Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Annie

The embarrassment one girl can experience in one evening should be limited. Like... there should be some rule or law of life that stops things from snowballing and turning into a clusterfuck.

Get drunk enough to pick a fight with your best friend and her cool older brother. Check.

Make a fool of yourself by telling your sob story to a girl even more fucked than you are. Double check.

Spill all your deep, dark secret feelings to the hot-as-sin and forbidden-as-fuck Daddy, nearly kiss him and then vomit all over his car. You gotta fucking believe I checked that bad boy off the list.

You have to think, at this point, life wouldn't throw any more my way on this particular night. It's the only plausible conclusion to come to. The only reasonable, fair, sane one.

Wrong! Nope! Not a chance. After all the literal vomit falls from my mouth I'm overcome with the worst case of word vomit ever.

"Holy shit. Holy fucking shit. I'm sorry. I'll, like, pay to have it cleaned. Or probably clean it myself because I can't afford to pay for it. But fuck." I wipe at the—eeew, I won't think about it, eeeuw—ick at my mouth while trying to figure out how I will get myself out of this mess. I can't see any napkins lying around and I don't really want to dig in his glove compartment. Especially not with my sick-covered hands. Which leaves me with exactly one other option.

"What the fuck are you doing, Annabelle?" Lorcan sounds exasperated as he reaches across the console to stop me from taking off my shirt.

"Cleaning up the puke," I explain. "I don't want to mess with anything else in here. This is all I have." I shrug, trying to shove his hands away so I can continue to take off the sparkly top. For a few seconds there we're batting at each other until the inside of the car turns electric and the scary beast in front of me growls.

"Dammit. Stop moving," he orders, and my entire body freezes mid-movement. "Stop trying to undress yourself. I don't have the patience to deal with this shit," he mutters this last line, so quietly I think he doesn't mean for me to hear it, but I do and the damage is done.

"I'm sorry," I whisper, leaning back and reaching to unbuckle myself. "I'll get out of your hair. There should be cabs to take. If you can give me the address to your house, I'll stop by in the morning to get my shit."

Before I can open the door and climb out, the locks click shut, the sound so loud in the quiet vehicle that I flinch.

"I swear to everything holy, if you so much as move another inch, or say another word, I will spank you so hard you won't be able to sit for a week. Now give me a second to get some fucking control of myself, then we can figure out what to do next."

I don't move. I don't say a word. I don't so much as look in his direction.

My head and heart are such a mess at the moment I don't even know what I would have said if he hadn't ordered me to be quiet. Everything is still pretty fuzzy around the edges and worry over my fight with Suzie is gnawing at my gut. I can't believe I've done half the things I did tonight, and no matter how much I know I need to just stop, think and be reasonable, the needy subby side of me doesn't want to. She wants to be let free and my pushing her down since my breakup with Daddy Jackson is having some repercussions.

I've successfully avoided both Lorcan and Montgomery for a week now, and I'm sure I can continue to do so for a few more, so I just need to get through tonight. But I don't know what the hell I'm going to do after that. Maybe I should just fess up to Suzie about my attraction to her dads. She'd understand why I'd need to get out of her house then and onto other newer things.

She'd probably be a little pissed at me for repeating past behaviors, but that way I wouldn't be hiding a huge secret from my friend. And it would come with the added benefit of backup whenever I need to be around the two ridiculously drool-worthy men.

"I wish I knew what was running through that head of yours right now." Lorcan's growly tone is much more subdued now, and the change captures my attention .

"Nothing of note," I respond. Keeping my hands firmly in my lap, I survey the surrounding mess. "I'm really sorry for vomiting in your car. I will clean it up. I promise."

He shakes his head at me, not even glancing down at the sick. "I don't care about my car. I couldn't give two flying fucks over the vomit or the smell or the fact that it might never be the same again." This last is said with a slight hitch to his lips. "What I do care about is what you were saying, Annie. Those are not happy thoughts. And those unhappy thoughts were directly responsible for some very erratic and irresponsible behavior tonight."

I know he's trying to be nice by looking after his daughter's friend, but I can't deal with the pity I know will be shining from his face, nor with the fake sympathy. His words are kind, sweet and exactly what I want to hear, but after having Jackson trample over my heart I can't afford to fall for them and give in to the apparent helping hand being offered to me by the handsome man.

"Mr. Murdoch, I've apologized for the mess, and I will apologize to you, Ethan, and Suzie for the upset tonight, but my behavior, erratic or otherwise, is none of your business. You're not my father and not the boss of me," I say, pushing the words out past the huge lump in my throat. I can see him sitting up straighter, but I have to push through or I'll cave like a badly stacked house of cards. "Now, are you taking me home or will we be parting ways here?"

Lorcan mumbles something under his breath, but I refuse to pay attention and stare straight ahead instead.

"Fine," he grumbles in response. "But we're not done talking about this. We will discuss your behavior and the possible repercussions when you're sober and in a better frame of mind."

Knowing full well that if I say anything in response, or even look at him, I might cave, I opt for silence instead and lay my head back against the rest. And before I know it, my eyes fall shut and I pass right the hell out.