Mastering Lexie (Stronghold Book 4) (28 page)

"I'm not
the one who brought the tequila."  That was Jared's deep voice,
sounding simultaneously amused and a bit resigned.  

"Patrick."
 Something sharp poked his temple.  "Patrick, look at me."  Olivia's
no-nonsense tones pierced the muzziness in his head and he tried to focus his
eyes on her.  Her hair was pulled back in a bun, the wildness tamed, which
seemed wrong.  He liked it better when it was down.  Laughter rang
out around him.  "Well thank you, sweetheart, I had no idea you liked
my hair so much.  Are you ready to get up now?"

He groaned. 
He hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

"Get this
fat ass off me and I’ll get up."

"Ha,
that's pure muscle squashing you down, asshole," Andrew said as he got up,
watching Patrick rather warily.  "Are you ready to admit you're drunk
and you shouldn't be driving?"

"I must
be drunk, or you wouldn't have been able to get the drop on me," Patrick
grumbled as he pushed himself up to standing.  He swayed slightly, the
room spinning before it snapped back into focus.

"Back to
the couch," Olivia ordered, pointing like the little general that she
was.  Definitely drunk, because Patrick didn't even feel like ignoring
her.  It was just easier to let her have her way right now.  

"Thanks
for all the help," Andrew said to Jared, who was still sitting in the
comfortable armchair that he'd occupied since arriving.  The bigger man
just grinned.

"Are you
saying you needed help?  Couldn't take down one drunken dumbass on your
own?"

Andrew flipped
him off, flopping down next to Patrick on the couch while Olivia took the other
armchair.  The small living room of his condo felt a little crowded with
all of them in there.  He'd never felt the need for a whole lot of space, but
with three big guys and Olivia, it did seem kind of confining.  Or maybe
that was just because he wanted to get out of it so bad, to go fix things with
Lexie.  They weren't letting him.  The fuckers.

He and Andrew
took up nearly the entire couch, although one slim subbie could have fit in
between them.  For a moment he considered the idea of asking them to bring
her to him.  Nah.  That was something he should handle on his own.

"I was
just worried about hurting him," Andrew retorted.  "There's not
really enough space in here for a full on tackle, it would have been easier
with an assist."

"Don't be
such a pussy," Patrick said with a snort.

"Don't
say pussy like it's a bad thing," Olivia said, with a glare.
 "My pussy can stretch to fit a baby and then push it out.  Your
dick doesn't have shit on that."

"Still
need the balls to get the baby," Andrew put his hand up for a high five,
but Patrick ignored him.  Fucker could get himself into trouble, Patrick
wasn’t going to join him.

"I've got
the biggest balls," Olivia said, sipping from the rocks glass she was
holding.  Patrick realized he had no idea what she was drinking. 
Better not be his good scotch. 

"I've
never seen them before,” Andrew said, snorting his derision.

"Right
here, fucker," she said, gesturing at her boobs.  "They had to
be put on my chest to avoid chafing."

Jared and
Patrick burst out laughing as Andrew groaned.  "There's something
seriously wrong with you."

"There's
something wrong with all of you, why are you here?" asked Patrick, making
a pained face. 

"Because
you called Adam to keep an eye on Stronghold tonight, and he called us,
figuring you shouldn't be alone," Olivia said cheerfully, standing back
up.  "Now stop whining and I'll get you a beer."  

Andrew leaned
over as she walked towards the kitchen, whispering loudly.  "I'll
give you $10 to call her beer wench."

"Not
worth it," Patrick muttered.  He'd have to be a hell of a lot drunker
than he was to do something that stupid.  Not that he was wasted... not
exactly anyway.  But he knew he was a bit of a lightweight once he got
past two beers.  The taste of tequila in his mouth reminded him that he'd
gone way the fuck beyond that point.  He didn't like being drunk, didn't
like the loss of control, so he rarely drank more than two beers or one glass
of scotch at any given time.  Enough to get him lightly buzzed, basically.

"I heard
that," Olivia said over her shoulder before disappearing into the kitchen.

"I should
be more scared, but I'm not," said Andrew, taking a sip of his own beer.

"That's
because you have no survival instinct," Jared said, patronizingly.
 "If you did, you wouldn't say stupid shit all the time."

"This
coming from the man who barely talks at all."

"I talk
when I have something to say."

"Unlike
Andrew, who talks just to hear the sound of his own voice," Olivia said,
obviously amused, as she came back into the room.  She handed the beer to
Patrick before reclaiming her seat.

"Well it
is a very nice voice."  Andrew chuckled at his own joke, making
Olivia shake her head.

Patrick just
groaned and leaned back against the couch.  The beer in his hand was
making his skin cold, but he didn't really feel all that inclined to drink
it.  How much tequila had he had?  He remembered at least three
shots.  Fuck but he was going to be feeling it tomorrow.

"Don't
worry," Olivia said, reaching out to pat his hand.  "I won't let
you overindulge.  I know there's no way you'll stay home from Stronghold
two days in a row."

"Especially
not on a Saturday," said Jared.  "You're too much of a control
freak."

"Like you
aren't," Andrew pointed out, giving him a look.  "That's the fun
of being a Dom."

"Hey, my
girlfriend's off who the fuck knows where right now, and I'm just fine with
that," Jared said, his voice mild.  He really did sound like he didn't
care, which was new.  "Obviously I'm not that much of a control
freak."

"You
would be if you actually cared about her," Olivia said.  "You
need to just dump the bitch."

Jared eyed her
skeptically.  "Are you sure you're not just saying that so you can try
your hand at matchmaking with me?  Because that seems to be all you do
lately.  Maybe we should be looking for a man for you, so you can stop
poking your nose into everyone else's business."

"Good
luck with that," Olivia said, tipping her glass towards him in a kind of
smug salute.  "I could have a harem of men, and I'd still be bugging
you about Truck Stop.  Just consider me your fairy godmother.  Can I
help it if I like seeing my friends happy?"

"Are you
sure you're not just trying to live vicariously through us because not enough
of your kind of men are coming through the club?" Patrick asked, rolling
his head towards her.  It was the kind of question he probably would have
never dared to ask if he'd been completely sober.  "I could start
advertising for some more challenging male subs.  Big ones.  With
lots of muscles."

Olivia
laughed.  "If I could find a man I was interested in, I would take
him.  I can't help it that you asshats keep stumbling across the perfect
woman and then making a mess of things."

"I
haven't stumbled across anyone," Jared said stubbornly.  "So you
can't say that about me."

"Ah...
but you would if you came to the club and actually gave any of them a
chance," Olivia said with a smirk.  "That subbie whose Dom got
kicked out the other week was pretty impressed with you.  She's been
asking everyone about you."

"Low
standards," Andrew said, nodding sagely.  "That's what happens
when you're in a relationship with an abusive shithead like that."

"Did I
tell you that he reapplied for membership?" Patrick asked, laughing at the
audacity of the jerk.  It hadn't been funny at the time, but it seemed
kind of funny now.  Mostly funny that the idiot thought he'd be allowed
back into the club.  Ever.  

Sitting up,
Jared frowned, and Patrick could tell that the other man was already thinking
about the abusive Dom's former sub, his protective side riled.
 "You're not, right?"

"Of
course not," Patrick said, giving Jared a look.  His friend should
know him better than that.  "Just because he has some sob story about
it being a bad day doesn't mean I'm an idiot.  Although, if it meant you'd
dump Marissa and take up with the new subbie to protect her, I'd be willing to
consider it."

Jared made a
face.  "You don't need to do that.  I think I'm going to break
up with Marissa soon anyway.  Next time she calls."

"YES!"
 Olivia exploded out of her seat, making all three men jump and nearly
spill their drinks.  Andrew actually shrieked a little bit, which would
have made Patrick burst out laughing, if he hadn't already been laughing about
Olivia's happy dance.  Across from her, Jared was rolling his eyes, but he
couldn't entirely keep the smile from his face.  "YES! 
YES!  YES!!!  Praise the Lord, Hallelujah!  Why didn't you say
so earlier?!"

"Because
I didn't want to watch you do that," Jared said, pointing at her as she
spun in an exuberant circle.  Andrew and Patrick kept snickering; it was
rare to see Olivia really let loose like that.  Normally she was so
dignified, seeing her do a happy dance like Jessica or Hilary sometimes did was
highly entertaining.  "Do you have to be so damned happy about it?!"

"Honey,
you should be glad I'm not throwing a party.  So when is she calling next,
so you can dump her ass?"  Olivia finally sat back down, although she
was grinning from ear to ear and practically bouncing in her seat.  If
Patrick were prone to giggling, watching her would make him giggle. 
Instead, he just kept smothering his laughter.  Damned if he was going to
let anyone accuse him of giggling.

"No
idea.  She hasn't called in a week, and I haven't bothered to call
her," Jared said with a shrug.  "She obviously doesn't care
enough to call, I don’t care enough to call her to find out why… and I'm done
with this shit."

"You know
we're going to start a betting pool on whether or not you actually do it,"
Andrew said.  Olivia groaned.

"No, he's
not allowed to change he's mind, he's doing it!"

"Yeah, I
am.  Probably."  Jared sighed at Olivia as she glared at him.
 "I am, I am."

"I don't
understand why you're not more enthusiastic about this," Olivia said
disdainfully.  "She makes you fucking miserable."

"I still
don't like hurting her."

"A person
has to have a heart to be hurt."

"Just
shut it, Olivia," Jared said, sounding weary.  "I know your
opinion, and I'm breaking up with her, so just leave it alone."

"Fine,"
Olivia said, turning her attention back to Patrick.  Jared sighed, loudly,
in relief, which she ignored.  "Do you know what you're going to do
about Lexie?"

Patrick
shrugged.  "I'm going to talk to Jake on Sunday, tell him that
Lexie's been training at the club and that I want her.  Then I'll see if I
can get her to talk to me.  She didn't answer any of my calls or texts
today."

"You
mentioned that," Andrew said, giving him a lopsided smile.  "A
couple of times.  Are you going to tell Jake that you've been the one
training her?"

"Maybe
when he gets home," Patrick said, wincing.  He didn't like keeping
things from Jake, but he really didn't want to go into too great of detail with
her brother.  "The important thing is giving him a heads up that,
hopefully, by the time he gets home, Lexie and I will be in a
relationship."

"At least
Skype lets you do it face to face," Jared said, sympathetically.
 "It could be worse."

"I still
would have preferred to wait till he was home," Patrick said,
groaning.  He leaned his head back against the couch, closing his
eyes.  The room was still a little out of focus, even though he hadn't
done more than take a couple sips of the beer Olivia had gotten him.  "At
least he's only got a few more weeks of being overseas, and I've got a pretty
good idea of what kind of submissive Lexie is.  I think we'll work. 
As long as I teach her not to pull shit like running out on me just because
she's upset, and then not talking to me afterwards.  It's going to fucking
suck if I talk to Jake and then by the time he gets home, she's still not
talking to me."

"That's
on her if she's going to act like a child," Andrew pointed out. 
Which was true, but that didn't help the ache in Patrick's chest.  "She
shouldn't have left the club last night, and she sure as hell should have
gotten back in touch with you today after you called her.  Twice."

"And
texted her three times," Jared chimed in.  Even with his eyes closed,
Patrick was pretty sure the other man was grinning.

"Yeah,
yeah, I get it, I've mentioned that a lot," Patrick muttered, groaning.
 "You guys suck."  

A
companionable silence fell over the room, broken only by the ice cubes clinking
in Olivia's glass.  The kind of quiet that said everyone was lost in their
own thoughts for the moment.  Patrick couldn't help but fantasize about
how he'd like to tan Lexie's pert little bottom for her behavior last night and
today.  His phone stayed silent and still in his pocket, making him want
to growl.