem with your twenty-year-old fiancée traipsing around Vegas without any real plan, or supervision and not knowing what she's up to?"
Tag immediately let out a low whistle between his teeth as he looked at Quil like he might have some sort of contagious disease he wouldn't want to catch. Collin was staring at him opened mouth until he simply muttered, "Damn, Quil." like he was worried about him somehow. Brady seemed to take him the most seriously (probably because he was the one Quil was actually asking), he was staring at him with slightly squinted eyes like he was studying him as he took his time before he finally replied.
"Yeah, Quil, I'm fine with it. I'm going to be her husband, not her warden. She doesn't answer to me."
Quil rolled his eyes as he took a step back from the table. Great, now they thought he was a misogynist. He wasn't, he'd be just as worried if they'd brought Jamie to Vegas too. He was just responsible for Claire. Why couldn't anyone get that!?
He was about to give it up for the night, probably try to track down the girls and check in in person when Collin suddenly stepped forward and slapped him on the back, "Come on, let's go hit the poker tables."
Quil made a disbelieving face as he moved to slide out from Collin's hand, but Collin kept his hand on him as he stepped closer to him again and muttered quietly enough that no one could overhear him over the noise of the crowded casino, "Come on, man, don't do this. It's Brady's weekend. His one weekend. We're never gonna get this back. Is this how you wanna remember this weekend?"
Quil looked up from the nauseatingly busy carpet to stare at Collin in open surprise. Collin never thought about anyone but himself….. Quil figured Brady was his best friend so maybe the thought of Quil killing the party on his bachelor party weekend was enough for Collin to actually care.
"Fine." Quil muttered without much enthusiasm. "Let's hit the poker tables."
It was over an hour later and Quil was finally starting to feel the same contagious enthusiasm as the other guys. The three drinks he'd had and three hundred bucks he'd won at the poker tables hadn't hurt though. They were right in the middle of a hand when an excited squeal followed by a whole lot of giggling made Quil, Brady, and Collin all snap their heads up at once. The sound was obviously Sofia and she had to be close for her voice to be carried over the casino noise. Quil scanned the casino floor around him until he spotted all four girls dressed in all white with Sofia still squealing at the blackjack tables.
Collin groaned and Brady muttered, "dammit!" just as Quil caught sight of which girl in all white was Claire. It was the one in the ridiculous heels, the six-inch black stilettos he'd thought were inappropriate for a lawyer's office…. They definitely didn't look any more appropriate on a Las Vegas casino floor. And that was just her shoes. Quil started there and scanned his eyes up her legs…. and up and up and up and up her legs. Damn did those shoes make her legs look long. That and the fact that she was wearing the shortest shorts he'd ever seen her in. They weren't even shorts, they were connected to her top in this little, tiny white romper that was completely strapless and hugged her breasts way too snuggly. He could even see the outline of her strapless bra. There was one small, disconnected part of his mind that asked in confusion, I thought she didn't even own a strapless bra?
Claire laughed, and the sound caught his ears even from a hundred feet away as she leaned forward with the motion and an inch of cleavage peeped out, the only thing above it was her gold necklace that suddenly looked so stranded on her chest with nothing to keep it company. The last time he'd seen it unobscured like that it had his initial attached next to hers… and she'd been naked and beneath him. And with that thought tightening his gut he suddenly realized two things.
One, that she was talking to a guy. A guy who was standing there leaning into her and asking her what she was drinking. He was the reason she'd just laughed.
And two that she was drinking. She had a drink in her hand and that was the real reason she was laughing.
"No! Hell no."
Quil hadn't even realized he'd said it out loud until the sound of his own voice rang through his ears as he stood up from the poker table and walked away without a backward glance.
"Sir!?" the dealer asked as the other players groaned protests when Brady hopped up in response.
"Oh shit!" Collin muttered as he leaned forward and grabbed the rest of Quil's chips he'd left forgotten on the table before he ran to catch up to him and Brady still trailing behind him as Quil made a direct line across the casino floor barely bothering to shove the lost tourist to the side out of his way to get to Claire.
I KNEW this was a bad idea! I SAID she shouldn't be here! His mind yelled angrily at him as he just became more and more aggravated while he closed in on the jerk talking to her. Quil's hands were shaking when the clear creep asked her if he could buy her next drink and he wanted to rip his throat out with his bare hands before she even giggled and said way too cheerfully,
"I think the drinks are free."
He was only ten feet away but the perv was too focused in on Claire in front of him to notice Quil coming to kill him from behind as he said, "-Yeah….. I just couldn't think of a better excuse to come talk to you."
Claire laughed again and her smile lit her whole face while she was about to respond when she caught sight of Quil coming up behind the guy and her eyes suddenly got bigger than he'd probably ever seen them before.
The guy turned to look over his shoulder in response to her reaction and Quil's shoulder was already tensed to break his jaw when the absolute last thing in the world he'd been expecting happened before Quil could even pull his arm back.
Collin jumped ahead of him so that he could leap right in front of Claire just as he grabbed her jaw in his hand, pulled her face toward him and then kissed her full on the lips.
"Hey, Baby! Did you miss me?" he said easily to her as she stood looking at him completely stupefied.
She stared up at him with her eyes ginormous and her lips still squished together from his hand holding her cheeks.
Collin suddenly turned casually as he dropped her face and wrapped his hand low around her back so that it was so low, he was basically caressing the top of her ass as he asked, "Who's keeping you company?" he turned and faced the guy she'd been talking to.
Claire opened her mouth, but nothing came out except a slightly strangled "uh-uhhh" as she pointed in confusion at the douche she'd been talking to and then at Collin before looking at Quil for the first time.
Their eyes locked together like magnets snapping into place and Quil realized her eyes looked so big partly because her lashes were so huge there was no way they were real, combined with dark makeup smeared artfully all around both eyes and wine-colored lips that were definitely making her look older than she was. She only let her eyes stay locked with his for a single second before she seemed to snap out of her trance as her head flipped to the side of her and Quil realized she was looking down a few inches to find Leah next to her and see what her reaction would be.
It was the first time Quil even noticed Leah beside her, and he noted her dress that was just as short as Claire's outfit but was skintight and had long sleeves. When she turned to return Claire's stare, he noticed that her dress was completely backless, and he had to admit to himself for the first time in years, Leah was hot. She was wearing gold sandals, so she was definitely a few inches shorter than Claire in her heels and when she looked up to meet Claire's eye Claire immediately blushed with a guilty look on her face.
Claire looked away from her only to look back at Collin in confusion and then the guy in front of her again.
He immediately put his hands, one with a bottle of beer in it, a little in the air in an obvious surrender as he looked at Collin and said easily, "Sorry, man. I didn't know. I thought she was just with her girls."
Collin shrugged good naturedly as he simply replied, "Well now you know." even as Claire still pointed at Collin and then said, "No, he's not… we're not…. I don't…" she was now pointing back and forth between Collin and then Quil, but the guy wasn't paying attention as he backed away, clearly ready to leave.
"Right." He muttered as he looked back at her again. "It was nice to meet you, Claire."
And Quil was suddenly snapped out of his shocked stupor when he heard him say her name. He remembered immediately all the reasons he wanted to gut him with a fishing knife just for saying her name like he was allowed to know her, and his shoulder tensed again. He was already gone though, wisely walking away off the casino floor clearly not interested in the drama lingering would have unfurled and everyone else stayed standing exactly where they were, even Collin with his hand still just above the curve of Claire's ass.
They all seemed to look at Collin until he suddenly broke the silence as he looked down at Claire still in his embrace,
"Really, Claire? He was drinking light beer. Light beer!"
Claire shoved him away from her in response and everyone suddenly started laughing. Everyone except Quil.
He did not think anything about the situation was funny. He was beyond pissed. Surprisingly, he wasn't pissed at Collin though, -although he was not thrilled with his hand placement choices…. -No, he was solidly pissed at two people: Claire… and Leah.
He took a single breath as he dragged his hand down his face and took the moment to take the group in as a whole. Tag was just barely catching up to them since he'd obviously finished out the hand before cashing out. Gracie was in a white long sleeve dress like Leah's but instead of backless it had a plunging neck line that was not hurting the view of cleavage she was aptly displaying and standing next to her was Sophia in a spaghetti strap dress that was loose and flowy to her waist and then gather in a skin tight skirt that hugged her hips and landed just lower than Claire and Leah's, hers was topped with a sash like beauty queens wear that read BRIDE in sparkly letters and was wearing a tiara along with sparkling heels at least as tall as Claire's. He even caught that Claire had some sort of white jacket draped over her arm and that they clearly had a whole bridal theme happening with their coordinated outfits…. Noticing it did nothing to make him feel better about what she was wearing though…. Or what she was doing…. Or what she was drinking…. Or who she'd been talking to.
They were all still laughing, and Leah looked right at Collin before she muttered, "If you ever do that again. I will kill you. Slowly."
It seemed like everyone laughed again as Quil stood shaking still on the outskirts of the group trying to reign in emotions that were getting the best of him and just growing stronger.
Claire looked over at Leah as she blushed again and started, "Leah….. I didn't-"
Leah held up a hand and waved it aside when she said, "I kissed Quil, we're just even now."
Everyone started laughing again, clearly they'd all had enough to drink, and Collin yelled, "What!? You KISSED Quil!?" just as Claire laughed, "Whatever! You did more than just kiss him, and I was not a willing participant in whatever just happened!"
They were all still laughing and talking about it as Collin demanded an explanation in a way that sounded more serious than joking when Quil finally spoke, sounding harsh enough that everyone shut up to look over at him. "Are you shitting me right now, Claire? What the hell is this!?" Claire's head immediately snapped in Quil's direction as all the joy drained from her face and she swallowed nervously while he just continued, "What the hell are you wearing!? What the hell are you drinking!?"
"Quil…." She started nervously but then Leah stepped forward so that his attention was redirected to her as she said, "It's just champagne. She's fine. She never left my side. All night. Okay? So just chill."
Quil about lost it as his gut actually heated right there on the busy casino floor.
"Don't even get me started right now, Leah. I don't know what the hell you were thinking! Who the hell was that guy!? What, were you going to let her leave with him too?"
"NO!" Leah snapped immediately as she stepped up clearly ready to go toe to toe with him, "She was just flirting with him and I told her to. She needs a little fun in her life."
"A little fun!?" Quil laughed humorlessly, "That seems like a whole lotta fun she was just having! What the hell is she wearing, Leah? Her open-for-business outfit?" Sophia immediately hissed in response and Tag mumbled "dude" in disapproval like he thought Quil had crossed some arbitrary line but Quil didn't notice either as he continued, "She's drinking, Leah! She's drinking and wearing that and talking to that idiot! Do you have any idea how stupid that is!? Do you even have any idea how low her alcohol tolerance is? Hmm? Do you? It's hilariously low! So funny, until it's not when she's drinking whatever that shithead wanted to slip her."
Leah shoved at his chest in response as she mumbled, "You're the shithead. How can you treat the woman you love this way!?"
Quil laughed again but there was nothing even remotely funny. "I don't! She's not the woman I love. She's not-"
"-That's enough, Quil."
Quil was about to say that she wasn't a woman at all, but Claire cut across him, making him look up from Leah for the first time.
She said it quietly, but the sound of her voice had been enough for him to cut off and look up to see her standing there behind Leah with her arms crossed protectively around herself, making her cleavage peak out even more, he looked up again to notice Collin still standing there beside her, shaking his head with a hand behind his neck as he looked off in the distance like he didn't want to see the scene in front of him. Just past Collin he could see Sofia staring at him with wide, horrified eyes, filled with tears that overflowed when he looked at her. Brady was behind her and had his hands in the pocket of his jeans and was looking at the floor and shaking his head with the same type of denial as Collin. Past them, standing in the background were Gracie and Tag, both standing back watching the scene play out like they were the obvious outsiders of the group. Gracie looked concerned and Tag looked a little pissed for the first time all night. Quil ignored Leah still in front of him to look past her at Claire again who was the only one in the group who still looked calm but her obvious tell was flashed when she bit down on her lip hard before speaking again directly to him.
"That's enough, Quil." She repeated quietly, "Leah doesn't need to speak for me. Whatever you're upset about, we can talk about, but we don't need to do this here with everyone."
Quil finally took a step back from Leah as he faced off to the side and rubbed a hand up his face and the other noises from the casino finally started to filter in again as a slot machine started ringing yards away. He had to focus just to keep the heat contained in his gut even as his hand shook against his hair. He finally nodded his head in response to her without ever turning back to look at anyone. He couldn't handle seeing their faces anyways.
"-We're gonna call it a night." Claire said quickly and sounded like she was turned to address Sophia. "I'm gonna go up to the rooms with Quil, but you guys have fun, alright?"
"No, Claire don't let him-" Leah's voice started and it was aggravating enough to almost pull Quil back in again as the heat in his gut started to grow and spread, but Claire cut across her before he could.
"It's fine." She muttered and Quil finally looked back to her to see her holding a hand up like she was fending the group off.
"Claire-" Brady started too but she repeated, "It's fine. Really, you guys have a good night!"
No one else said anything as she stepped forward past Leah and Collin until she was in front of Quil waiting for him. He looked down at her for one second as he got the full shot of her hair falling down in waves with her smoky makeup and her necklace against her tan skin, made darker against the white of her outfit with the inch of cleavage peeping at him again, closer because of how ridiculously tall the shoes made her.
Quil rolled his eyes at the whole thing. It was beyond ridiculous and made him feel like he needed to break something again. She was way too old to need him to tell her she couldn't go out looking like that, and the fact that Leah had encouraged it was enough to make him want to punch something…. No not something. Leah. He wanted to punch Leah.
"Let's go," he growled without looking at her as he turned away from everyone to make his way off the casino floor. He didn't move though, he waited until she walked in front of him and then he got his first look at what the shoes were doing to her ass in the stupid jumper she was wearing. It was enough to make his gut clench again.
He didn't look back or say anything to the group as they walked away and neither did she.
They walked in silence all the way through the casino and past the lobby until they hit the elevators, never touching and never speaking to each other.
Finally, after she'd hit the up button and then crossed her arms again so that her cleavage was lifted up, shoving farther out again, did he finally snap angrily; "At least put on the damn jacket."
She looked up at him and he looked down pointedly at her cleavage until she looked down at it too just as the doors to the elevator opened. She rolled her eyes before she uncrossed her arms and huffed while she stepped forward and then turned to face the front as she shrugged into a white blazer and buttoned the two single buttons before she slapped her hands against her thighs and then held them out to her sides like she was on display before asking sarcastically, "Better?"
The outfit did look more appropriate that way but there was no way he was going to admit that to her, especially while she was wearing those shoes… Quil suddenly realized he needed to move forward to get on the elevator instead of just staring at her as he watched her in disapproval. Why did her legs need to be so damn long!? He stepped forward as he growled quietly at her in agitation in response as he turned to stand next to her and face forward while the doors closed.
She leaned forward and hit the button for the tenth floor before she looked up expectantly at him as the elevator started to move. He just looked back at her without speaking as he raised his eyebrows in frustrated question.
"Which floor are you on?" she finally asked dryly.
He huffed out a laugh as she looked away from him and muttered. "Oh, I'm getting out with you. In fact, not only am I walking you to your room, but I'm sticking you in a cold shower, making sure you're not only sober but undo all of this…." He used his open hand to gesture in a circle around her face until she was scowling at his hand, "… off your face, and then when you're in your thickest, longest, flannel nightie, I'm going to tuck you into bed, and not leave until the rest of the girls get back."
To his surprise Claire actually snorted in response before she looked away from him and muttered, "You're delusional."
"What was that?" he asked in angry shock.
Suddenly she was turned back to him again and directly in his face, so much closer to his 6'5 height in her heels.
"You think that because I'm not willing to ruin our friends' night that I give a damn about what you think about what I wear and what I do?" she hissed at him with more venom than he'd ever heard from her, "Get over yourself, Quil, because you aren't the reason that I left just now." Quil was shocked enough that he had to lean back an inch to get a better look at her face before she continued. "There isn't a snowballs chance in hell that you're stepping foot in my hotel room tonight so don't even try because I'm not the drunk one here."
Quil took an actual step back as her words hit him and the elevator suddenly stopped, "I'm not drunk." He muttered in shock that she would think that. That she would believe he'd force himself into her room inebriated.
"Really? Because even with my hilariously low alcohol tolerance I can still tell that you had more than a few, but then again, I only had half a glass of champagne…. How much did you drink?" she replied without backing down even as the doors parted opened in front of them.
He had no idea how many drinks he'd had. He'd been drinking on and off with the guys since Top Golf, but it wasn't like the room was spinning or he couldn't spell his name.
She raised her eyebrows and tilted her head when he didn't reply, and then muttered, "That's what I thought."
Before he was quick enough to respond she suddenly reached forward and snapped the button for the thirteenth floor and stepped off the elevator just as the doors started closing.
"Have a good night, Quilliam." She snapped angrily at him without looking back from where she was marching down the hall, walking in her heels like it was a damn runway or something just as the doors closed shut behind her.
Quil cursed angrily in response as the elevator started moving again and he started slamming the open-door button. The doors finally did open but on the thirteenth floor and he had no idea how she'd even known that was his floor. He was tempted to stay on and go back down to the tenth floor, but he didn't know which room was hers. With a frustrated huff he stepped off the elevator and ran a shaking hand through his hair before he shuffled down the hall to his room thinking that he'd follow his own advice and take a shower. He suddenly hoped that he was drunk. Maybe if he could just sober up this entire situation wouldn't seem so shitty, and he'd stop imagining the look Robert would give him if he even saw a peak of the scene that Quil had spotted Claire in thirteen floors below.
.
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Author's note:
Okay so I don't want to comment too much because we're like in the middle of a storyline right here (and also because my last note was forever long) but I couldn't leave without giving a shout out to jgjc17 and Ellej999! I honestly thought I was the only one who would ever have this level of enthusiasm for Quil and Claire and I love you both for sharing that with me! I know firsthand that to take the opportunity to put positivity out in the world takes real courage! So thank you to you both and to anyone else who's ever taken the time to leave me an encouraging review! I check my reviews and stats all the time and seeing new comments honestly makes my day even during that time while I was no longer posting. I just need to make one more mention and that's Imaginemotherofdragons ... you were my first review (and you know I screenshotted that!) and you kept them coming and helped make 2018 one of the brightest years in a dark time for me! Okay that's enough from me now! Let's get onto the next chapter already!
but really you guys are the best!
xoxo
Jess