Page 14 of About Last Night

We were silent as we walked into the hotel and up to her room where we’d be meeting my replacement for the night. My gut tightened the closer we got to her room, the idea of someone else watching her making me uneasy. What if something happened to her? What if he couldn’t protect her the way I could?

It was a stupid thought. I knew Raf only hired the best guys who were thoroughly vetted, but I couldn’t stop the thought no matter how hard I tried. When I saw the guy who’d be covering for me, I let out a breath I hadn’t known I’d been holding.

“Hey man, I thought you were in Europe,” I said to another one of my old Navy Seal buddies Jamie, who’d also been recruited by Raf. I swore he was single-handedly trying to hire our entire unit.

Jamie reached his hand out to shake mine. “Nah, came back early so I could relieve you. Raf said you’d probably be picky about who was covering for you.”

“Is that right?”

I hoped my tone didn’t give away how accurate that was. Hadn’t I just been thinking about all the ways my replacement would be inadequate?

Jamie’s brow arched at Brynn as his typical enigmatic smile graced his face. “And you must be Brynn Davis. Pleasure to serve you.” He reached out a hand to shake hers, and she took it as professionally as she’d taken mine when we first met.

So why did that make my stomach burn with acid? She was being professional. He was being professional. I was the one being an asshole by standing here silently fuming with jealousy instead of making introductions and making sure she was comfortable with him.

Pulling my head out of my ass, I said, “Brynn, this is Jamie Walsh. He and I have worked closely together for years. You’re in good hands tonight.”

“Jamie, it’s great to meet you. Hopefully, this will be a very boring night for you. I plan to go inside, drink some water, and go to bed.”

“No ragers tonight, huh?”

Her lips tilted up in a smile, but her eyes wore the exhaustion she usually had by the time we got back to our suite after a show. “Not tonight. Or most nights for that matter. I’m not really a rager kind of girl.”

He nodded like he understood exactly what she meant and then stepped back to let her into the room. I stayed out in the hallway, expecting her to go inside and close the door, but instead she stopped right at the threshold. She glanced back, those green eyes of hers piercing my heart.

“Good night, Wyatt. See you tomorrow.”

“Good night, Brynn.”

The door shut behind her, and instead of seeing if Jamie had caught on to anything, I slapped him on the side of his arm and started walking back toward the elevators. “See you bright and early, Lucky Charms.”

Jamie’s boisterous laughter filled the hall and brought a smile to my face as I entered the elevator to head to Raf’s condo for the night.

BIG BROTHERS ALWAYS GIVE THE BEST ADVICE

Wyatt

A text pinged on my phone as soon as I walked into Raf’s condo. I threw the keys on the marble island and dug through my pocket for my phone, expecting it to be from Jamie about Brynn, but instead it was from my brother.

Travis

Hey, call me when you get a chance.

I hit his contact and then put the phone on speaker while I moved through the kitchen to see if Raf had any food stocked in this place. Knowing him, he would’ve had a service come in and provide all my favorites even though I was only here for one night. He was too rich for his own good—old family oil money or something. He’d been stingy on the details of where his wealth came from, but I knew he had enough that he never had to work a day in his life if he didn’t want to.

“Hey, I didn’t expect you to call so quickly,” my brother’s voice rang through the silence.

“Yeah, you caught me at a good time. I’ve got the rest of the night off.”

“You at Raf’s place?” My brother knew and loved Raf.

“Yeah.”

“Is it as nice as his LA place?”

“Smaller, but yeah, it’s pretty much exactly what you would expect Raf to own.”

“How’s the job going?”