She stared up at me for what felt like an eternity, but I couldn’t read anything in her eyes or expression. No emotion crossed that beautiful face. Finally, she gave me a smile, and I tried to pretend like I didn’t notice it hadn’t reached her eyes. “No, Drake. Nothing happened last night.”
“Then why are you wearing my shirt?” I couldn’t help but ask.
She shrugged. “I needed something to sleep in.” She pushed the covers off and stood. With her back to me, she bent down and picked up her clothes. “I’m going to use your shower so the whole house doesn’t freak out and assume something happened too,” she called over her shoulder as she headed for the bathroom.
I sat on the edge of the bed, watching her until the door was closed. Her answer hadn’t exactly set me at ease, and I searched for proof that something had happened. No damp spots on the sheets. The sheets didn’t smell like sex. I fell back on the pillows, relieved. The first time I kissed, touched, made love to Lana I was going to be stone cold sober. If I had done that last night, it would have ruined everything. All the plans I had for our future would be destroyed.
I quickly got dressed and headed downstairs, wanting to give Lana her privacy. It wasn’t lost on me that I had woken up without the sheets tangled and the place reeking of my fear and sweat. I couldn’t remember any nightmares haunting me last night. It had to be because Lana had slept in my arms, and I wondered how I could get her to sleep there again without anything happening between the sheets.
I found Layla making breakfast, humming softly as she scrambled eggs and fried some steaks. My stomach growled as I poured myself a cup of Jesse’s special coffee. “Morning, Layla,” I greeted as I took my first sip of thick, bitter coffee.
She turned to me with a smile on her face that was bright enough to light the entire house. “Morning, Drake. Are you hungry?” She turned two of the steaks and then reached into the oven to check on the biscuits.
“Starving.” I fell into a chair at the kitchen table. “You look happier than the last time I saw you. Things okay now?”
She turned with a pan full of hot biscuits. “I want to apologize to you for yesterday. I overreacted to something I heard and…” She sighed and shook her head. “I’m sorry I put you through that.”
“Hey, baby!” Jesse walked into the kitchen in nothing more than a pair of jeans and a grin. “God, that smells good.” He placed a kiss on her lips and reached for the coffee pot. “Morning, Dray. You ready for Vegas?”
I blinked, not sure I was following him. “What’s happening in Vegas?” Were we doing a show that I had forgotten about?
“I asked Layla to marry me yesterday, and we don’t want to wait. So we’re all going to Vegas later.” He swallowed his coffee and poured some more into his mug. “You gotta come, man. I need you all there.”
I grinned. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world, bro.” I assured him. He had no idea how happy he had made me. If he was marrying Layla, then Lana would be around for a long, long time.
I was just digging into my steak and eggs when Shane came into the kitchen. He was sweating from his run, but he was grinning. I wasn’t sure if it was because he was happy for Jesse or if he was excited about getting to go to Vegas for the weekend. More than likely it was the latter. There was too much shit he could get into, and he was ready for it all.
“Dude, I can’t believe you’re getting married and we don’t get to do the bachelor party thing. I’ve been looking forward to this since Layla whipped your ass into saying you love her.” Jesse gave him a glare, but Shane pretended not to notice. “Come on, man. Give us tonight and you can marry her in the morning.”
“No. I’m not spending another night without her as my wife. You fuckers can go out and pretend I’m hiding in the bathroom or something.” Jesse tossed a biscuit at Shane’s head. “Leave me out of it.”
“It won’t be any fun without you,” Shane whined. “You know Nik won’t join us, and Drake doesn’t do parties anymore.”
“Poor little thing.” Layla laughed. “I’m sure you can find some kind of debauchery to get into on your own. It’s Vegas, the City of Sin. Sin and Shane go hand in hand.”
I rolled my eyes at my brother. “I’ll go with you.”
“Really?” Shane looked excited again. “You won’t bail on me for Lana?”
“I promise.” I guess I had been doing just that lately. Maybe Shane and I needed some quality brother time. Of course, when it came to my brother that usually meant strippers or hookers, or something else that involved women with as few clothes as possible.
Lana
As soon as Lucy was home from her sleepover, we all packed the Escalade. It had room for seven, but with the baby’s seat and three extra people, Shane decided to take his car too. Despite the rocky start to my morning, I climbed in the cramped backseat of the disgustingly expensive, sex on wheels car.
With Shane behind the wheel and Drake riding shotgun, I wondered if I would make it to Vegas in one piece. Still, they had me laughing, and the five hour trip seemed to fly by. We pulled up to the hotel, jamming to some rock music that I had gotten to like over the last five hours. Shane had insisted on listening to the same songs over and over again until I knew every song by heart.
Nik pulled in behind us just as a valet took Shane’s keys. Emmie, efficient as always, had us checked in and in our rooms in less than fifteen minutes. Jesse and Layla got the honeymoon suite on the top floor while the rest of us were on the same floor. Drake took the room next to mine and Lucy’s, and Shane opted for the one at the end of the hall. Nik and Emmie got the one a few rooms over.
I loved our room. Lucy, hyped up from having to spend so long in a vehicle, was jumping on one of the queen sized beds while I took a minute to look out the window at the Strip. It was beautiful in the evening light, and I couldn’t help but stare down at it in wonder.
A connecting door led into Drake’s room, and I knocked twice before he answered. He had a tooth brush in his hand, probably to get the taste of Red Bull out of his mouth since he and his brother had chugged several each on the drive.
“Hey, neighbor.” I grinned up at him as I made myself at home in his room, which was an exact copy of my own except his bed was a king where mine had two queens.
“You should be getting ready,” he called from the bathroom where he was rinsing out his mouth. “Aren’t you supposed to be meeting Layla and Em downstairs to go dress shopping?”